Pringle, Aileen, b. 1895.

Aileen Pringle was born on July 23, 1895, the daughter of William Bisbee, president of the Pioneer Fruit Company in San Francisco. She was educated in Paris and London. While in London, she married her first husband, Sir Charles Pringle, and made her acting debut on the stage in a production of The Bracelet . During World War I, Aileen and her husband, later governor general of the Bahamas, took up residence in Jamaica, then came to live in New York, where Aileen resumed her acting career, starring in a stage production of The Green Goddess and the motion picture Honor Bound with a then unknown Rudolph Valentino. As Aileen's interest in acting grew and she moved to Hollywood in 1922, precipitating her separation from Charles Pringle. They divorced 20 years later. She began her film career as a player for Metro studios (later MGM), but quickly moved into starring roles in silent features. She was chosen by Elinor Glyn for the lead in the screen adaptation of Glyn's popular novel, Three Weeks . Her portrayal of a runaway queen who falls for a lovelorn young man is perhaps her most notable role. She followed this success with leading roles in other Elinor Glyn adaptations as well as other popular romances, in which she was cast as the seductress. Among her best known films are: Adam & Evil (1927), Beau Broadway (1928), Body and Soul (1928) and The Phantom of Crestwood (1932). She continued working into the 1930s, but with the advent of sound films, her career faded and she was relegated to westerns and "B" movies. Her final role was a small part in Since You Went Away (1944).

She led an active social life in Hollywood. Living on the beach in fashionable Santa Monica, she was a frequent hostess to and guest of Joan Crawford, Eric Von Stroheim, Greta Garbo, and King and Florence Vidor. She developed a close friendship with Marion Davies that endured well beyond Aileen's acting career, though no letters from Davies are extant in this collection.

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