BURTON, BEATRICE (13 May 1894 - 13 April 1983) was an author, film writer, and actress during the early 20th century. Burton wrote extensively about romance and coming-of-age themes in her novels. Burton is best known for her creative writing style and use of pop-culture references and 1920s slang in her literature.
Burton was born May, 13th, 1894 in Cleveland, Ohio to Alfred and Minnie Burton as the youngest of three children. Burton spent her childhood in Cleveland, Ohio, before marrying Victor Hugo Morgan on November 8th, 1916. Together, Burton and Morgan had three children: Virginia, Victor, and Victoria between 1918 and 1922. Sometime during the 1920s Burton and Morgan moved from Cleveland, Ohio to Clearwater, Florida.
Burton’s acting career began in the early 1900s. Her most significant role was Mrs. Reed in The Cradle Buster (1922). Burton’s other roles included Lady Garnett in The Great Ruby (1915) and a very minor role in Sylvia on a Spree (1918). Although Burton’s acting career was minimal, she found greater success through her career as a novelist.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Burton is credited with having written seventeen books, but she may have authored more. Some of Burton’s more popular book titles include The Flapper Wife (1925), Footloose (1926), Sally’s Shoulders (1927), The Petter (1927), and The Little Yellow House (1928).
Of the seventeen books Burton is known to have written and published, four were adapted for films. These were Footloose Widows (1926), Sally’s Shoulder’s (1928), The Little Yellow House (1928), and His Jazz Bride (1928).
Burton was also a film writer, including dramas such as A Transplanted Prairie Flower (1914) and film adaptation of Beyond London Lights (1928).
Although Burton had an extensive writing career during the 1920s, she spent most of the 1930s onward raising her children and only occasionally writing. Two books from this period are her 1936 The Mainspring and 1937 Little Town.
Burton passed away on April 13th, 1983 in Naples, Florida. Burton is buried in Clearwater Municipal Cemetery, in Pinellas County, Florida.
Therese Ruane