Blanche Payson

Blanche Payson (born Mary Elizabeth Bush, September 20, 1881 – July 4, 1964) was an American film actress.

Blanche Payson
Payson, ca. 1915
Born
Mary Elizabeth Bush

(1881-09-20)September 20, 1881
Santa Barbara, California, USA
DiedJuly 4, 1964(1964-07-04) (aged 82)
Hollywood, California, USA
Years active1916–1946

Biography
Blanche Payson, policewoman ceremony, 1915

Payson was born as Mary Elizabeth Bush to Thomas and Sarah Bush. She first attracted public notice when she served as policewoman in the Toyland exhibit at the Panama Exposition in San Francisco in 1915.[1]

She was married to Eugene Payson in San Francisco prior to 1910,[2] who died before 1915.[3]

Payson then moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles and began her film career with the Mack Sennett studio, appearing in short films in mostly uncredited roles. She appeared in nearly 160 films between 1916 and 1946. At 6 ft 2 in (188 cm), she towered over both men and women co-stars in the many slapstick comedies she appeared, as a foil for such comedians as The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and similar popular acts of the time. She often played brutal and dominant women, such as Oliver Hardy's wife in Helpmates (1932) or Bobby Hutchins' stepmother in the Our Gang comedy Dogs Is Dogs (1931).

She was born in Santa Barbara, California and died in Hollywood, California.

Selected filmography

References
  1. Ogden Standard, February 20, 1915
  2. United States Census, 1910
  3. Crocker-Langley San Francisco Directory, 1915
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