Cleo Ridgely

Cleo Ridgely-Horne (May 12, 1894 – August 18, 1962) was a star of silent and sound motion pictures, whose career began early in the silent film era, in 1911.

Her acting career continued for forty years. She retired in the 1930s but returned to make more movies. Her final film was Hollywood Story (1951), in which she had a bit part. She was a native of New York, New York.

Spouses

Jaudon M. Ridgely
James W. Horne

Children

James Wesley Horne Jr.

June Jessamine Horne

Early life

Cleo was born Freda Cleo Helwig in New York City. She was the daughter of August Helwig and Catherine Emily Sommerkamp. She had two sisters, Christina and Martha.

A Star of the Silent Screen

Cleo starred with Ruth Roland in a girl detective series in the 1920s and co-starred in a number of films with Wallace Reid and Lew Cody. She was married to James W. Horne, who directed the Laurel and Hardy comedies for many years. Horne died in 1942. She was divorced from her first husband, Jaudon M. Ridgely, in the Los Angeles, California courts in December 1916.

Cleo worked with Famous Players-Lasky Film Company and also for Paramount Pictures. She was selected queen of the Auburn exhibit at the downtown automobile show in Los Angeles, California in October 1915. A publicity photo posed the actress with a 1916 Auburn Six. It was made by theAuburn Automobile Company and appeared at the show.

Equestrian

Cleo was an accomplished horse woman and rode across country on horseback with her first husband from New York to San FranciscoIin 1912, making numerous promotional stops along the way in a trip that lasted 18 months. In one of her Lasky features she stopped a run-away four-in-hand, risking her life, while on top of a stage coach. Ridgely lived her later years in Glendale, California. She died in 1962 at her home at the age of 68. She was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

In 2016, Cleo Ridgely was honored with a Letter of Commendation by the City of Glendale, California.

Partial filmography

• Leaves in the Storm (1912)
• The Spoilers (1914)
• Stolen Goods (1915)
• The Fighting Hope (1915)
• The Puppet Crown (1915)
• The Marriage of Kitty (1915)
• The Chorus Lady (1915)
• The Golden Chance (1915)
• The Love Mask (1916)
• The Selfish Woman (1916)
• The House with the Golden Windows (1916)
• The Victory of Conscience (1916)
• The Yellow Pawn (1916)
• The Victoria Cross (1916)
• Joan the Woman (1916)
• The Law and the Woman (1922)
• The Forgotten Law (1922)
• The Sleepwalker (1922)
• The Beautiful and Damned (1922)

References

• Lima, Ohio, Times-Democrat, What's The Price of Film Stardom? Cleo Ridgely Says, Defiance of Death, Saturday Evening, May 6, 1916, Page 9.
• Los Angeles Times, Cleo Ridgely To Be Auburn Queen at Broadway Show, September 19, 1915, Page VII.
• Los Angeles Times, Pen Points, December 10, 1916, Page II4.
• Los Angeles Times, Rites Set Today for Mrs. Horne, Former Actress, August 21, 1962, Page 21.
• Los Angeles Times, The Week In Review, August 26, 1962, Page GB2.
• 1930 United States Census