Movie Star Mystery Photo |

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Posted on March 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Times file photo
Update: This is Sharon Lynn. Please congratulate Nick Santa Maria, Dewey Webb, Gregory Moore, Annie Frye, Mary Mallory and R. Ahuna for correctly identifying her. Nick, who was first, explains that he’s a big Laurel and Hardy fan.

This photo is from "Sunnyside Up," 1929.

Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on
Monday and reveal the answer on Friday. To keep the mystery photo from
getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to
Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day.

I have to approve
all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you’re
wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone
else, there’s no point in submitting it again). If you’re right, you
will have to wait until Friday. There’s no need to submit your guess
five times. Once is enough. The only prize is bragging rights.

The answer to last week’s photo: Pauline Garon.

Check back next week for another mystery photo!

Los Angeles Times file photo

Here’s another picture of our mystery woman. Isn’t she great?

Update: This is Sharon Lynn in "Happy Days."

Los Angeles Times file photo

OK, here’s the mystery woman with a companion.

Update: Frank Albertson and Sharon Lynn in "Wild Company."

Here are two more shots of our mystery woman. Please congratulate Nick Santa Maria and Dewey Webb for correctly identifying her.

"Randolph Man," Eve Golden, Claire Lockhart, Dewey Webb and Carmen recognized her companion, above, as Frank Albertson.

Update: Sharon Lynn in 1932. These photos were to publicize "The Big Broadcast," but they may just be fashion shots.

Sharon Lynn, above, in "Turn on the Heat."

Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

Above, Sharon Lynn in 1942, when she was suing her neighbors in Malibu, charging that their home extended over her property.

At left, The Times’ obituary on Sharon Lynn, May 28, 1963. She was 53.

About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

View all posts by lmharnisch →

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94 Responses to Movie Star Mystery Photo

Eve says:

March 23, 2009 at 9:08 am

Curse you! I am beginning to doubt my silent-movie-ID’ing skills.

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Anne Papineau says:

March 23, 2009 at 9:35 am

I agree, Eve. These are waaay tough.
Julia Faye?

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Gregory Moore says:

March 23, 2009 at 9:45 am

Billie Dove?

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Cube says:

March 23, 2009 at 9:50 am

Lillian Gish?

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lana says:

March 23, 2009 at 10:37 am

Mary Miles Minter

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Eileen says:

March 23, 2009 at 11:04 am

Mary Pickford

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January_Gal says:

March 23, 2009 at 11:59 am

Barbara Stanwyck

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Eve says:

March 23, 2009 at 12:04 pm

I suppose I should say “Theda Bara!” and “Clara Bow!” just to get it out of the way, so no one else has to.
(Yes, I know she’s not Theda Bara or Clara Bow–I am just providing a public service)

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Elizabeth says:

March 23, 2009 at 12:41 pm

I think it must be Bette Davis.

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G. Kerr says:

March 23, 2009 at 12:49 pm

Florence Lawrence

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dave says:

March 23, 2009 at 1:18 pm

BARBARA STANWYCK

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Super90 says:

March 23, 2009 at 1:25 pm

That’s Mary Pickford. She was like Julia Roberts times a thousand.

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aya says:

March 23, 2009 at 1:49 pm

Mae Summers, right?

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LAURA says:

March 23, 2009 at 2:05 pm

Is it Bessie Love??
Or is it Corinne Griffith??

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Rose says:

March 23, 2009 at 2:13 pm

Mae West

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william kraal says:

March 23, 2009 at 2:15 pm

CLARA BOW

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Shema says:

March 23, 2009 at 2:51 pm

Gretta Garbo

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Ivan says:

March 23, 2009 at 2:52 pm

I’m guessing it’s Vola D’Aril?

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James Chin says:

March 23, 2009 at 2:53 pm

Marceline Day

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Skook Umchick says:

March 23, 2009 at 3:19 pm

Leatrice Joy?

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Joe says:

March 23, 2009 at 3:58 pm

Mary Miles Minter ????

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Joe says:

March 23, 2009 at 4:05 pm

Olive Thomas

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Lee B. says:

March 23, 2009 at 4:14 pm

Lois Wilson.

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Laura says:

March 23, 2009 at 4:16 pm

Fay Wray?

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Blair says:

March 23, 2009 at 4:29 pm

Carol Dempster

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Mary Corcoran says:

March 23, 2009 at 4:47 pm

Janet Gaynor?

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John O'Shea says:

March 23, 2009 at 4:54 pm

I would have to say Mary Pickford, even without the long hair!

