Villain of the Month: Lillian Worth
Not much is known about silent film actress Lillian Worth, but she does have an interesting distinction among other popular players in the serial field, she played the same character twice in two different serials made almost ten years apart.
Her first serial was SLK’s The Fatal Fortune (1919), in which she had a small role. But it was two years later when she would make a big impression on movie goers in the Weiss Brothers’ The Adventures of Tarzan (1921), playing Queen La of Opar, who loves Tarzan and tries to kill because he prefers Jane.
She became a popular character actress for the rest of the silent era, appearing in Captain Suds (1925), Ruslter’s Ranch (1926), On the Stroke of Twelve (1927), The Docks of New York (1928), and Stairs of Sand (1929). She then reprised her famous role of Queen La for the Universal serial Tarzan the Tiger (1929).
Unfortunately Worth did not make a good transition to talkies, working for most of the next decade in uncredited bit parts. IMDB lists her as having appeared in The Fighting Sheriff (1931), Carnival (1935), and Big City (1937) among others, but she seems to have just faded into the limelight for the most part.
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment