12 Facts About Estelle Brody

Estelle Brody was an American actress who became one of the biggest female stars of British silent film in the latter half of the 1920s.

Estelle Brody's career was then derailed by a series of ill-advised decisions and she disappeared from sight for many years before re-emerging between the late 1940s and the 1960s in smaller supporting film and television roles.

Estelle Brody's father Joseph Brody was a composer of Jewish music who had been born in Russia.

Estelle Brody spent the remainder of the 1920s starring in a number of high-profile productions which earned her critical and popular acclaim as a natural in front of the camera.

Estelle Brody's most enduring performance is generally considered to be in 1927's Hindle Wakes, again for Elvey.

In 1929, Estelle Brody had just finished work on the silent film Kitty, when director Victor Saville decided to reshoot the second half of the film with sound.

Estelle Brody's voice was not considered desirable by British producers at the time, which heightened her anxiety about the situation.

Estelle Brody later acknowledged that this had been a major mistake; not only did she at a stroke alienate a large number of her British fans who accused her of betrayal, but once in Hollywood she found that her status in Britain counted for nothing with American directors.

Disillusioned with her Hollywood experiences, Estelle Brody returned to England in the mid-1930s but did not seek to resurrect her British career.

Estelle Brody married Robert Fenn, an agent representing actors and film composers, and settled into private life out of the spotlight.

Estelle Brody finally returned to the screen in 1949 with a minor role in I Was a Male War Bride and for the next decade made sporadic film appearances, with her last film credit coming in Never Take Sweets from a Stranger in 1960.

Estelle Brody appeared occasionally in TV productions in the 1950s and early 1960s.