Bebe Daniels facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bebe Daniels
Daniels in 1925
Born	Phyllis Virginia Daniels (1901-01-14)January 14, 1901 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died	March 16, 1971(1971-03-16) (aged 70) London, England
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Other names	Bebe Lyon
Occupation	Actress, dancer, singer, producer, writer
Years active	1910–1961
Spouse(s)	Ben Lyon ​ (m. 1930)​
Children	2, including Barbara Lyon
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Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels (born January 14, 1901 – died March 16, 1971) was a famous American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer. She had a very long career, lasting over 50 years.

Bebe Daniels started acting in Hollywood when she was a child. She became a big star in silent movies and later in musicals like Rio Rita. She also became very well-known for her work on radio and television in Britain. During her career, Bebe Daniels appeared in 230 films!

Bebe Daniels' Early Life and Start in Acting

Bebe Daniels was born Phyllis Virginia Daniels in Dallas, Texas. "Bebe" was a nickname she had since childhood. Her father, Melville Daniel MacNeal, was a traveling theater manager. He changed his name to Danny Daniels.

Her mother, Phyllis de Forest Griffin, was a stage actress. She was part of Danny's theater group. When Bebe was just ten weeks old, her father proudly carried her onto the stage.

Moving to Hollywood and First Roles

When Bebe was a child, her family moved to Los Angeles, California. She began her acting career at the young age of four. Her first film was an early version of The Squaw Man. That same year, she toured in a play called Richard III by Shakespeare. The next year, she acted in plays by other famous producers.

By age seven, Bebe Daniels had her first main role in a film called A Common Enemy. When she was nine, she played Dorothy Gale in the 1910 short film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Becoming a Teen Star

At 14, comedy producer Hal Roach hired her. She earned $5 a day to star with comedian Harold Lloyd. They made many short comedies together, starting with Giving Them Fits in 1915. Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels became a popular duo, known as "The Boy" and "The Girl." They even had a romantic relationship that many people knew about.

In 1919, Bebe decided not to continue working with Hal Roach. She wanted to act in more serious movies. She joined producer-director Cecil B. DeMille. He gave her important supporting roles in films like Male and Female (1919), Why Change Your Wife? (1920), and The Affairs of Anatol (1921).

Bebe Daniels' Hollywood Career

This 1922 Vanity Fair caricature by Ralph Barton shows the famous people who, he imagined, left work each day in Hollywood; use cursor to identify individual figures.

In the 1920s, Bebe Daniels worked for Paramount Pictures. She successfully moved from being a child star to an adult actress in 1922. By 1924, she was starring with famous actor Rudolph Valentino in Monsieur Beaucaire. After this, she appeared in many popular films.

Transition to Sound Films

When movies started having sound, Paramount Pictures ended her contract. However, a new studio called Radio Pictures (later RKO Radio) hired her. She starred in their first big musical film, Rio Rita, which was in Technicolor. This movie was a huge success and made Bebe Daniels a musical star. She even recorded several songs for RCA Victor.

Radio Pictures continued to cast her in musicals like Dixiana (1930). By late 1930, she appeared in Reaching for the Moon. But by then, musicals were not as popular, so many song parts were removed from the film. Because Bebe was known for musicals, Radio Pictures did not renew her contract.

Working with Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. knew she was popular and offered her a contract. During her time there, she starred in My Past (1931) and Honor of the Family (1931). She also appeared in the 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon.

In 1932, she was in Silver Dollar. In 1933, she starred in the very successful musical comedy 42nd Street, where she sang again. Her last film for Warner Bros. was Registered Nurse (1934).

Life and Career in London

Daniels and Lyon during a trial in 1934

In 1935, Bebe Daniels and her husband, actor Ben Lyon, moved to London. They had married in June 1930. In February 1939, Bebe and Ben starred in a radio show called the Rinso Radio Revue.

When World War II began, they worked for the BBC. They starred in a popular comedy radio series called Hi Gang!. Ben came up with the idea, and Bebe wrote most of the jokes. The couple stayed in England even during the bombings of The Blitz.

Publicity photo, circa 1924

After the war, Bebe Daniels received the Medal of Freedom from President Harry S Truman. This was for her service during the war. In 1945, she returned to Hollywood for a short time to work as a film producer. She moved back to the UK in 1948 and lived there for the rest of her life.

Bebe, her husband, and their two children, Richard and Barbara, all starred in a radio comedy show called Life with the Lyons (1951 to 1961). This show later became a television series.

Bebe Daniels' Family Life

Bebe Daniels married actor Ben Lyon in June 1930. They had a daughter named Barbara in 1932. They also adopted a son named Richard (born Bryan Moore in 1935) from a London orphanage. Bebe once said she saw Richard looking through the orphanage railings and immediately thought, "A brother for Barbara."

Later Years and Passing

Bebe Daniels had a serious stroke in 1963 and stopped appearing in public. She had another stroke in late 1970. On March 16, 1971, Bebe Daniels passed away in London at age 70. Her ashes were returned to the United States and buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. When Ben Lyon passed away in 1979, his remains were buried next to hers.

Selected Filmography

Selected Radio Performances

See also

In Spanish: Bebe Daniels para niños