Ethyle Cooke
Ethyle Cooke was an American silent film actress of the 1910s. In 1915, she married another prominent silent film actor of the time, Harry Benham. Cooke starred in many popular films, such as A Small Town Girl, Stronger than Death, and The Fugitive.
Background
Ethyle Cooke was born August 4, 1880, in Lynn, Massachusetts. She grew up in her hometown, and was educated at the Girls' Latin School in nearby Boston. She began her stage career early when, at the age of 12, she performed at the Boston Museum.Career at Thanhouser
Her film career began in 1911, when she joined the Thanhouser film company in New Rochelle, New York, and she remained there until 1917. She married Harry Benham, another actor working at the Thanhouser. They lived a long, happily married life and had two children, Dorothy and Leland Benham, who were also prominent Thanhouser personalities, as they appeared in several films.By mid-1914, she had made over 200 screen appearances, and her nickname on the set came to be "Cookie". During this time at Thanhouser, she spent one year starring in lead roles with Florence LaBadie. The Moving Picture World, produced in 1916, told of Cooke's close association with LaBadie: "When you see Florence LaBadie's name in the cast of a photoplay, close by you will find Ethyle Cooke's. At the Thanhouser studios they wouldn't think of casting a Florence LaBadie feature without putting Ethyle Cook in it." In the movie The Fugitive, Cooke's character commits a murder, while letting LaBadie's take the blame. Another film where they worked closely together was The Fear of Poverty, in which LaBadie's character runs off with Cooke's fiance. Finally, in Saint, Devil, and Woman, Cooke's character suffers at the mercy of a man who also has power over LaBadie's character.
Cooke was also very active away from the set. On September 7, 1912, she attended the Thanhouser family picnic and also played on the Thanhouser women's softball team in the summer of 1915.