Gladys Blake

Actress, singer, comedienne and dancer. Gladys Blake left home at age 14 to join a stock company in Reading, Pennsylvania, and after two years she had developed her own vaudeville act, Gresham and Blake, with Lee Gresham. Coming to California, they were booked into the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles where she was spotted by film agent Edward Small. Her first small film roles were mostly for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Director Richard Thorpe personally offered Gladys her small role in "The Earl of Chicago" in which only her legs were seen.Born Gladys Timmons, 12 Jan 1910 in Shawnee, Frederick Co. VA. Her mother Ada E. Timmons(nee Ritenour) died 11 weeks after her birth. Two Aunts, Bessie Farinholt and Georgianna Farinholt helped to raise her. At age 9, 1920, she lived in Baltimore City, MD with her Aunt and Uncle Farinholt. She ran away from this home at age 14 to join a circus. During a visit with family in PA, around 1926 she displayed trunks of glitzy circus costumes she w... [Details Intro]