About Anita Stewart
Anita Stewart (born Anna Marie Stewart; February 7, 1895 – May 4, 1961) was an American actress and film producer of the early silent film era. == Early years == Anita Stewart was born in Brooklyn, New York, as Anna Marie Stewart on February 7, 1895, the middle child of three to parents William and Martha Stewart. Her elder sister Lucille Lee, and younger brother George also acted in films. == Vitagraph Studios == Stewart began her acting career in 1911 at the age of 16 while still attending Erasmus Hall High School Stewart's brother-in-law, director Ralph Ince at Vitagraph film studios, married to Lucille Lee, arranged for the teen-aged Stuart to appear as a juvenile extra at their New York City studio location. Stewart was one of the earliest film actresses to achieve public recognition in the nascent medium of motion pictures and achieved a great deal of acclaim early in her acting career. Within a year of joining Vitagraph, Stewart was playing lead roles, notably as the child-like Olympia in The Wood Violet (1912). When Vitagraph publicity personnel accidentally published Stewart's name as "Anita Stewart" rather the hitherto "Anna M. Stewart", she adopted it as her professional name. By 1914, with the release of the melodramatic romance A Million Bid (1914), in which she played the long-suffering Agnes Belgradin, Stewart was elevated to a veritable screen icon. Film historian Hugh Neely describes the phenomenon: Soon, Stewart was being promoted as "America's daintiest actress," and her image was featured on sheet music, souvenir plates, silver spoons, and a collection of paper dolls published in Ladies' World Magazine. In 1915, Munsey's Magazine noted that, though she had appeared in but two features and a serial and had never appeared on the theatrical stage, "her face is perhaps familiar to as wide a circle as Maude Adams's".
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.