Florence Gilbert

Florence Gilbert (February 20, 1904 – February 27, 1991) was an American silent film actress of the 1920s. She supported actors William Fairbanks and Jack Hoxie.

Gilbert was born and mostly raised in Chicago her mother took her and brother Eddie to Los Angeles when she was 14 (c. 1918) but reportedly looked a few years older, and got her into film after Monty Banks spotted her. In Hollywood she worked for Christy and Fox Studios making over 50 appearances from 1920.

Around 1926, when The Johnstown Flood was released she married entrepreneur Ashton Dearholt and bore him two children, Lee & Caryl Lee. She left show business permanently to tend home and family but she remained socially connected to the film community through her professional friendships and marriages.

Spouses:

Ashton Dearholt (1926-1934) (divorced)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1935-1941) (divorced)
Albert S. Chase (1942-?)

Children:

Lee Ashton Dearholt III Chase (b. 1929)
Caryl Lee Dearholt Chase (b. 1931; d. 2001)

Personal life and marriages

She divorced Dearholt after he returned from filming The New Adventures of Tarzan in Guatemala with co-star Ula Holt in tow and insisted that Holt be able to live in the Dearholt home.

She subsequently married Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, 28 years her senior, who had admired her in films and had recently also separated from his wife. However, she later left this marriage. By her account, after a period of happiness, during which the couple moved to Hawaii, Burroughs began drinking, treated her coldly, and was verbally hostile towards her son, while lavishing affection on her daughter. Florence Gilbert's third husband was Albert S. Chase who legally adopted both her children.

Daughter Caryl Lee eventually became an animal trainer in Hollywood, using the name Cindy Cullen.