Career Highlights: Song of the Thin Man, I Love Lucy: Ethel's Birthday, Blondes by Choice
First Major Screen Credit: Blondes by Choice (1927)
Biography
The faces of most movie extras are unmemorable blurs in the public's memory. Not so the elegant, statuesque Bess Flowers, who was crowned by appreciative film buffs as "Queen of the Hollywood Dress Extras." After studying drama (against her father's wishes) at the Carnegie Inst of Technology, Flowers intended to head to New York, but at the last moment opted for Hollywood. She made her first film in 1922, subsequently appearing prominently in such productions as Hollywood (1922) and Chaplin's Woman of Paris (1923). Too tall for most leading men, Flowers found her true niche as a supporting actress. By the time talkies came around, Flowers was mostly playing bits in features, though her roles were more sizeable in two-reel comedies; she was a special favorite of popular short-subject star Charley Chase. Major directors like Frank Lloyd always found work for Flowers because of her elegant bearing and her luminescent gift for making the people around her look good. While generally an extra, Flowers enjoyed substantial roles in such films as Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1934), Gregory La Cava's Private Worlds and Leo McCarey's The Awful Truth (1937). In 1947's Song of the Thin Man, the usually unheralded Flowers was afforded screen billing. Her fans particularly cherish Flowers' bit as a well-wisher in All About Eve (1950), in which she breaks her customary screen silence to utter "I'm so happy for you, Eve." Flowers was married twice, first to Cecil B. DeMille's legendary "right hand man" Cullen Tate, then to Columbia studio manager William S. Holman. After her retirement, Bess Flowers made one last on-camera appearance in 1974 when she was interviewed by NBC's Tom Snyder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Bess Flowers (November 23, 1898 – July 28, 1984) was an Americanactress. By some counts considered the most prolific actress in the history of Hollywood, she was known as "The Queen of the Hollywood Extras," appearing in over 700 movies in her 41 year career.
Biography
Born in Sherman, Texas, Flowers's movie debut came in 1923, when she appeared in a movie titled Hollywood. She made three movies in that year, and then began working extensively, with seven movies in 1926 alone. Most of her appearances are uncredited, as she generally played non-speaking roles.
Flowers "acting" career was not confined to feature films. She was also seen in many episodic American TV series, such as I Love Lucy, notably in episodes, 'Lucy Is Enceinte' (1952), 'Ethel's Birthday' (1955), and 'Lucy's Night in Town' (1957), where she is usually seen as a theatre patron.
Bess Flowers was first married on September 2, 1923, in Ventura County, California, to Cullen Tate (1894-1947), an assistant to Cecil B. DeMille. They were divorced in 1928 in Los Angeles. Her second marriage took place on August 5, 1929, in Los Angeles, to William S. Steele (1895-1962). They were divorced in 1930 in Los Angeles.
She and Tate had one child, Patricia E. Tate (January 29, 1924–August 1, 1972).