Leah Baird
Leah Baird (born Ada Frankenstein; June 20, 1883 – October 3, 1971) was an American actress and screenwriter.
Also recorded as Mrs. Arthur Beck
Leah Baird

National Photo Company · This image is available from the United States Library of Congress 's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID npcc.08577. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached · Public domain
- Name
- Leah Baird
- Birth Name
- Ada Frankenstein
- Born
- 20 June 1883
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Died
- 3 October 1971
- Place of death
- Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- actress · screenwriter · film producer · extra
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Leah Baird (born Ada Frankenstein; June 20, 1883 – October 3, 1971) was an American actress and screenwriter.
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Note VALÉORINE
Leah Baird (1883–1971) was an American actress, extra and film producer, among other activities. Born in Chicago, the actress died in Hollywood. Leah Baird worked for Independent Moving Pictures, Morton Snow Stock Company and Vitagraph Studios and worked in United States. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q540968 · wikipedia · Leah Baird
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Leah Baird • Birth Name — Ada Frankenstein • Born — 20 June 1883 • Birthplace — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Died — 3 October 1971 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Resting Place — Hollywood Forever Cemetery • Years Active — 1910–1957
Life
Life
Baird was born in Champaign County, Illinois. on June 20, 1883, the daughter of William Frankenstein and Bertha Schreiver Frankenstein Rathjen. She had two older sisters, Augusta and Mathilda. Both her parents were alcoholics and her mother was one of the richest madams in Central Illinois. An early star for Vitagraph Studios, Baird began her film career in 1910 in Jean and the Waif opposite Jean, the Vitagraph Dog. She played several leads in William F. Brady's troupe, opposite Douglas Fairbanks. In the late 1910s she played in 15 episodes of the serial Wolves of Kultur. Baird wrote and produced film during the 1920s. Baird later became a screenwriter and contributed to a number of Clara Bow features. She was married to producer Arthur F. Beck. Baird was under contract to Warner Bros. for seventeen years, where she appeared in character roles and as an extra.
Partial filmography
Partial filmography
• Illustration — Photo from The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen by Carolyn Lowrey pub. 1920 • Illustration — 1920
Actress
Actress
• Jean and the Waif (1910, Short) • Chumps (1912, Short) - Terpsine - the Cause • A Cure for Pokeritis (1912, Short) • All for a Girl (1912, Short) - Mrs. Gardner • The Locket; or When She Was Twenty (1913) • Red and White Roses (1913, Short) - Beth Whitney • Hearts of the First Empire (1913, Short) - Beatrice • Ivanhoe (1913) - Rebecca of York • Absinthe (1914) - Madame Dumas • Neptune's Daughter (1914) - Princess Olga • The Man That Might Have Been (1914, Short) - Mrs. William Rudd • Lights of New York (1916) - Yolande Cowles • The People vs. John Doe (1916) - Woman Lawyer • The Devil's Pay Day (1917) - Jean Haskins • One Law for Both (1917) - Helen • Sins of Ambition (1917) - Laurette Maxwell • The Fringe of Society (1917) - Myra Strang • A Sunset (1917) • Moral Suicide (1918) - Fay Hope • Life or Honor? (1918) - Helen West • Wolves of Kultur (1918) - Alice Grayson • The Echo of Youth (1919) - Olive Martin • As a Man Thinks (1919) - Elinor Clayton • The Volcano (1919) - Ruth Carroll • The Capitol (1919) - Margaret Kennard / Agnes Blake • Cynthia of the Minute (1920) - Cynthia • The Heart Line (1921) - Fancy Gray • The Bride's Confession (1921) • Don't Doubt Your Wife (1922) - Rose Manning • When the Devil Drives (1922) - Blanche Mansfield • When Husbands Deceive (1922) - Viola Baxter • Is Divorce A Failure? (1923) - Carol Lockwood • The Destroying Angel (1923) - Mary Miller / Saraa Law • The Miracle Makers (1923) - Doris Mansfield • Fangs of the Wolf (1924) • The Unnamed Woman (1925) - Billie Norton • Bullets for O'Hara (1941) - Police Matron • Bad Men of Missouri (1941) - Ms. Brooks (uncredited) • Manpower (1941) - Mrs. Taylor - Prison Matron (uncredited) • One Foot in Heaven (1941) - Minor Role (uncredited) • Blues in the Night (1941) - Nurse (uncredited) • The Body Disappears (1941) - Rest Home Nurse (uncredited) • Dangerously They Live (1941) - Fake Telephone Operator (uncredited) • The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) - Fan at Train Station (uncredited) • All Through the Night (1942) - Woman (uncredited) • Kings Row (1942) - Aunt Mamie (uncredited) • The Male Animal (1942) - Trustee's Wife (uncredited) • Lady Gangster (1942) - Prison Matron • Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) - Housekeeper (uncredited) • The Big Shot (1942) - Mrs. Carter (uncredited) • Secret Enemies (1942) - Hotel Maid (uncredited) • Busses Roar (1942) - Second Old Maid • Truck Busters (1943) - Floor Nurse (uncredited) • Air Force (1943) - Nurse #2 (uncredited) • Action in the North Atlantic (1943) - Mother (uncredited) • This Is the Army (1943) - Old-Timer's Wife (uncredited) • Watch on the Rhine (1943) - Miss Drake (uncredited) • Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) - Bus Passenger (uncredited) • The Desert Song (1943) - Arab Woman (uncredited) • The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944) - Elderly Woman (uncredited) • Make Your Own Bed (1944) - John's Wife (uncredited) • The Last Ride (1944) - Mrs. Bronson (uncredited) • Pillow to Post (1945) - Sailor's Mother (uncredited) • Mildred Pierce (1945) - Police Matron (uncredited) • My Reputation (1946) - Minor Role (uncredited) • Shadow of a Woman (1946) - Mrs. Calvin • The Verdict (1946) - French Charwoman (uncredited) • Humoresque (1946) - Professor (uncredited) • Flaxy Martin (1949) - Tenement Resident (uncredited) • The Girl from Jones Beach (1949) - Board Member (uncredited) • The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950) - Police Matron (uncredited) • How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955) - (uncredited) • Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) - Minor Role (uncredited) • The Phantom Stagecoach (1957) - Mrs. Simms (uncredited) • The Hard Man (1957) - Townswoman (uncredited) (final film role)
Producer
Producer
• Cynthia of the Minute (1920) • The Miracle Makers (1923) • Shadow of the Law (1926)

