Biography
A diminutive but important stage star of the 1890s, Victory Bateman claimed that her first name became Victory because she was born on the day General Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant. On stage from childhood, Bateman would later often appear in the scandal sheets of her day, a divorce suit and several bouts with "mental exhaustion" being much discussed. Having starred opposite the likes of Edwin Booth, Lewis James, and
Frederick Warde, the veteran actress made her screen debut in the Thanhouser company's highly acclaimed two-reel production of Charles Dickens'
Nicholas Nickleby (1912), quickly becoming one of her generation's great character actresses. Leaving Thanhouser and its affiliates in 1915, Bateman would later portray Lady Montague in
Theda Bara's
Romeo and Juliet (1916) and, later still, play Mrs. Durbeyfield in
Blanche Sweet's
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1924). The latter was to be the actress' final film; she died two years later from bronchial pneumonia. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide