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 by Gilbert Wacon; Silent Era image collection.

Ethel Clayton

Born 8 November 1882 in Champaign, Illinois, USA.
Died 11 June 1966 in Oxnard, California, USA.

Sister of actor Donald Clayton.

Married director and actor Joseph Kaufman; until Joseph’s death, 1 February 1918.
Married actor Ian Keith, 1928; divorced, 13 January 1931.

Ethel Clayton began her acting career on-stage and enjoyed success with the Frawley Organization before beginning her motion picture career with Essanay Film Manufacturing Company (1909-1910). She continued stage work, then joined the Lubin Manufacturing Company (1912-1915), and also worked for World Film Corporation (1916-1918), Famous Players-Lasky Corporation (1918-1922), R-C Pictures Corporaton (1922-1923), Fox Film Corporation (1925 and 1928), B.P. Schulberg Productions, Incorporated (1925-1926), C.W. Patton Productions (1926), Hal Roach Studios, Incorporated (1926), DeMille Pictures Corporation (1926), Tiffany Productions (1927) and Dallas M. Fitzgerald Productions (1927).

Ethel continued to work in motion pictures throughout the 1930s and 1940s in a series of B-film roles and bit parts.

References: Website-IMDb.