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arnette says:

March 23, 2009 at 5:22 pm

Ruth Gordon.

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Randy Skretvedt says:

March 23, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Is it Bebe Daniels, one-time leading lady for Harold Lloyd in Hal Roach comedies and later wife and radio partner of actor Ben Lyon?

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ron mackovich says:

March 23, 2009 at 5:43 pm

Mabel Normand

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jax says:

March 23, 2009 at 5:50 pm

helen hayes

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Chad says:

March 23, 2009 at 5:50 pm

Miley Cyrus?

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Ralphy says:

March 23, 2009 at 5:55 pm

Edna Purviance?

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Kathy says:

March 23, 2009 at 6:24 pm

Renee Adoree?

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james says:

March 23, 2009 at 6:58 pm

Hey, I think I know Eve! My Eve cracks wise like this all the time! That you, Gaston?
Oh, the pic…mmmm, I say it is Beatrize Michelena (my spelling may be off).

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DJ says:

March 23, 2009 at 7:49 pm

Ginger Rodgers?

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Sam says:

March 23, 2009 at 8:25 pm

Hope Hampton

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kylie says:

March 24, 2009 at 1:00 am

Paulette Duval?

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Victor H.Brown from over the pond in England says:

March 24, 2009 at 2:19 am

Well if it’s not Marceline Day it could be Enid Bennett.

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Eve says:

March 24, 2009 at 8:41 am

Hmmm, is it Patsy Ruth Miller?

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Rosalyn says:

March 24, 2009 at 8:57 am

Betty White

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eileen says:

March 24, 2009 at 9:26 am

Gracie Allen (pre-George)…?

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Cynthia Keillor says:

March 24, 2009 at 9:48 am

Nancy Carroll.

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John Parry says:

March 24, 2009 at 10:09 am

It has to be Phyllis Haver. Please tell me that I am right.

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Anna Harmon says:

March 24, 2009 at 11:24 am

Alma Bennett

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james says:

March 24, 2009 at 11:56 am

Sally O’Neil or Billie Dove.

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james says:

March 24, 2009 at 12:01 pm

Aha!……Bessie Love!

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james says:

March 24, 2009 at 12:04 pm

Constance Talmadge!

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james says:

March 24, 2009 at 12:32 pm

Laurette Taylor!

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james says:

March 24, 2009 at 12:48 pm

Okay, Mr. Smarty Pants, I’ll give you one last try today…is it Alice Brady?

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Jany says:

March 24, 2009 at 1:11 pm

Olivia de Havilland

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nora paul says:

March 24, 2009 at 1:40 pm

This is a very fun feature.

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Claire Lockhart says:

March 24, 2009 at 2:45 pm

Very young Irene Dunne?

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Mary Mallory says:

March 24, 2009 at 4:11 pm

I believe the photographer of the first picture is Alex Kahle, and that possibly the second picture was taken at RKO, but I still can’t figure out who it is.

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annie frye says:

March 24, 2009 at 4:38 pm

I think it might be Eleanor Boardman

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TonyJ says:

March 24, 2009 at 5:15 pm

For your next clue, could you throw in a picture of her with one or all of the Marx brothers? That backdrop looks familiar but I haven’t found it yet.

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annie frye says:

March 24, 2009 at 5:17 pm

Maybe Betty Compson

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Floradora says:

March 24, 2009 at 6:05 pm

Sue Carroll?

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Sam says:

March 24, 2009 at 6:20 pm

RUTH CLIFFORD

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Edward Cradduck says:

March 24, 2009 at 9:06 pm

Okey, here’s another wild guess at an old movie starlette that nobody has seen in sixty years….Claire Windsor?

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zapgun says:

March 25, 2009 at 12:49 am

How ’bout Una Merkel?

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Tom in ATL says:

March 25, 2009 at 2:02 am

Shoot, I can’t pin this one down! I’ve exhausted my online resources and have spent way too much time trying to solve this. So I will sit back and be a spectator after my guess. Is it Mildred Harris?

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Cynthia Keillor says:

March 25, 2009 at 8:59 am

Billie Dove.

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Erica says:

March 25, 2009 at 9:54 am

Janet Gaynor

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Mary Mallory says:

March 25, 2009 at 10:04 am

The woman is Irene Rich. The last still features she and Raymond Hackett in a scene from ON YOUR BACK.

