Kent, Barbara

Barbara Kent, nee Cloutman, was born in the small Canadian village of Gadsby in the province of Alberta on December 16, 1907. In 1925, she became the winner of the Miss Hollywood contest, and a year later her film career began with a small role in the movie Universal Studios Crackers of the Night. In the movie, Barbara showed herself well as a comedic actress, although she also had serious dramatic roles in such films as “Flesh and the Devil” (1926), “Modern Mothers” (1928) and “Party” (1929).

She attracted the attention of the public in 1927 after the release of the film “Inhuman Law”, in one of the scenes of which she swam naked. The popularity of this film led to the fact that in the same year, Barbara was included in the list of WAMPAS Baby Stars . In 1929, her successful transition to sound cinema took place. In subsequent years, she remained popular, showing herself well in the films Vanity Fair (1932) and Oliver Twist (1933).

Her movie career ended in 1934 after Barbara married Hollywood producer Harry E. Edington. A year later, she still tried to return to the big screen, but her roles were no longer popular and in 1935 she finally left the movie.

After her husband’s death in 1949, Barbara stopped appearing in public and soon retired to a boarding house in Sun Valley, Idaho , refusing to give any interviews. The actress died on October 13, 2011 in the California city ​​of Palm Desert at the age of 103 years ^[4] .