1. Fritzi Ridgeway, sometimes credited as Fritzie Ridgeway, was an American silent film actress, vaudeville performer, and hotelier.
16 Facts About Fritzi Ridgeway
1. 2.
Fritzi Ridgeway appeared in 63 films between 1916 and 1934, with prominent roles in Western films populating much of her early career.
3.
Fritzi Ridgeway officially retired from acting in 1934, making her final screen appearance in Rouben Mamoulian's We Live Again.
4.
Fritzi Ridgeway spent the latter half of her life managing the Hotel del Tahquitz in Palm Springs, California, a hotel she built in 1928.
5.
Fritzi Ridgeway remained the proprietor of the Hotel del Tahquitz until her death in 1961.
6.
Fritzi Ridgeway was born Fredricka Berneice Hawkes on April 8,1898 in Missoula, Montana, later moving with her family to Butte, where she attended primary school.
7.
Fritzi Ridgeway made her film debut in the short The Bridesmaid's Secret, and appeared later that year in the title role of the feature film The Little Girl Next Door.
8.
Fritzi Ridgeway would appear in several silent Western shorts after, including The Wrong Man and The Soul Herder.
9.
Fritzi Ridgeway appeared as Evelyn Hastings in the 1917 picture The Learnin' of Jim Benton opposite Roy Stewart, and was noted in a review for her "delightful" performance in the film.
10.
In 1919, Fritzi Ridgeway appeared in Victor Schertzinger's comedy When Doctors Disagree, followed by a supporting part in Tod Browning's drama The Unpainted Woman for Universal Pictures.
11.
Fritzi Ridgeway would continue to play in silent pictures into the late 1920s, including roles in the drama The Old Homestead, the Western Ruggles of Red Gap, and the drama The Enemy, opposite Lillian Gish.
12.
Fritzi Ridgeway made her final screen appearance in a minor uncredited role in We Live Again, an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's Resurrection, before retiring from acting.
13.
Fritzi Ridgeway spent her remaining years managing the Hotel del Tahquitz, a 100-room hotel which she had built in Palm Springs, California in 1928.
14.
On November 23,1916, Fritzi Ridgeway married John Charles Webb Dill of Hollywood.
15.
Fritzi Ridgeway married Russian composer Constantin Bakaleinikoff in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 23,1925.
16.
In March 1928, Fritzi Ridgeway commissioned architect Anthony Miller to design a home for her, which was built in Los Angeles, California.