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Arye Michael Bender says:

March 25, 2009 at 10:08 am

This is a pure guess gleaned from two clues. A guess because I don’t know what she looked like, but her partner is certainly Fred Astaire with hair. The thoughtful look on his face is one that only Fred could create.
So my guess for Ms. Mystery is Adele Astaire. If I dare…

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Eve says:

March 25, 2009 at 10:10 am

OK, well, he’s Frank Albertson, that I know. Is she Bernice Claire?

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Mary Mallory says:

March 25, 2009 at 10:11 am

It’s not Irene Rich, it’s Marion Shilling.

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Randolph Man says:

March 25, 2009 at 10:19 am

Her companion in the bottom photo is Frank Albertson circa 1930. She could be somebody who was briefly famous during the changeover to sound, somebody who’s face hasn’t become imbedded in our consciousness. Somebody’s who’s not Bette Davis or Clara Bow, in other words. And not particularly photogenic.

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Kevin says:

March 25, 2009 at 12:50 pm

Mae Busch? (of Laurel and Hardy fame)

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james says:

March 25, 2009 at 1:58 pm

Fannie Ward?

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Rose says:

March 25, 2009 at 2:06 pm

Ann Southern?

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Dewey Webb says:

March 25, 2009 at 2:27 pm

Sharon Lynn

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Cynthia Keillor says:

March 25, 2009 at 2:55 pm

Jobyna Ralston.

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Sam says:

March 25, 2009 at 3:08 pm

Jobyna Ralston

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Jany says:

March 26, 2009 at 8:35 am

OLGA SAN JUAN

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Eve says:

March 26, 2009 at 9:17 am

I’m completely flummoxed. Is she my great-aunt Syl? That’s all I got left.

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herb nichols says:

March 26, 2009 at 9:36 am

dixie lee

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Gregory Moore says:

March 26, 2009 at 10:06 am

AHA! Sharon Lynn…star of that most shocking of Pre-Code musical numbers, “Turn On the Heat” from “Sunnyside Up”

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Dru Duniway says:

March 26, 2009 at 10:36 am

Marjorie White

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January_Gal says:

March 26, 2009 at 10:44 am

Constance Bennett

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Mary Mallory says:

March 26, 2009 at 11:04 am

The still code makes the picture ON YOUR BACK (Fox, 1930), directed by Guthrie McClintic, but Frank Albertson is not listed in the cast in either the AFI Catalog or IMDB. The woman looks like Marion Shilling, she does not look like Irene Rich, Ilka chase, Charlotte Henry, or Rose Dione, the other women in the cast.

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annie frye says:

March 26, 2009 at 11:21 am

How about Sharon Lynn?

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Victor H Brown, across the pond in England. says:

March 26, 2009 at 2:57 pm

All my second guesses have been used by others so I give up..I fancy this is so difficult because the young lady first appeared towards the end of the silent era.

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Sam says:

March 26, 2009 at 3:25 pm

Dorothy Christy

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Mary Mallory says:

March 26, 2009 at 5:21 pm

YOu were right, I did read the code wrong. It’s actually WILD COMPANY (Fox, 1930), directed by Leo McCarey (McC-1). The stils say at the bottom, “…The jazz mad generation’s challenge to tradition.”

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Mary Mallory says:

March 26, 2009 at 5:22 pm

And it’s Sharon Lynn (who was married to Benjamin Glazer) and Frank Albertson.

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Tony J says:

March 26, 2009 at 5:45 pm

Well, I haven’t seen her listed above yet, and she did show up on a hunt for Mr. Albertson. Would the mystery lady be EVELYN VENEBLE?

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Rahuna says:

March 26, 2009 at 7:13 pm

Sharon Lynn.

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Joan Y. Compagno says:

March 26, 2009 at 8:26 pm

Juanita Quigley

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Joan Y. Compagno says:

March 26, 2009 at 8:27 pm

Fredi Washington

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Edward Cradduck says:

March 27, 2009 at 8:53 am

It must be Frank’s wife Grace; but how are we suppose to know what she looked like when she was twenty?

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Eve says:

March 27, 2009 at 9:14 am

Darnit, I’ve SEEN “Sunnyside Up,” and loved her “Turn on the Heat” number! I guess I didn’t recognize her out of her hot eskimo outfit.

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Arye Michael Bender says:

March 27, 2009 at 9:59 am

Thanks for ‘Turn Up the Heat’. Definitely pre-code, and quite risque. Even though the world of ‘Sunnyside Up’ was waiting for Busby Berkeley to up the stakes, I could see his ideas a birthing.
Big time fun!

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