Pearl White

Pearl White

Pearl Fay White (March 4, 1889 – August 4, 1938) was an American film actress, the so-called “Stunt Queen” of silent films, most notably in The Perils of Pauline.

The film was one where “Pauline” was the central character in a story involving considerable action, which the athletic Pearl White proved ideally suited for. The Perils of Pauline consisted of twenty episodes. A box-office success, the movie made White a major celebrity, and she was soon earning the then astronomical sum of $3,000 a week. She followed this with an even bigger box-office winner, The Exploits of Elaine.

Flying airplanes, racing cars, swimming across rivers, and doing other similar feats, White made four more successful serials on the same theme. She did much of her own stunt work and she suffered injuries that would force her to use a stunt double in her later films.

(via popstock)

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