Lule Warrenton

Lule Warrenton
Warrenton autographed photo (1915)
Born	(1862-07-22)July 22, 1862 Flint, Michigan, USA
Died	May 14, 1932(1932-05-14) (aged 69) Laguna Beach, California, USA
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1913-1922

Lule Warrenton (June 22, 1862 – May 14, 1932) was an American actress, director, and producer during the silent film era. She appeared in 81 films between 1913 and 1922. She was born in Flint, Michigan and died in Laguna Beach, California and was the mother of cinematographer Gilbert Warrenton.

She was born to a production manager father. Under the supervision of her uncle, Sheridan Corbyn, Warrenton had played child parts and had been and continued to be on stage and in motion pictures for most of her life.

Warrenton attended St. Rose's Convent and later studied at the University of Michigan. Following her time at Michigan, Warrenton began her stage career as an elocutionist at the University of Notre Dame. She later progressed into a Shakespearian reader, performing in her first show at Victoria Rifle's Armory in Montreal, Canada.

Warrenton appeared in a total of 81 films over the course of her career. Although she claimed a few lead roles, she generally, and more oftenly so, played supporting roles. Warrenton, more popularly appeared within the genres of comedy or westerns. She had the reputation of being a versatile actress, and played an assortment of diverse roles including a black woman in The Queen of Jungleland and a male role as a Chinese Mandarin, complete with a mustache, under director Henry McRae.

In a review of one of her performances in the Pittsburgh Press, Warrenton was described as "playing different parts, the more difficult the better, is the work and pastime of Lule Warrenton".

Better known for her career as a director, Warrenton became the only woman director in the world at the time to have her own studio during her time at Universal. Warrenton did some of the writing for her films, but her assistant Allen Watt took responsibility for the majority of the writing. Warrenton's son, Gilbert Warrenton, was often in charge of photography in many of his mother's motion pictures.

Warrenton began her directing career by primarily filming comedies, but later made the previously unprecedented move to making films specifically designed for children, which she called "Film for Little Ones".Calling Linda was her first Film for Little Ones in 1916. Warrenton directed and produced A Bit o'Heaven in 1917, which featured four-year-old child acting prodigy Mary Louise; this film was an adaptation of Kate Douglas Wiggin's novel The Birds' Christmas Carol that sold over 1.5 million copies. Warrenton and Louise did multiple films together.