European Film Star Postcards: Gladys Walton

15 August 2026

Gladys Walton

American actress Gladys Walton (1903-1993) was nicknamed 'The Glad Girl'. She peaked in the American silent cinema of the 1920s. She was a Flapper in such films as The Girl Who Ran Wild (1922) and The Wise Kid (1922).

American postcard by Max B. Sheffer Card Co., Chicago (M.B.S.C.Co.). Photo: Universal. Gladys Walton in The Man Tamer (Harry B. Harris, 1921). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

French postcard in the Les Vedettes de Cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 2. Photo: Universal Film.

French postcard in the Les vedettes de cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 43. Photo: Universal Film.

Wild parties and risqué scenes

Gladys Dorothy Walton was born in 1903 in Boston, Massachusetts. When she was only three, her parents divorced, and she and her mother eventually went to live in Oregon with one of her aunts. She had a happy, active childhood, one where she never dreamed of ending up in the movies.

In 1919, when she was 16, Gladys and her mother spent the summer with relatives in Los Angeles. When they decided to tour the William S. Hart studio, a talent scout noticed Gladys's good looks and asked if she’d like to be in pictures. With her mother’s approval, she shot some screen tests at Fox Studios. She first acted with the Sunshine Comedy Company in two-reelers. Gladys showed a flair for comedy and had a bigger role in La La Lucille (Eddie Lyons, Lee Moran, 1920), which starred the popular comedic duo, Eddie Lyons and Lee Moran.

Gladys Walton was under contract to Universal between 1919 and 1925. She was the star in films such as Pink Tights (Reeves Eason, 1920) with Jack Perrin, and The Girl Who Ran Wild (Rupert Julian, 1922). She epitomised the 1920s Flapper in these films. At the time, 'Flapper' generally meant an impetuous, lively young woman.

Many of her film titles suggest wild parties and risqué scenes: Risky Business (Harry B. Harris, Rollin S. Sturgeon, 1920), All Dolled Up (Rollin S. Sturgeon, 1921), Desperate Youth (Harry B. Harris, 1921), The Man Tamer (Harry B. Harris, 1921), Short Skirts (Harry B. Harris, 1921), The Rowdy (David Kirkland, 1921), High Heels (Lee Kohlmar, 1921), Playing with Fire (Dallas M. Fitzgerald, 1921), A Dangerous Game (King Baggot, 1922), and indeed, The Wild Party (Herbert Blaché, 1923).

By the time of The Wise Kid (Tod Browning, 1922), she was being advertised as 'The Little Queen of the Flappers'. At the peak of her career, Gladys Walton earned $600 a week at Universal.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 19.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 710/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Unifilman (Universal).

Quite the forgotten flapper

Up to 1923, Gladys Walton acted in one film after another at Universal and hardly had a private life - she would do 8 to 9 features per year in 1921-1923. In 1921, she married writer Frank Liddell, but because of her packed acting life, the marriage lasted only half a year.

In 1923, she married sales manager Henry Merritt Herbel. When she left for a vacation without telling the studio, Universal docked her pay, so she left. She continued to act in independent productions, but she began to lose interest in making films. By 1925, her career ended as she wanted to focus on raising a family. She and Herbel would have six kids.

Walton and Herbel were married till their divorce in 1947. Later, she was married to Spiro (Samuel) Dilles (1953-1955) and Kenneth James Wells (1971-1973). Even in her 80s, she would go out dancing several times a week. Quite the forgotten Flapper, Gladys Walton died of cancer in 1993 in the seaside town of Morro Bay, California. She was 90.

Only 5 of Gladys Walton's 38 silent films still exist: Pink Tights (Reeves Eason, 1920), All Dolled Up (Rollin S. Sturgeon, 1921), The Untameable (Herbert Blaché, 1923) with Malcolm McGregor, Sawdust (Jack Conway, 1923), and A Little Girl in a Big City (Burton L. King, 1925).

In the self-published book, 'Walton and Capone: The Untold Story', Walton's son, John Walton, claimed that his mother was the girlfriend of notorious mobster Al Capone for some ten years (1922-1932), and he himself may have even been a child of the two. However, this is disputed.