Barbara Kent

Canadian-born film actress Barbara Kent (1907-2011) was prominent in Hollywood from the silent film era to the early talkies of the 1920s and 1930s. In 1925, Barbara Kent won the Miss Hollywood Beauty Pageant. She played Harold Lloyd's love interest in his first two sound films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6715/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Paramount. Barbara Kent and Harold Lloyd in Feet First (Clyde Bruckman, 1930). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5371. Photo: Universal Pictures Corp.


French postcard by Europe, France, no. 774. Photo: Universal Film.

A petite brunette who stood less than five feet tall

Barbara Kent was born Barbara Cloutman in 1907, in Gadsby, Alberta, Canada, to Lily Louise Kent and Jullion Curtis Cloutman. Sources differ on surname as Klowtmann or Cloutman and birth year as 1907 or 1906. Her family moved from Canada to California in 1913.

In 1925, Barbara graduated from Hollywood High School. Her parents sent a picture of their pretty daughter in for a beauty contest, the Miss Hollywood Pageant. She won the contest and a seven-year contract with Universal. She began her Hollywood career with a small role for Universal Studios, which signed her to a contract.

She made her film debut as the leading lady in the Western Prowlers of the Night (Ernst Laemmle, 1926). A petite brunette who stood less than five feet tall, Kent became popular as a comedian opposite such stars as Reginald Denny. Universal lent the actress to MGM to play the heroine pitted against Greta Garbo's femme fatale in Flesh and the Devil (Clarence Brown, 1926). She made a strong impression as the rival to Garbo for the affections of John Gilbert.

Kent then attracted the attention of audiences and censors in the silent Western No Man's Law (Fred Jackman, 1927) by appearing to swim nude. She wore a flesh-coloured moleskin bathing suit in scenes that were considered very daring at the time. The popularity of that film led to her selection as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars for 1927. Kent subsequently appeared opposite Richard Barthelmess in the sports drama The Drop Kick (Millard Webb, 1927) and had a starring role in another silent classic, Lonesome (Pál Fejös, 1928) with Glen Tryon.

Barbara Kent made a smooth transition into talking pictures opposite Harold Lloyd in the comedy Welcome Danger (Clyde Bruckman, 1929). Both a sound version and a silent version were filmed. Variety gave overall high marks to Welcome Danger and Barbara Kent's spoken lines. Kent was also featured in Lloyd's second sound film the iconic comedy Feet First (Clyde Bruckman, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1818/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Parufamet.


Italian postcard by Cinema-Illustrazione, Milano, series 1, no. 6. Photo: Paramount.

Saved by Rex the King of Wild Horses

Over the next few years, Barbara Kent remained popular. Kent had supporting parts opposite Gloria Swanson in Indiscreet (Leo McCarey, 1931) and Marie Dressler in Emma (Clarence Brown, 1932). In 1932 she starred in 'The Perfect Alibi', based on a play by A. A. Milne, at the Harold Lloyd co-founded Beverly Hills Little Theatre for Professionals.

On her 25th birthday, Kent married producer and talent agent Harry Edington in Yuma, Arizona later that same year. She received critical praise for her role as the aunt in the film version of Oliver Twist (William J. Cowen, 1933) starring Dickie Moore as Oliver. In 1933, Kent took a year-long hiatus from acting so that her new husband could groom her for what he intended to be a high-profile return.

Edington headed his own agency which handled some of the biggest stars in motion pictures, including Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Ruth Chatterton and Ann Harding. Unfortunately, Barbara Kent's popularity had declined by the time she did return. After the musical Old Man Rhythm (Edward Ludwig, 1935) starring Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, she virtually retired. She returned to the screen once in a small role in the crime film Under Age (Edward Dmytryk, 1941) starring Nan Grey. After she left acting, she rarely consented to be interviewed regarding her screen career.

Kent had a great love for the outdoors. Always active, she enjoyed golf, fly fishing, hunting, and gardening. She was a longtime member of Marakkesh, Sunland, and Thunderbird Country Clubs. Following the death of her husband Harry in 1949, Kent retreated from public life. She married again in 1954, to Jack Monroe, a Lockheed aircraft engineer. Her second husband gave her flying lessons, and Kent continued to fly light aircraft until her 85th birthday and was still playing golf well into her mid-90s. The couple resided initially in Sun Valley, Idaho, but later relocated to Palm Desert, California.

There Kent lived until she died in 2011, at the age of 103. In 1970, the documentary compilation film 4 Clowns (Robert Youngson, 1970) premiered. It was a compilation of rare silent film footage of the works of Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase and Buster Keaton. Barbara Kent could be seen in the film in a scene from No Man's Law (Fred Jackman, 1927) in which she was the victim of a lustful villain played by Oliver Hardy but was saved by 'Rex the King of Wild Horses'. Film critic Leonard Maltin stated that 4 Clowns was one of the best of Robert Youngson's compilations, and as it contained excerpts from "some of the best silent comedy ever", it was "a must for viewers of all ages."


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5416/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Universal.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5608/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Paramount. Barbara Kent and Harold Lloyd in Feet First (Clyde Bruckman, 1930).


Belgian postcard. Photo: Paramount.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.