EVELYN GREELEY SILENT FILM STAR AND ‘PERSHING’

Evelyn Greeley (1888–1975) was a prominent actress in the early years of silent film, appearing in approximately 30 films from 1915 to 1922.  Evelyn Greeley was one the beauties of the silent era and, possibly (as reported in publicity of the period), the granddaughter of famed journalist Horace Greeley.   She  is not found today in images too often, so I feel incredibly lucky to have this original photo of her and her chow “Pershing” below in my own collection.  I searched for months to find more detail about this lovely dog.  Check out the kennel FULL of chows behind Evelyn.  She was from New York so it could be one of many of the famous chow kennels in Tuxedo Park, NY. or elsewhere.

Then one day I finally hit the motherlode when I found this 1919 short article about Evelyn’s purchase of her chow for protection reasons.  The text from this article is in the collage I did at the top of this page which is part of a book I’m publishing later in 2014.

Greeley began her acting career on the stage, touring with the “Poli Players” stock company of Sylvester Z. Poli. She began working in film in 1914, for the Chicago-based Essanay Studios, doing bit parts.^[4] It was only after more than a year that she obtained her first credit line, in the Quality Pictures production The Second in Command.^[4]

Greeley’s career peaked in the years 1917–19, when she was under contract to the World Film Corporation, and starred opposite Carlyle Blackwell in numerous films. Her contract with World Film ended in 1920, and in the ensuing years she appeared in pictures produced by several different companies.