Actress Leah Baird. photo by Floyd
Floyd, N.Y. · Motion Picture Classic 1916

Portrait of actress Leah Baird
The Motion Picture Story Magazine Vol. III. no. 6, July 1912
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.
Chicago.
Birth place
Hollywood.
Death place
Writer
• The Dawning (1912) • Cynthia-Of-The-Minute (1920), scenario • Don't Doubt Your Wife (1922), scenario • When Husbands Deceive (1922), scenario • When the Devil Drives (1922), scenario • The Miracle Makers (1923), story • The Destroying Angel (1923), scenario • Is Divorce a Failure? (1923), scenario • Barriers Burned Away (1925), scenario • The Primrose Path (1925), screenplay • The Unnamed Woman (1925), story • Devil's Island (1926), scenario • Spangles (1926), scenario • Shadow of the Law (1926), scenario • The False Alarm (1926), scenario • The Return of Boston Blackie (1927), screenplay and continuity • Stolen Pleasures (1927), story • Jungle Bride (1933), story
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.Ellenberger, Allan R. Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. 113. 2001. 978-0-7864-0983-9.
- 2.She herself states her birthplace is Champaign County, Illinois New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Author Ancestry.com Publisher Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, R
- 3.Picture stars all work hard. The Daily Reporter. 1. November 3, 1923.
- 4.Jungmeyer, Jack. Famous author-actress, Leah Baird, has unique view; says don't discount 12-year-olds. Reading Times. NEA. 7. August 30, 1924.
- 5.Blaetz, Robin. Leah Baird. Women Film Pioneers. Columbia University Libraries.
- 6.Slide, Anthony. Hollywood Unknowns: A History of the Extras, Bit Players, and Stand-Ins. Jackson: University of Missouri Press. p 167.
- 7.Gevinson, Alan. Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. University of California Press. 1997. 978-0-520-20964-0.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
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 17 August 2026.
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