Marion Byron
Byron in 1929
Born
Miriam Bilenkin

1911
Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Died1985
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Other namesPeanuts
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • actress
Years active1928–1938
Children2

Marion Byron (born Miriam Bilenkin; 1911 – 1985)[1] was an American silent film actress and comedian.

Early years

Born in Dayton, Ohio,[2] Byron was one of five daughters of Louis and Bertha Bilenkin.[3]

Career

She made her first stage appearance at the age of 13 and followed it with a role in Hollywood Music Box Review opposite Fanny Brice. It was while appearing in this production that she was given the nickname 'Peanuts' on account of her short stature. While appearing in 'The Strawberry Blonde', she came to the attention of Buster Keaton who signed her as his leading lady in the film Steamboat Bill, Jr. in 1928 when she was just 16. From there she was hired by Hal Roach[4] who teamed her with Anita Garvin in a bid to create a female version of Laurel & Hardy. The pairing was not a commercial success and they made just three short features between 1928-9 - Feed 'Em and Weep (1928), Going Ga-Ga (1928) and A Pair of Tights (1929).

She left the Roach studio before it made talking comedies, then worked in musical features, like the Vitaphone film Broadway Babies (1929) with Alice White, and the early Technicolor feature Golden Dawn (1930).

Her parts slowly got smaller until they were unbilled walk-ons in movies like Meet the Baron (1933), starring Jack Pearl and Hips Hips Hooray (1934) with Wheeler & Woolsey; she returned to the Hal Roach studio for a bit part in the Charley Chase short It Happened One Day (1934). Her final screen appearance was as a baby nurse to the Dionne Quintuplets in Five of a Kind (1938).

Family

Byron married screenwriter Lou Breslow in 1932 and they had two sons, Lawrence and Daniel. They remained together until her death in Santa Monica on July 5, 1985, following a long illness. Her ashes were later scattered in the sea.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins,, fifth edition, by Adrian Richard West Room (born 1933), McFarland & Company (2010) OCLC 663110495
  2. ↑ "'Peanuts' From Ohio". Detroit Free Press. December 3, 1929. p. 25. Retrieved April 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Louis Bilenkin, Former Resident, Dies in West". The Dayton Herald. Ohio, Dayton. April 9, 1937. p. 12. Retrieved April 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Beauties race for baby stardom". Los Angeles Record. November 13, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved April 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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