Louise Emmons


Louise Emmons was a character actress in the United States.

Early years

Information about her early life is contradictory. Older sources give 1852 or 1861 as her birth year. An article in Classic Images in December 2016 states that she was born in 1872 as Louise Atkinson in California. She was of German descent. Allan Elleburger stated in 2017 that Emmons was born as Louie A. Adkison in 1858 near Camptonville, California. Elleberger says that "got their start from the 1910 census; even though she was in fact 52-years-old, she gave her age to the census enumerator as 37 ". This explanation falsely assumes that she gave her age on the census, when in fact in some cases such information was guessed or gathered from someone other than the person giving it.

Career

Louise Emmons worked for some time as a portrait artist. She already was at an advanced age when she made her first silent film in 1914. With "the kind of face that could stop a clock" she appeared in over 65 films until 1935, mostly in small roles. She specialized in portraying old hags, such as the evil headmistress from the Our Gang film Mush and Milk. Her last film was the horror movie Mark of the Vampire, where she played an old gypsy.

Personal life

Emmons married Roswell Emmons on April 21, 1904 in Santa Barbara, California. They had one son. Her husband died in 1919, leaving her a widow with a 12-year-son to raise.

Death

Emmons died in 1935 from heart disease and pneumonia at the Hollywood Hospital. She was buried in an unmarked grave at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles until her grave was given a marker on March 23, 2014.

Selected filmography