Biography
A former child actress who may have appeared in the first screen version of The Wizard of Oz, Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908), waif-like Gladys Walton became a star at Universal in the early '20s. While
Priscilla Dean, the studio's top female attraction at the time, played more worldly women, Walton excelled in the same kind of roles that had made
Mary Pickford the screen's foremost heroine. Walton's films had titles like
Pink Tights (1920), Rich Girl, Poor Girl (1921; she played a dual role),
Second Hand Rose (1922), and
The Wild Party (1923). By 1923, however, Walton's career was already on the wane. She left films after the obscure
The Ape (1928), in which she shared top billing with another Universal refugee,
Ruth Stonehouse. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide