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Martha Sleeper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martha Sleeper (June 24, 1910 – March 25, 1983) was a film actress of the 1920s–1930s and, later, a Broadway stage actress. She studied dancing for five years with Russian ballet master, Louis H. Chalif, at his New York dancing studio. Her first public exhibitions were at Carnegie Hall at his class exhibitions.
Sleeper's film career began in 1923 and continued until 1945. Her first screen appearance, at the age of 13, was in The Mailman (1923), an independent production. After appearing in several kiddie comedies at the Christie studio she was signed by the Hal Roach studio for the Our Gang" series but she quickly outgrew that role. From 1925-27 she appeared in comedies playing opposite the studio's most popular male stars. She left the Roach studio in late 1927 and moved to the FBO studio where she starred in six silent features during 1928–29. With the coming of sound she was signed by MGM and placed in their training program.
From 1930 to 1936 she played supporting roles in many melodramas her role typically that of a well-bred somewhat snobbish society woman who ends up losing her man to the film's leading lady. Frustrated by the types of roles she was being offered, Martha began playing onstage in and about Los Angeles, at one point drawing raves as Eliza Doolittle in a performance of Pygmalion in 1932.
After appearing in some low budget melodramas for the poverty row Monogram studio Martha and her husband, actor Hardie Albright, left Hollywood for New York in 1936 where Martha began a long run in both on- and off-Broadway plays. In 1945, as a favor to director Leo McCarey, Martha played the role of Patsy's mother in The Bells of St. Mary's. It was her last screen role.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 1.309 |
Birthday | 1910-06-24 |
Place of Birth | Lake Bluff, Illinois, USA |
Also Known As |

1945

The Bells of St. Mary's
6.8/137
Father O'Malley is sent to St. Mary's, a run-down parochial school on the verge of condemnation. He and Sister Benedict work together in an attempt to...
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1933
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6.7/18
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1935
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1925
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0/0
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1924
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0/0
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1927
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1934
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1926
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1926
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1924
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0/0
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1927
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1925
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1927
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1933
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6.9/21
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1928
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6.4/18
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1934
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0/0
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1926
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5.6/5
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1926
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6.2/12
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1926
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Say It with Babies
5/1
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1933
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6/1
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1935
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9/1
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1924
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Too Many Mammas
4.4/5
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1928
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Should Tall Men Marry?
5.9/6
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
1932
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Huddle
6.6/5
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1931
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Confessions of a Co-Ed
5.8/4
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1925
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Innocent Husbands
6.2/4
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1930
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War Nurse
5.1/7
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1925
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Sure-Mike!
0/0
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1934
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0/0
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1925
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There Goes the Bride
0/0
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1926
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Thundering Fleas
5.6/8
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1931
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Ten Cents a Dance
6.8/16
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1961
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Days of Thrills and Laughter
5.5/2
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1933
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Bombshell
6.5/52
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1928
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0/0
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1926
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What's the World Coming To?
4.5/6
Short comedy which posits that in a hundred years men's styles will revert to Regency garb, and that there will be a complete gender role reversal, wi...
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1936
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Four Days Wonder
0/0
Jeanne Dante stars as precocious 13-year-old Judy Widdell, a devoted fan of dime-novel detective stories. When a real murder occurs in the vicinity, J...
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1924
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Seeing Nellie Home
5/1
The situation is typically embarrassing and unlikely-but-possible for Charley, but it is at the same time such a simple idea -- Charley shows off by t...
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1924
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A Ten-Minute Egg
5/1
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1927
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Flaming Fathers
5.2/2
Papa Gimplewart chaperones his daughter and her "steady" during a beach adventure.
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Flaming Fathers
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1925
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The Rat's Knuckles
6.8/2
Charley Chase is a hapless inventor with a better mouse trap in this silent comedy from 1925.
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The Rat's Knuckles
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1924
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Outdoor Pajamas
5/1
This funny Hal Roach comedy has Jimmy Jump (Charley Chase) waking up late for his wedding so in the mad rush he ends up leaving his house only dressed...
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Outdoor Pajamas
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1927
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Love 'em and Feed 'em
6/1
A pair of gold prospectors (Max Davidson, Oliver Hardy) try to make their way in the big city. *Only reconstructed fragments exists.
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Love 'em and Feed 'em

