Film Career
Represented by top theatrical agent Pat Casey, Gibson entered movies in early 1911, joining the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP) as an extra and later the Lubin Studios as a stock player. She was hired as leading lady by the new U.S. branch of Paris-based Éclair Studios in July 1911. She was an instant hit with audiences, becoming one of the first actresses in the new medium of film to be promoted as a "star" in her own right. Praised for her natural, subtle acting style, she was particularly effective as a comedienne in such popular one-reelers as Miss Masquerader (1911) and Love Finds a Way (1912), all of which were produced at Fort Lee, New Jersey, then the center of the burgeoning American motion picture industry.
Despite her popularity in comedies, one of her most important parts was that of Molly Pitcher in the historical drama Hands Across the Sea (1911), Eclair's debut vehicle and her first star turn.
Read more about this topic: Dorothy Gibson
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