Marion Byron (born Miriam Bilenkin; 1911 – 1985) was an American silent film actress and comedian.

Early years

Born in Dayton, Ohio, Byron was one of five daughters of Louis and Bertha Bilenkin.

Career

She made her first stage appearance at the age of 13 and followed it with a role in actor-producer Lupino Lane's Hollywood Music Box Revue opposite Fannie Brice. It was while appearing in this production that she was given the nickname "Peanuts" because of her short stature. While appearing in The Strawberry Blonde, she came to the attention of Buster Keaton who signed her as his leading lady in the film Steamboat Bill, Jr. in 1928 when she was just 16. (Keaton, standing 5' 5", was careful to cast ingenues who were petite, so they would photograph well opposite Keaton.) From there she was hired by Hal Roach who teamed her with Anita Garvin in a bid to create a female version of Laurel and Hardy. The pairing was not a commercial success and they made only three short comedies: Feed 'Em and Weep (1928), A Pair of Tights (1928), and Going Ga-Ga (1929). She left the Roach studio before it made talking comedies, then worked in musical features like the Vitaphone film Broadway Babies (1929) with Alice White, and the early Technicolor feature Golden Dawn (1930). Her parts slowly got smaller until they were unbilled walk-ons in movies like Meet the Baron (1933), starring Jack Pearl and Hips Hips Hooray (1934) with Wheeler and Woolsey; she returned to the Hal Roach studio for a bit part in the Charley Chase short It Happened One Day (1934). Her final screen appearance was as a baby nurse to the Dionne Quintuplets in Five of a Kind (1938).

Family

Byron married screenwriter Lou Breslow in 1932 and they had two sons, Lawrence and Daniel. They remained together until her death in Santa Monica on July 5, 1985, following a long illness. Her ashes were later scattered in the sea.

Selected filmography