People active in the silent era and people who keep the silent era alive. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Photograph: Silent Era image collection.

Billie Burke

Born 7 August 1884 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA, as Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke.
Died 14 May 1970 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Married theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., 11 April 1914; until his death, 22 July 1932;
daughter, Patricia Ziegfeld, born 1916.

Billie Burke was born to a performing family headed by her circus clown father, Billy Burke. Growing up in London, England, Billie made her theatrical debut at the age of 18 and subsequently moved to American stages at 22 years old, where she earned increasing fame as a stage actor. While her actual motion picture debut came in a cameo appearance in 1914, Billie started her film work in earnest as the star of Peggy (1916). Ultimately, stage acting was her first love and she continued sporatic film work in between her stage engagements. Having married the famous producer Flo Ziegfeld, she gradually stopped acting altogether to raise her daughter and finishing film work in 1921. However, when much of the family’s net worth was wiped out in the 1929 stock market crash, Billie returned to motion picture work in sound films.

She continued stage, film and (later) television work until the early 1960s. Billie Burke is best remembered today for her role as Glinda, the Good Witch, in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

References: Website-IMDb.