{{Short description|American actress (1909–1990)}} {{more citations needed|date=May 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Audrey Ferris | image = Silent film actress Audrey Ferris (SAYRE 951).jpg | caption = Ferris in 1928 | birth_name = Audrey Minerva Kellar | birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|8|30}} | birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|5|3|1909|8|30}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer|dancer}} | years_active = 1927–1935 | spouse = Archer Huntington }}
'''Audrey Minerva Ferris''' ({{nee}} '''Kellar'''; August 30, 1909 – May 3, 1990) was an American film actress of the silent film era of the late 1920s and into the early 1930s, a singer, and a dancer.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Liebman |first1=Roy |title=Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts |date=20 May 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0936-2 |page=358 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REaeCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Audrey+Kellar%22&pg=PA358 |access-date=July 18, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
==Biography== Born Audrey Minerva Kellar<ref name=":0" /> in Detroit, Michigan,<ref name="de">{{cite news |title=Audrey Ferris plays lead in 'Little Wildcat' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81671759/audrey-ferris/ |access-date=July 18, 2021 |work=The Dothan Eagle |date=February 16, 1929 |page=2|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> Ferris was the only child to Frank M. Kellar, a railway clerk,<ref>https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/31111_4330208-00931?pid=12753601&backurl=http://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/12753601:7884&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> and Florence Maggie Kellar<ref name=":0" /> (née Watson),<ref>https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8826/images/z000094372?pid=6524996&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid%3D8826%26h%3D6524996%26indiv%3Dtry%26o_vc%3DRecord:OtherRecord%26rhSource%3D7884&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> who were both Canadian immigrants.<ref>https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/31111_4330208-00931?pid=198852822&backurl=http://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/198852822:7884?tid%3D%26pid%3D%26queryId%3De2bf585b84cd2d6da8c686dfad7affa7&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> Ferris was of English, Irish, and German descent.<ref>https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/31111_4330207-00808?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=183066647 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref>https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1578/images/4396760_00620?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=3125210 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> Her parents divorced in 1913. In May 1935, Ferris was a witness in a trial in Los Angeles as her mother sued for more than $3,000 in past-due support payments. Ferris, then 25 years old, testified that she did not remember her father.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Audrey Ferris on stand in parents' court battle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/71829902/audrey-ferris/ |access-date=February 23, 2021 |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=May 3, 1935 |page=28|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her mother remarried in November 1917 to a salesman named David Hamlin Ferris, who adopted Audrey.<ref>https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61460/images/47732_B354055-00246?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=900808538 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref name="ancestry.com">https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4293716-00252?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=733584 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> Ferris and her family moved to Los Angeles in the 1910s,<ref name="ancestry.com"/> and she attended Los Angeles High School, where she participated in orchestra class as a violinist<ref>https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/43135_b174808_00153?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=910131283 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref>https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/43135_b173685_00173?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=879638567 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> and was concertmistress.<ref name="de" />
While living in Los Angeles, she began working to pursue a career as an actress. In 1927 she received her first supporting role in ''Woman's Law'', which starred Lillian Rich.{{Citation needed |date=February 2021}} Her work in sound films included portraying a chorus girl in ''The Jazz Singer'' (1927), and acting in ''Rinty of the Desert'' (1928).<ref name="am">{{cite web |title=Audrey Ferris |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/audrey-ferris-p23258 |website=AllMovie |access-date=July 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718025103/https://www.allmovie.com/artist/audrey-ferris-p23258 |archive-date=July 18, 2021}}</ref> She was one of 13 young women named 1927 WAMPAS Baby Stars.<ref>{{cite news |title=WAMPAS Club names baby stars of 1928 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/71829284/the-san-francisco-examiner/ |access-date=February 23, 2021 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |date=January 16, 1928 |page=3|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>
In 1929 she appeared in only three films, but unlike many silent film stars she did make a successful transition to talkies in 1930. However, she never received many lead roles, and starred in only one film that year, and another two in 1932. After having a starring role in the 1933 film ''Justice Takes a Holiday'' opposite H.B. Warner and Huntley Gordon, she had only one more film acting role. Her last role was in the 1935 film ''The Marriage Bargain'', alongside Lon Chaney Jr. and Lila Lee. She retired shortly thereafter.
Ferris was married to Archer Huntington.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wielded gin bottle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/71828061/the-knoxville-news-sentinel/ |access-date=February 23, 2021 |work=The Knoxville News-Sentinel |agency=United Press |date=March 2, 1930 |page=11|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> Ferris died on May 3, 1990, in Los Angeles.
==Selected filmography==
* 1927: ''Woman's Law'', as Rose La Pierre, produced by Dallas M. Fitzgerald * 1927: ''The Silver Slave'', as Janet Randall, produced by Howard Bretherton * 1927: ''Ginsberg the Great'', as Mary, produced by Byron Haskin * 1927: ''The Jazz Singer'', as a singer, produced by Alan Crosland * 1927: ''Sailor Izzy Murphy'', as Marie, produced by Henry Lehrman * 1927: ''Slightly Used'', as Helen Martin, produced by Archie Mayo * 1928: ''Women They Talk About'', as Audrey Hughes, produced by Lloyd Bacon * 1928: ''Powder My Back'', as Ruth Stevens, produced by Roy Del Ruth * 1928: ''Rinty of the Desert'', as May, produced by D. Ross Lederman * 1928: ''The Little Wildcat'', as June, produced by Ray Enright * 1928: ''The Lion and the Mouse'' (uncredited), produced by Lloyd Bacon * 1928: ''Beware of Bachelors'', as May, a woman, produced by Roy Del Ruth * 1928: ''Beware of Married Men'', as Helene Martin, produced by Archie Mayo * 1928: ''The Little Wildcat'', as Audrey, produced by Ray Enright * 1929: ''Fancy Baggage'', as Naomi Iverson, produced by Joseph Santley * 1929: ''The Glad Rag Dog'', as Bertha Fairchild, produced by Joseph Santley * 1929: ''Honky Tonk'', as Jean Gilmore, produced by Lloyd Bacon * 1930: ''Undertow'', as Kitty, produced by Snub Pollard * 1932: ''Taxi'' (uncredited), produced by Roy Del Ruth * 1932: ''That Rascal'', produced by Al Christie * 1932: ''Honeymoon Beach'', as Connie Watts, produced by Harry Edwards * 1933: ''Justice Takes a Holiday'', as Margaret Walker, produced by Spencer Gordon Bennet * 1935: ''The Marriage Bargain'', as Mabel Stanhope, produced by Albert Ray
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Audrey Ferris}} *{{IMDb name|0274864}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20111108023940/http://silenthollywood.com/audreyferris.html Stills with Audrey Ferris] at silenthollywood.com
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferris, Audrey}} Category:1909 births Category:1990 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American silent film actresses Category:American film actresses Category:Actresses from Detroit