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Betty Balfour (27 March 1903 – 4 November 1977) was an English screen actress, popular during the silent era, and known as the "British Mary Pickford" and "Britain's Queen of Happiness". She was best known to audiences for her ''Squibs'' series of films. ==Life and career== Balfour was the most popular actress in Britain in the 1920s, and in 1927 she was named by the ''Daily Mirror'' as the country's favourite world star. Her talent was most evident in the ''Squibs'' comedy series produced by George Pearson, while in his ''Love, Life and Laughter'' (1923) and ''Reveille'' (1924), rediscovered in 2014, she demonstrated a serious side to her character. Her role as a wealthy heiress in ''Somebody's Darling'' (1925) was an attempt to break out of her previous role as Squibs, to avoid typecasting.〔Macnab, Geoffrey (2000) ''Searching for Stars: Stardon and Screen Acting in British Cinema''. Cassell. p. 56〕 She made her stage debut in 1913, and was appearing in ''Medora'' at the Alhambra Theatre in Leicester Square when T. A. Welsh and Pearson saw and signed her for ''Nothing Else Matters'' in 1920. After replacing Gertrude Lawrence on stage in ''The Midnight Follies'', Balfour was back with Pearson with her first starring role in ''Mary Find the Gold''. Balfour made no attempt to break into Hollywood but like Ivor Novello she was able to export her talents to mainland Europe. She starred in the German films, ''Die sieben Töchter der Frau Gyurkovics'' and ''Die Regimentstochter'' she worked for Marcel L'Herbier in ''Le Diable au Coeur'' for Louis Mercanton in ''Monkeynuts'' and for Géza von Bolváry in ''Bright Eyes''. Back in Britain, she also starred in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Champagne'' (1928). Balfour's sound debut, ''The Nipper'' (1930), based on the ''Squibs'' character, was only moderately successful. Her popularity diminished in the 1930s, though she played a supporting role to Jessie Matthews in ''Evergreen'' (1934), appeared with John Mills in ''Forever England'' (1935) and played the matriarch in ''29 Acacia Avenue'' (1945). Balfour had less fortune in her private life. Her marriage with composer Jimmy Campbell went on the rocks in 1941 after ten years, a try of a comeback at the theatre failed in 1952. She died at age 74 in Weybridge, Surrey and was interred at Weybridge Cemetery. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Betty Balfour」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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