Josephine Crowell
Josephine Bonaparte Crowell (January 11, 1859 – July 27, 1932) was a Canadian film actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 90 films between 1912 and 1929.
Also recorded as Josephine Boneparte Crowell
Josephine Crowell

Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research · detail from · Public domain
- Name
- Josephine Crowell
- Birth Name
- Josephine Bonaparte Crowell
- Born
- 11 January 1859
- Birthplace
- Barrington, Nova Scotia, British North America
- Died
- 27 July 1932
- Place of death
- Amityville, New York, USA
- Occupation
- Actress
- Spouse
- Emile La Croix
- Nationality
- Canada
- Languages
- English
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3138866 · wikipedia · Josephine Crowell
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Josephine Crowell • Birth Name — Josephine Bonaparte Crowell • Born — 11 January 1859 • Birthplace — Barrington, Nova Scotia, British North America • Died — 27 July 1932 • Place of death — Amityville, New York, USA • Years Active — 1912–1929 • Occupation — Actress • Spouse — Emile La Croix
Biography
Biography
Crowell was born in Barrington, Nova Scotia, the only child of Captain Nathan Crowell and Susan E. Shepherd. Crowell debuted in the theater in 1879, and she appeared on Broadway as Mrs. Pitcher in Captain Mollhy (1902). She began her film acting career in the 1912 film The School Teacher and the Waif. By 1919, she had appeared in 50 films, many of which were film shorts. Her notable film appearances during this period were in the early films of D.W. Griffith, including her portrayals of Mrs. Cameron in the controversial 1915 historical drama The Birth of a Nation and Catherine de' Medici in the 1916 historical epic Intolerance. In 1920, she appeared with Gladys Brockwell in Flames of the Flesh, followed by another six film appearances that year. From 1921 until 1929, she had 34 more film appearances, including Hot Water in which she played Harold Lloyd's mother-in-law and The Splendid Crime starring Bebe Daniels in 1925. Her last role was in the 1929 film Wrong Again, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. With the coming of sound films, her career abruptly ended. She had married actor Emile La Croix earlier in her career, and was residing in Amityville, New York at the time of her death. Crowell also performed in vaudeville. Crowell died on July 27, 1932, at the Brunswick Home in Amityville, aged 73.
Partial filmography
Partial filmography
• The School Teacher and the Waif (1912, Short) • The Mothering Heart (1913, Short) - Woman Collecting Ironing (uncredited) • Home, Sweet Home (1914) - Payne's Mother • The Painted Lady (1914, Short) - The Mother • The Tear That Burned (1914) • The Sisters (1914) • The Birth of a Nation (1915) - Mrs. Cameron • A Yankee from the West (1915) • The Penitentes (1915) • The Wharf Rat (1916) • Intolerance (1916) - Catherine de Médici • The House Built Upon Sand (1916) • The Little School Ma'am (1916) - Widow Larkin • The Old Folks at Home (1916) • The Bad Boy (1917) • Cheerful Givers (1917) • Betsy's Burglar (1917) • Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917) • Hearts of the World (1918) • Stella Maris (1918) • Women's Weapons (1918) • Diane of the Green Van (1919) • Peppy Polly (1919) • Josselyn's Wife (1919) • The Greatest Question (1919) • The Six Best Cellars (1920) • Crooked Streets (1920) • Dangerous to Men (1920) • Held by the Enemy (1920) • Bunty Pulls the Strings (1921) • Don't Neglect Your Wife (1921) • Live and Let Live (1921) • Home Stuff (1921) • Shattered Idols (1922) • Seeing's Believing (1922) • Lights of the Desert (1922) • Minnie (1922) • Main Street (1923) • Ashes of Vengeance (1923) • Yesterday's Wife (1923) • Rupert of Hentzau (1923) • Hot Water (1924) • Flowing Gold (1924) • The Sporting Venus (1925) • Zander the Great (1925) • Welcome Home (1925) • The Merry Widow (1925) • New Brooms (1925) • Yellow Fingers (1926) • Dog Shy (1926) • Bred in Old Kentucky (1926) • For Wives Only (1926) • The Splendid Crime (1926) • Mantrap (1926) • Fighting Love (1927) • The Man Who Laughs (1928) • Speedy (1928) • Wrong Again (1929)
Identity
Identity
Josephine Crowell is recorded with the occupation film actor. Recorded as a citizen of Canada.

Left to right: Josephine Crowell, Henry B. Walthall, and Lillian Gish in The Birth of a Nation - cropped screenshot
film screenshot (D. W. Griffith Prod.)

Lobby card for Hearts of the World
unknown (D. W. Griffith Prod.)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1859
Josephine Crowell was born on 11 January 1859.
1932
Josephine Crowell died on 27 July 1932.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Nova Scotia.
Birth place
Amityville.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Josephine Crowell”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3138866: Josephine Crowell
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Josephine Crowell, revision 1357026035 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."Local and Personal News". The Halifax Herald. July 24, 1886. p. 3. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
- 2."Nathan (Captain) Crowell family tree". Ancestry.com. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
- 3.The Broadway League. Josephine Crowell. Internet Broadway Database.
- 4."Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZLL-NX1 : Wed Oct 18 16:02:13 UTC 2023), Entry for Emil La Croix and Josephine B. Crowell, 29 Nov 1890.
- 5.Josephine Crowell. The New York Times. 17. July 28, 1932.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 19 August 2026.
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