The collection contains production files, primarily in the form of scripts written by Baird, including many for films in which she starred, such as THE DESTROYING ANGEL (1923), IS DIVORCE A FAILURE? (1923), and WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES (1922). There are files on unproduced films, clippings, correspondence, documents regarding her husband, producer Arthur F. Beck, and several scrapbooks.

Leah Baird (1883-1971) was born Ada Frankenstein in Chicago to German parents. Baird began her acting career in stock theater, working with companies in Toronto and New York. In 1908, she was cast opposite Douglas Fairbanks in “The Gentleman from Mississippi,” and the two performed the show on Broadway for two years. She is rumored to have appeared in Independent Moving Picture Co.’s HIAWATHA (1909) for Carl Laemmle, but her first official credit is in JEAN AND THE WAIF (1910), one of the Vitagraph Company of America’s series of shorts featuring Jean the Dog. For the next several years, she appeared in over 100 shorts, primarily for Vitagraph, Independent Moving Pictures Co., and Universal Film Manufacturing Company. In addition to acting, she also wrote seven shorts for Vitagraph during this time.

11 linear ft. of papers

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