Biography

Billie Rhodes

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San Francisco-born comedienne of early silent cinema. Born Levita Axelrod in San Francisco, she was (according to Picture Show of July 19, 1919) of English parentage and named 'Billie' because a son had been expected. She trod the boards of vaudeville by the age of eleven and appeared in melodrama under heavy makeup playing adults by the age of thirteen. She also moonlighted in local cafes as a comic entertainer.

In 1913, she was hired by the branch of the Kalem film company based in Glendale, California, to appear in several short subjects under her original name. After two years, she left Kalem to begin work for Al Christie at Nestor using her stage name Billie Rhodes for the first time. She was regularly paired with Jay Belasco in the series of situational 'Strand Comedies' and simultaneously worked for the National Film Company, whose owner, actor-producer William Parsons, she married in 1919. However, in September that year, Parsons died unexpectedly aged just 41. Billie's career subsequently took a downturn, though she had a brief run as co-star of several independently made two-reelers opposite Joe Rock. By 1925, she had forsaken the screen to become a vocalist in nightclubs and cabaret.
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis

Interviewed in "Talking to the Piano Player: Silent Film Stars, Writers and Directors Remember" by Stuart Oderman (BearManor Media).
Started in show business as an eleven year old singer in vaudeville in San Francisco.

[In a 1968 interview] I was never a wild party girl, and I never lived beyond my means. I saved my money, and one day I woke up and said 'I've had it.' And I just stopped working. I was able to get out gracefully. Oh, sure, I had some good times, and it was fun, but it was fun only when I said to myself it was time to get out.
[In a 1968 interview] I never gave a thought to talkies. By the time they were here, I was singing in nightclubs in Chicago. When my work ended at Kalem, I went back to singing in cafés in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. I knew very well when a job ends, you have to look for work.
[In a 1968 interview] I'm not in pictures anymore which is why I'm wearing a name tag. In my day if you weren't known, you just weren't known. Wearing a name tag won't make any difference. Nobody is going to get any work from this evening, and I came to watch some of the old movies and have a good time. I don't want to be 'on.' I did all that a long time ago, and I left it.

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