{{Short description|American actress (1892–1965)}} {{Use American English|date=May 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Leila Bennett | image = Leila Bennett in Fury (1936) trailer.jpg | caption = Bennet in the trailer for ''Fury'' (1936) | birth_date = {{Birth date|1892|11|17|mf=yes}} | birth_place = Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1965|01|05|1892|11|17|mf=yes}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | resting_place = Fairmount Cemetery, Newark, New Jersey | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1919–1936 | spouse = {{marriage|Francis Keough|1934|1945|reason=d.}} }}
'''Leila Bennett''' (November 17, 1892 – January 5, 1965) was an American film actress who primarily appeared in supporting roles as either slapstick sidekicks, mousy maids, and scatterbrains.
== Early life == Bennett was born in Newark, New Jersey,<ref>{{cite web |title=Leila Bennett |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2babb9a20a |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030022802/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2babb9a20a |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |website=BFI |access-date=4 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref> into a working-class family; her father worked as a newspaper editor and her mother was a part-time stenographer and housewife. The whole family was affiliated with the church of Christian Science.{{Citation needed |date=May 2022}}
== Acting career == After working through the Harry Blaney Stock Company in Brooklyn, New York,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.|last=Wilson|first=Scott|date=2016-09-16|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476625997|pages=56|language=en}}</ref> she began her career on the New York stage in 1919 portraying the character of 'Mandy Coulter' in the comedy production ''Thunder''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15417739/the_new_york_times/|title=Who's Who On the Stage|date=1919-09-28|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=43|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was praised for her role, which was performed in black-face, by the ''New-York Tribune''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15418141/newyork_tribune/|title='The First Year Equals "Lightnin'" In Dramatic Value|date=1920-10-21|work=New-York Tribune|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=8|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
She also was featured in the plays ''The First Year'' (1920–22), ''The Wheel'' (1921), ''Chicken Feed'' (1923–24), ''A Holy Terror'' (1925), ''It's a Wise Child'' (1929–30), and, in what was her final stage appearance, ''Company's Coming'' (1931).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leila Bennett – Broadway Cast & Staff {{!}} IBDB|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/leila-bennett-31718|access-date=2021-05-25|website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref> Following her departure from live theatre in 1931, she continued her craft on the screen making her film debut in an uncredited role in ''Gentleman's Fate'' playing a lunch counter attendant. Her next role came in the film ''Emma'' (1932) playing a maid opposite the likes of Marie Dressler and Myrna Loy followed by a role in ''Taxi!'' (1932) opposite James Cagney and Loretta Young. In 1932 alone she appeared in six films; others being ''The Purchase Price'' with Barbara Stanwyck, ''Tiger Shark'', and ''Doctor X'' with Lee Tracy and Fay Wray. In 1933, she appeared as Anna May Wong's ladies maid in ''A Study in Scarlet''. She was very much a freelancer and floated around Hollywood doing numerous films at such studios as Warner Bros., RKO Radio Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In ''Mark of the Vampire'' (1935), she played a "terrified maid."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15419227/the_news_journal/|title=Plays Terrified Maid|date=1935-05-02|work=The News Journal|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=26|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1936 she appeared as Edna Hopper in ''Fury'' opposite Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sidney, providing "splendid support," according to the ''Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15418684/the_chillicothe_constitutiontribune/|title='Fury' Coming June 21|date=1936-06-13|work=The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=8|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Personal life and death== She was married to Francis M. Keough<ref name=":0" /> from 1934 until his death in 1945; Keough had been the main manager of Palm Beach's Beach Club Restaurant and Casino, and she spent her years dividing time between New York City and Florida. On January 5, 1965, she died at the age of 72 in New York City, New York. Her funeral was held at The Universal Chapel on 52nd and Lexington Avenue in New York and her interment was at Fairmount Cemetery in Newark, New Jersey with her parents in the family plot (specifically Section F, Lot 157, Grave 3 rear).<ref name=":0" />
== Filmography == {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''Gentleman's Fate'' (1931) * ''Emma'' (1932)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Taxi!'' (1932) - Ruby.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15417534/the_ithaca_journal/|title='Taxi' At the Strand|last=W|first=W.J.|date=1932-02-19|work=The Ithaca Journal|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=7|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''The Purchase Price'' (1932)<ref name=":0" /> * ''The First Year'' (1932)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Doctor X'' (1932)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Tiger Shark'' (1932)<ref name=":0" /> * ''No Other Woman'' (1933)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Terror Abroad'' (1933) * ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1933)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Sunset Pass'' (1933)<ref name=":0" /> * ''The Prizefighter and the Lady'' (1933) * ''Easy to Love'' (1934) * ''Once to Every Woman'' (1934) * ''Unknown Blonde'' (1934) * ''Strictly Dynamite'' (1934) <ref name=":0" /> * ''Housewife'' (1934) * ''Dames'' (1934)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15419517/daily_press/|title=Warwick|date=1935|work=Daily Press|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=3|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''Wagon Wheels'' (1934)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15419599/hartford_courant/|title='The Lemon Drop Kid' Allyn Film|date=1934-10-13|work=Hartford Courant|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=5|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''One New York Night'' (1935) * ''Mark of the Vampire'' (1935) as Maria <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15418746/the_evening_independent/|title=Coming to Lincoln|date=1935-07-18|work=The Evening Independent|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=11|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15418782/the_akron_beacon_journal/|title=Sally Rand Dances, Bela Lugosi Leers As Shows Take Bows|last=Gloss|first=Edward E.|date=1935-05-08|work=The Akron Beacon Journal|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=8|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''Fury'' (1936) as Edna Hooper <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15418611/the_nebraska_state_journal/|title='Fury' Is Lincoln Epic Picture, and Shirley Temple Does a Fine Job, Stuart; 'Counterfeit,' Varsity|date=1936-07-19|work=The Nebraska State Journal|access-date=2017-11-28|pages=22|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> {{div col end}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} *{{IMDb name|0071883}} *[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/leila-bennett-31718 Leila Bennett] on IBDb
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Leila}} Category:1892 births Category:1965 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:20th-century American comedians Category:Actresses from Newark, New Jersey Category:Actresses from New York City Category:American Christian Scientists Category:American film actresses Category:American women comedians Category:Burials at Fairmount Cemetery (Newark, New Jersey) Category:Comedians from New York City Category:Comedians from Newark, New Jersey