Ethel Shannon — She Sold Her Piano to Get a Start (1926) 🇺🇸

Ethel Shannon sold her piano to get into the movies.

It was in Denver, and she had just finished a course at a fashionable girls’ school, with a view to a social career. Her family suffered unexpected financial reverses, so Ethel, who had a suppressed yearning for film fame, seized Opportunity by the forelock. She decided that, if she were to help earn money, it would be in pictures. She received only a small sum for the piano, but it was sufficient to take her to San Francisco — no farther.

She wasn’t sure whether pictures were made in the northern California city or not, but soon found out that they weren’t — regularly. So she answered the first advertisement that she saw. The job was that of a shipping clerk, and she had to argue to get the position, because it was a man that was really wanted.

After taking the job, she decided that it wouldn’t do any harm to wait a few months before going to Hollywood. It would be better, she convinced herself, if she were provided with a good wardrobe first.

Almost immediately after her eventual arrival in Los Angeles; she obtained a chance in Sennett [Mack Sennett] comedies.

Fortune, later on, was not so kind. She appeared in a number of features, but none were great box-office winners.

But her luck has now changed for the better. She has signed a contract now for five years, and is to be starred by Gotham Productions. Her most recent film is “The Golden Web.”

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Photo by: Fred Hartsook (1876–1930

Collection: Picture Play Magazine, October 1926