Gladys Brockwell

Gladys Brockwell
Photo movie card of Brockwell (ca. 1910s)
Born	Gladys Lindeman September 26, 1894 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	July 2, 1929(1929-07-02) (aged 34) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1913–1929

Gladys Brockwell (September 26, 1894 – July 2, 1929) was an American actress whose career began during the silent film era.

Born Gladys Lindeman in Brooklyn, New York in 1894. Her single mother, Lillian Lindeman, a chorus girl turned actress, put her daughter on stage at an early age. By the time she reached her middle teens, she was already a veteran and taking on dramatic leading roles. She made her East Coast film debut in 1913 as Gladys Brockwell for Lubin Studios and within a short time was starring in a number of films. Developing her craft, she moved to Hollywood where she garnered a role in the acclaimed 1922 version of Oliver Twist and in The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1923, the following year.

By the mid-1920s she was past the age of thirty and although still given top female billing, Brockwell performed mainly in supporting roles. Regarded as one of the finest character actresses of the day who not only adapted to the new talkies but excelled in them, her first appearance in a "talkie" came in 1928 in Lights of New York. Her performance received strong reviews at the time of the film's release and as well by present-day critics of the preserved film.

A Warner Bros. feature-length production, Lights of New York was filmed with microphones strategically hidden around the sets, creating the first motion picture released with fully synchronic dialogue. She was then signed by Warner Bros. and was looking forward to continued success in talkies.

On June 27, 1929, Brockwell and a friend, Thomas Brennan, were involved in an automobile accident near Calabasas, California. She was crushed beneath the automobile driven by Brennan, an advertising man from Los Angeles, California. The auto went over a 75-foot (23 m) embankment on the Ventura Highway near Calabasas.

Seriously injured, four blood transfusions were performed in an effort to save her life, the last just prior to her death. Brennan recovered after sustaining serious injuries. He said a bit of dust had blown into his eye, temporarily blinding him. Following a second blood transfusion, Brockwell appeared to improve until peritonitis set in from her internal injuries, particularly a puncture of her large intestine.