Anita Garvin
Acting • Born 1906-02-11 – Died 1994-07-07
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Anita Garvin (February 11, 1907 – July 7, 1994) was an American actress and comedian who appeared in both silent and sound films. She is best known for her work with comedians Laurel and Hardy and Charley Chase. Garvin was born in New York City.] Her two sisters who danced in vaudeville encouraged her talents. At age 12, she lied to an agent saying she was "almost sixteen" and got a job being a bathing beauty for one of Mack Sennett's stage shows. The following year she joined the Ziegfeld Follies. She took pride in being the only woman allowed to touch Will Rogers's ropes. She also appeared in Earl Carroll Vanities. Garvin went on tour with the musical Sally staying with the show for two seasons, then decided to stay in California when the tour left that stop in 1924. In Hollywood, Garvin began working for Christie Film Company's comedies. She recalled her co-star Bobby Vernon dropping butter on the floor onto which she stepped and tumbled, cementing her career as a comedian. Charles Lamont brought her over to work for Educational Pictures. In 1926, Hal Roach took her under contract, where she appeared in many silent films with Charley Chase, James Finlayson, and Max Davidson as well as playing occasional supporting roles in feature films. Standing around 6 feet tall, "her regal countenance and deadpan expression" made her the perfect comic foil. Roach later considered her "one of his finest actresses." Reflecting upon her frequent co-star Stan Laurel, Garvin observed: "One thing about Stan--with apologies to a lot of directors--they thought they were directing him. And they thought they were directing the picture. But Stan was the one...He was very clever about it. The director was never cognizant of the fact that he was not doing all the directing. Stan's mind was going all the time, always thinking of gags and things to do. The script didn't mean a thing." Garvin appeared in a total of eleven Laurel and Hardy films. In 1928, she was teamed with Marion Byron as a short-lived female version of Laurel and Hardy. Along with Edgar Kennedy, Byron and Garvin appeared in A Pair of Tights, an "acknowledged masterpiece."
Filmography
74 credits
Raggedy Rose
Movie • 1926
Janice
Move Along
Movie • 1926
Rich girl with roses
Many Scrappy Returns
Movie • 1927
Wellington's Wife
Forgotten Sweeties
Movie • 1927
Never the Dames Shall Meet
Movie • 1927
Edna's Sister
Imagine My Embarrassment
Movie • 1928
Off to Buffalo
Movie • 1929
Mrs. Brown
Stepping Out
Movie • 1929
The Date
Be Big!
Movie • 1931
Mrs. Laurel
Their Purple Moment
Movie • 1928
Oliver's Girlfriend
Blotto
Movie • 1930
Mrs. Laurel
Sailors, Beware!
Movie • 1927
Madame Ritz
Why Girls Love Sailors
Movie • 1927
Captain's Wife
With Love and Hisses
Movie • 1927
Captain Bustle's 1st girlfriend
Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl
Movie • 1926
Flo Mason
Whispering Whoopee
Movie • 1930
Miss Garvin
Baby Brother
Movie • 1927
Amorous nursemaid
The Sleuth
Movie • 1925
The other woman
Fandango
Movie • 1928
Sleepless Hollow
Movie • 1936
Harry's Wife
Show Business
Movie • 1932
Anita Garvin
Asleep in the Feet
Movie • 1933
Dance Hall Hostess
Going Ga-Ga
Movie • 1929
Anita
A Pair of Tights
Movie • 1929
Anita
In the Grease
Movie • 1925
Physical Culture teacher
Trent's Last Case
Movie • 1929
Ottilie Dunois
The Single Standard
Movie • 1929
Packy's Jealous Girlfriend at Art Exhibition (uncredited)
Movie Night
Movie • 1929
Roaming Romeo
Movie • 1928
The Princess
Our Modern Maidens
Movie • 1929
Bridesmaid (uncredited)
Murder at Midnight
Movie • 1931
Party Guest (uncredited)
Swiss Miss
Movie • 1938
Tradesman's wife
Bright Lights
Movie • 1924
Book Bozo
Movie • 1925
A Dangerous Peach
Movie • 1925
Mrs. Wilson
The Last Man on Earth
Movie • 1924
A Millionairess (uncredited)
Topper
Movie • 1937
Sally
Movie • 1930
Party Guest (uncredited)
On With the Show!
Movie • 1929
Chorine (uncredited)
Upstream
Movie • 1927
Theatre Audience Admirer at Stage Door
A Chump at Oxford
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Vandevere (uncredited)
The Skulls
Movie • 1931
Señora Laurel
The Chiselers
Movie • 1931
Mme. Laurel
Two-Time Mama
Movie • 1927
Mrs. Dazzle
Feed 'em and Weep
Movie • 1928
Merry Wives of Reno
Movie • 1934
Male-Seeking Woman in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
From Soup to Nuts
Movie • 1928
Mrs. Culpepper
The Battle of the Century
Movie • 1927
Slips on pie (uncredited)
While the Cat's Away
Movie • 1936
Emma
Yoo-Hoo
Movie • 1932
Anita
The Play Girl
Movie • 1928
Millie
The Motor Boat Demon
Movie • 1927
Colleen
Creeps
Movie • 1926
Hats Off
Movie • 1927
Customer at top of stairs
The Charlatan
Movie • 1929
Mrs. Paynter
Dynamite
Movie • 1929
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Sunk by the Census
Movie • 1940
Red Hot Rhythm
Movie • 1929
Mable
Bested by a Beard
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Vivian Errol
Assistant Wives
Movie • 1927
Gwendolyn - the Flapjack Queen
Fair But Foolish
Movie • 1925
For Sadie's Sake
Movie • 1926
His Silent Racket
Movie • 1933
Mrs. Finlayson
Modern Love
Movie • 1929
Mrs. Weston - the Brunette
My Swedie
Movie • 1925
Ethel Lorraine
Fighting Fathers
Movie • 1927
Mrs. Sniffleblaster
He Asked for It
Movie • 1940
Truth Aches
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Errol
Home Boner
Movie • 1939
The Millionaire Cat
Movie • 1932
Natalie
Hunting the Hunter
Movie • 1929
The Hollywood Handicap
Movie • 1932
A Taxi War
Movie • 1925
Laurel & Hardy: Year Two
Movie • 2024
(archive footage) (uncredited)