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{{Similar names|Anna Little (disambiguation){{!}}Anna Little}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
▲{{refimprove|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ann Little
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|
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| birth_name = Mary Hankins Brooks▼
| birth_date = {{
| birth_place = [[Mount Shasta, California]], U.S.
| death_date = {{
| death_place = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| resting_place = [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale]], California, U.S.
▲| birth_name = Mary Brooks
|
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1911–1925
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Allan Forrest]]|1916|1918|end=div}} }}
'''Ann Little''' (born '''Mary Hankins Brooks'''; February 7, 1891 – May 21, 1984), also known as '''Anna Little''', was an American film actress whose career was most prolific during the [[silent film]] era of the early 1910s through the early 1920s. Today, most of her films are lost, with only
== Life and career ==
Ann Little was born Mary Hankins Brooks on February 7, 1891, on a ranch in [[Mount Shasta, California]]. She was the only child of Mary Mariah "Mamie" Hankins Brooks, who was from Montana, and James Luther Brooks, who was from New York.<ref>[https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4293708-00275?pid=482647&backurl=http://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/482647:6061?tid%3D%26pid%3D%26queryId%3Daddd77ff6497e22e0475e82d9dc2e339%26_phsrc%3Dum51661141%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&usePUB=true&_phsrc=um51661141&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true Census data], ancestry.com. Accessed November 6, 2022.</ref><ref>[https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1174/images/USM1490_1045-0682?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.186680936.1325769413.1621224829-933749568.1620085902&pId=558701 Census data], ancestry.com. Accessed November 6, 2022.</ref> In the 1900 census, she is listed as living in [[Chicago, Illinois]], alongside her mother and father as roomers.<ref>[https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4113717_00300?pid=10571364&backurl=http://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/10571364:7602&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true Census data], ancestry.com. Accessed November 6, 2022.</ref> She appears in the 1910 census as living in Mount Shasta again as a roomer with the Levy family, and her marital status is "married".<ref>[https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/31111_4327312-00960?pid=1882973&backurl=http://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1882973:7884?tid%3D%26pid%3D%26queryId%3Daddd77ff6497e22e0475e82d9dc2e339&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true Census data], ancestry.com. Accessed November 6, 2022.</ref> Little first appeared in a traveling, stock-theater group after graduating from high school at age 16.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZWiCAAAQBAJ&q=mary+brooks+mt+shasta+california&pg=PA113|title=Wallace Reid: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Idol|first=E. J.|last=Fleming|date=October 25, 2013|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786477258|via=Google Books}}</ref>
By 1912, Little appeared regularly in [[Thomas H. Ince]] directed Western-themed serials, often as an "Indian princess" and usually with [[Francis Ford (actor)|Francis Ford]], [[Grace Cunard]], [[Olive Tell]], [[Jack Conway (filmmaker)|Jack Conway]], [[Ethel Grandin]], early American child actress [[Mildred Harris]], and notable early cowboy star [[Art Acord]] for [[Essanay Studios]]. Between 1911 and 1914, Little was in approximately sixty shorts, the overwhelming majority of them Westerns, including many serials that ran in installments. Her other notable co-stars at this time included [[Harold Lockwood]], [[Jane Wolfe]], [[William Worthington (actor)|William Worthington]], [[Tom Chatterton]], and actor/director [[Frank Borzage]].▼
[[File:Ann Little - Motion Picture News, August 9, 1919.jpg|thumb|Little as Kate Arnold in ''[[Lightning Bryce]]'' (1919).]]▼
