Myrtle Gonzalez was an American actress who only had a short life but managed to appear in at least 78 silent films during her career. Today, Google crafted a particularly stunning piece of art as a doodle just for her. A writer for a magazine once referred to Myrtle Gonzalez as “The Virgin White Lily of the Screen.” This title was given to her by the author. It is widely believed that she was the first Latina or Hispanic movie star in the history of Hollywood.
About Myrtle Gonzalez
Myrtle Gonzalez was an actress from the United States. From 1913 to 1917, she was in at least 78 silent movies. Of those, 66 were one- and two-reel shorts. She is thought to be the first Latina or Hispanic movie star in Hollywood.
Gonzalez was best known for her role as Enid Maitland in The Chalice of Courage (1915), a six-reel drama that starred William Duncan and was made by Vitagraph. She was once called “The Virgin White Lily of the Screen” by a writer for a magazine.
Early life
Myrtle Gonzalez was born on September 28, 1891, in Los Angeles, California. She was the daughter of Manuel George Gonzalez (1868–? Her siblings were Stella M. Gonzalez (1892–1965) and Manuel G. Gonzalez, Jr. (1898–?).
Her father’s family is a native Hispanic Californio family from Mexico, while her mother’s family is from Ireland. Her father ran a grocery store, and her mother used to sing opera and other popular music.
Myrtle had great acting skills and a good soprano voice from the time she was a child. She sang in church choirs and at many concerts and benefits in her area. She later acted in plays with Fanny Davenport and Florence Stone in roles for young people.
James Park Jones was Gonzalez’s first husband. They had one child together, James Parks Jones Jr., who lived from around 1911 to 1970.
Early Career
She grew up in Los Angeles, so when movie making moved there, it was a big plus for her. Gonzalez worked for studios like Universal and Vitagraph.
She was in five movies with William Desmond Taylor at Vitagraph. They were Her Husband’s Friend (1913), Tainted Money (1914), Millions for Defence (1914), The Kiss (1914), and Captain Alvarez (1914).
In many of her roles, Gonzalez played strong women who did things outside. During the last six years of her career, she was in a lot of movies about the snow country and the woods.
Personal life
She married actor and director Allen Watt (1885–1944) in Los Angeles on December 1, 1917. She then quit acting and went into retirement. Watt used to be an assistant director at Universal, which is where they met. He was in the U.S. Army at the time, and she followed him back to Camp Lewis in Washington state. Her health, on the other hand, was too weak for the climate, so Captain Watt was put on the retirement list so he could take her back to Southern California. He went back to Universal and started directing movies there.
Death
On October 22, 1918, Myrtle Gonzalez passed away at the age of 27 years old. She passed away in 1918, the same year that the Spanish flu claimed the lives of a great number of people all over the world. Although much of Myrtle Gonzalez’s filmography has been lost to the passage of time, the Library of Congress has managed to preserve a few of her works. She is credited with being one of the first Latina actresses to gain employment in the Hollywood film industry.
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Myrtle Gonzalez Net Worth
In 2020 and 2021, her net worth has been growing a lot. So, at 27 years old, how much is Myrtle Gonzalez worth? Most of Myrtle Gonzalez’s money comes from the fact that she is a successful actress. She is from California. We figured out how much Myrtle Gonzalez is worth in terms of money, salary, income, assets, and other things.
Conclusion
Myrtle Gonzalez is thought to be the first Latina or Hispanic movie star in Hollywood. She was best known for her role as Enid Maitland in The Chalice of Courage (1915). From 1913 to 1917, she was in at least 78 silent movies. Myrtle Gonzalez was one of the first Latina actresses to work in Hollywood. She played strong women who did things outside in many of her films.
Gonzalez died in 1918, when the Spanish flu killed a lot of people all over the world. Her films have been lost, but the Library of Congress has some of them.
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