Dean, Priscilla

Born in New York in a family of theater actors. Her mother was a popular theater actress Mary Preston Dean. Dean's acting debut took place in childhood, when she began to play in productions with her parents. Subsequent years, she combined her studies at the monastery school and work on the theater stage.

The film career of Dean began with participation in the short films of the Biograph studio, and in 1911 she signed a contract with the Universal studio, where in the following years she established herself as one of the leading comedic actresses. Her fame came in 1917 after her role in the crime drama “Gray Shadow”, after which she began to be invited already for serious dramatic roles. However, with the advent of sound cinema, her career declined sharply, and in 1932, after several small roles, Dean left the cinema.

The actress was married twice. Her first husband from 1920 to 1926 was the actor Wheeler Ockman. In 1928, she married pilot Leslie P. Arnold, who was known for flying around the world a few years earlier. ^[3] The couple were together until the death of Arnold in 1961. Priscilla Dean died on December 27, 1987 at the age of 91, due to the effects of injuries from a fall in September of that year.