Leila Hyams

She was born in New York City to vaudeville comedy performers John Hyams and Leila McIntyre, who performed as the duo "Hyams and McIntyre"[1] Her mother was a noted Broadway performer, and both her parents appeared in films. They can be seen together in several Hollywood films, primarily in minor supporting roles or uncredited appearances, including The Housekeeper's Daughter (1939).

Hyams appeared on stage with her parents while still a child, working in their vaudeville act for five years, but unable to establish a successful theatre career, she turned to modelling, modelling clothing, cosmetics and dental care.[2]

Hyams made her film debut in 1924, and with her blonde hair, green eyes, delicate features, and good-natured demeanor, she was cast in a string of supporting roles, where she was required to do very little but smile and look pretty. She proved herself capable of handling the small roles she was assigned, and over a period of time she came to be taken seriously as an actress. By 1928, she was playing starring roles, achieving success in MGM's first talkie release, Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928) opposite William Haines, Lionel Barrymore, and Karl Dane. The following year, she appeared in the popular murder mystery The Thirteenth Chair, a role that offered her the chance to display her dramatic abilities as a murder suspect. At Fox that same year, she appeared in director Allan Dwan's now lost romantic adventure The Far Call opposite Charles Morton. The quality of her parts continued to improve as the decade turned, including a role as Robert Montgomery's sister in the prison drama The Big House (1930) with Chester Morris and Wallace Beery, for which Hyams once again received positive reviews. She then appeared in Surrender (1931) in which Warner Baxter and Ralph Bellamy desperately competed for her attention.

Although she succeeded in films that required her to play pretty ingenues, and developed into a capable dramatic actress in 1930s crime melodramas, she is perhaps best remembered for two early 1930s horror movies, as the wise-cracking but kind-hearted circus performer Venus in Freaks (1932) and as the heroine in the Charles Laughton/Bela Lugosi film Island of Lost Souls (1932). Hyams was the original choice to play Jane in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), but turned it down. The role was played by Maureen O'Sullivan. She also appeared in the then-controversial Jean Harlow film Red-Headed Woman (1932) and the musical comedy The Big Broadcast (1932) with Bing Crosby, George Burns, and Gracie Allen, and was praised for her comedic performance in Ruggles of Red Gap (1935). She made 1,000 Dollars a Minute for Republic in 1935 and retired soon after.

Leila Hyams as Venus with Wallace Ford as Phroso the Clown in Freaks (1932)

Wallace Ford, Johnny Eck and Hyams in Freaks (1932)

Hyams in 1932

Hyams in 1932

Hyams with co-star Richard Dix in Yellow Dust (1936)

Hyams married her Hollywood talent agent Phil Berg in 1927.[2] In 1936, after a 12-year acting career and performing in 50 films, she retired from the motion-picture industry; nevertheless, she remained active in the Hollywood community for the rest of her life. In 1977, after a brief illness, Hyams died at age 72 at her home in Bel-Air in Los Angeles. She was survived by her husband, Phil.[2]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leila Hyams.

• Clip of Leila Hyams on YouTube
• Leila Hyams at Virtual History