1934
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Hollywood Party
5.8/12
Jimmy Durante is jungle movie star Schnarzan the Conqueror, but the public is tiring of his fake lions. When Baron Munchausen comes to town with real...
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Hollywood Party
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1931
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Girls Demand Excitement
0/0
Peter Brooks is a hard-working, hard-up college student whose dislike of women attending college weakens under the amorous advances of spoiled sociali...
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Girls Demand Excitement
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1926
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Madame Mystery
5.6/4
A female secret agent has gotten ahold of a new type of explosive gas. She has to avoid the efforts of two men who are trying to steal it. They succee...
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Madame Mystery
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1925
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Bad Boy
6.7/3
In this two-reeler, Jimmy Jump wants to please both of his parents, but they disagree about everything. His father wants him to act more manly, althou...
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Bad Boy
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1936
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Rhythm on the Range
4/1
Cowboy Jeff Larabee returns from the east and meets Doris Halloway, a young girl, that he regards as a vagabond, till he learns that she's the owner o...
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Rhythm on the Range
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1930
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Madam Satan
5.9/21
A socialite masquerades as a notorious femme fatale to win back her straying husband during a costume party aboard a doomed dirigible.
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Madam Satan
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1926
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Bromo and Juliet
5.6/8
A young man puts on the play "Romeo and Juliet" as a fundraiser, but has to keep a close eye on his dad, who's had several drinks too many, and a pesk...
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Bromo and Juliet
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1925
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Big Red Riding Hood
5/1
Jimmy Jump is asked by the Swedish Government to translate for educational purposes "Little Red Riding Hood", but he can't afford to buy the book, so...
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Big Red Riding Hood
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1926
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Mum's the Word
5.7/7
A widow has married rich, but didn't tell her husband about her son. And he's coming for a surprise visit. To hide his identity he is introduced as th...
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Mum's the Word
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1931
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A Tailor-Made Man
0/0
John Paul Bart is just a pants-presser in a tailor's shop, but he has big ambitions. One night, he borrows the clothes of a wealthy client and bluffs...
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A Tailor-Made Man

1932
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Rasputin and the Empress
5.3/11
The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the Russian Imperial family and others, and what resulted.
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Rasputin and the Empress
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1928
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Danger Street
0/0
Rolly Sigsby, a society clubman bitterly weary of life, wanders into the middle of a gunfight between the organized gangs on the lower East side in th...
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Danger Street
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1930
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Our Blushing Brides
5.9/16
Jerry, Connie, and Franky are small-town girls seeking wealthy husbands in New York City. But, while Connie and Franky are reckless with their affecti...
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Our Blushing Brides

1933
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The Secret of Madame Blanche
4/4
A murder trial reunites a former chorus girl and her son, a grandson of an English aristocrat.
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The Secret of Madame Blanche

1925
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Should Sailors Marry?
5.4/8
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Should Sailors Marry?
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1935
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Two Sinners
10/1
An ex-convict gets released after shooting a fellow who made a play for his wife. When he meets Sleeper, his life takes a change for the better, but a...
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Two Sinners

1925
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Plain and Fancy Girls
0/0
Jimmy Jump has a "plain" girlfriend, and becomes intrigued by a "fancy" girl he spots in a park. Eventually he realizes he is better off with his no-f...
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Plain and Fancy Girls

1925
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Laughing Ladies
0/0
Lucien Littlefield is a dentist who believes in giving generous doses of laughing gas to the patients. On this occasion when a girl arrives at his off...
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Laughing Ladies

1924
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All Wet
5.2/4
Charley Chase has car trouble.
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All Wet

1928
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The Little Yellow House
0/0
Emmy Milburn must decide. Should she go back to the life she had dared so much to lose, or should she pay the price and live in luxury?
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