Bliss Milford

Bliss Milford (born Bliss Phoebe MacLaren) was an American actress, screenwriter, and songwriter who was active in Hollywood during the silent era.^[1][2][3]

Biography[]

Bliss McLaren was born in Hope, North Dakota, to attorney C. Milford MacLaren and actress Alma Gallinger.^[4][5] She grew up primarily in Chicago, and became interested in acting when her family relocated to New York City later on;.^[6] Her uncle, William Edward McLaren, was the archbishop of Chicago.^[7]

When she became an actress at the age of 15 — appearing, at first, in minor roles on the stage in New York — she used her father's middle name as her last name for her film credits. She was under contract at Edison until 1914, at which point she moved to Kinetophone.^[8]

She joined the company of actor and playwright in the early 1900s, alongside her mother. Higgins and Bliss eventually married, despite their nearly 30-year age gap, but their partnership did not last.^[9] Her 1915 marriage to filmmaker Harry Beaumont was similarly fated.^[10] She eventually married Karl Klein in 1923, a marriage that lasted until Klein's death in the 1960s.

In addition to her work as an actress, screenwriter, and songwriter, she also served for a time on the board of directors of the Toledo School for Crippled Children.^[9]

Little is known of her life after her film career came to an end.

Select filmography[]

• 1918 Sylvia on a Spree
• 1918
• 1918 Flower of the Dusk
• 1916
• 1915 The Beloved Vagabond
• 1915
• 1914

References[]