After briefly relocating to [[San Francisco]] in the early 1910s,{{Citation needed |date=March 2021}} she acted in musical comedies on stage<ref>{{cite news |title=Why I went into the Movies -- how I got in |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73352132/the-fort-wayne-sentinel/ |access-date=March 13, 2021 |work=The Fort Wayne Sentinel |date=August 16, 1919 |location=Indiana, Fort Wayne |page=3|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> before she made the transition to films; first appearing in one-reel [[Western (genre)|Western]] shorts with actor and director [[Broncho Billy Anderson]]. Her first film appearance was in the 1911 release ''The Indian Maiden's Lesson'' as a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] named Red Feather. Little subsequently appeared as Native American characters in many of her earliest films.{{cn|date=November 2022}}
Although possibly best recalled for her appearances in Westerns, Little showed versatility as an actress by appearing in a number of well received roles in other dramatic genres and even comedies. Most notably among her dramatic roles was the early American cinematic [[American Civil War|Civil War]] serials directed by William J. Bauman and Thomas Ince. Another notable film was the 1914 Ruth Ann Baldwin penned and [[Allan Dwan]] adapted epic ''Damon and Pythias'', which had thousands of extras. While signed under contract to [[Universal Studios]], she made nearly six serials, most of them Western-themed one- and two-reel dramas.▼
▲By 1912, Little appeared regularly in [[Thomas H. Ince]]
▲[[File:Ann Little - Motion Picture News, August 9, 1919.jpg|thumb|Little as Kate Arnold in ''[[Lightning Bryce]]'' (1919)
▲Although possibly best recalled for her appearances in Westerns, Little showed versatility as an actress by appearing in a number of well
[[File:Ann Little - Motion Picture, June 1915.jpg|thumb|Little in ''Motion Picture Magazine'', June 1915]]
By 1917, Little signed to [[Paramount Pictures]] and was often paired with highly successful actor [[Wallace Reid]] in a number of popular dramas and comedies. Although she was allegedly tired of being typecast in Western serials,{{Citation needed |date=March 2021}} she starred opposite cowboy actor [[Jack Hoxie]] in the 1919 serial ''[[Lightning Bryce]]''. She left [[Famous Players–Lasky]] studios in 1919 to sign with National Film Corporation.<ref>{{cite news |title=In the Merry World of Make-Believe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73353651/los-angeles-evening-express/ |access-date=March 13, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Evening Express |date=June 25, 1919 |page=15|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
== Later years ==
While still at the peak of her public popularity in the early 1920s, Little retired from the motion picture industry. In her later years, she managed the [[Chateau Marmont]] on the [[Sunset Strip]], but rarely spoke of her years in acting.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2013/0501/Life-at-the-Marmont-6-stories-of-Hollywood-stars-at-the-famous-hotel/Workaholic-Billy-Wilder|magazine=The Christian Science Monitor|title=Life at the Marmont': 6 stories of Hollywood stars at the famous hotel|date=May 1, 2013|last=Driscoll|first=Molly}}</ref>
Ann Little died at age 93, in [[Los Angeles]], and was interred at the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in Glendale, California.
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* ''[[The Battle of Gettysburg (1913 film)|The Battle of Gettysburg]]'' (1913, short, lost film) as Virginia Burke, the Confederate Sister
* ''The Voice at the Telephone'' (1914) as Clara Morrison
* ''[[The Opened Shutters]]'' (1914) as Sylvia Lacey
*
* ''[[Called Back (1914 American film)|Called Back]]'' (1914) as Pauline March
* ''[[The Black Box (serial)|The Black Box]]'' (1915, serial, lost film) as Lenora MacDougal
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* ''[[The Squaw Man (1918 film)|The Squaw Man]]'' (1918, lost film, only the last reel exists) as Naturich
* ''[[Alias Mike Moran]]'' (1919) as Elaine Debaux
* ''[[The Roaring Road (1919 film)|The Roaring Road]]'' (1919) as Dorothy Ward, the Cub
* ''Something to Do'' (1919) as Jane Remwick
* ''[[Square Deal Sanderson]]'' (1919) as Mary Bransford
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* ''[[Chain Lightning (1922 film)|Chain Lightning]]'' (1922) as Peggy Pomeroy
* ''[[The Eagle's Talons]]'' (1923, lost film) as Enid Markham
* ''[[The Greatest Menace]]'' (1923) as Velma Wright
* ''Secret Service Sanders'' (1925) as Ann Walters
{{div col end}}
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* {{IMDb name|id=0514517}}
* [http://www.silentera.com/people/actresses/Little-Ann.html Ann Little] at Silent Era People
* {{AFI person|13346-Ann-Little}}
{{Authority control}}
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