Career
Born in Philadelphia, Boardman was originally on stage but, after temporarily losing her voice, in 1922, she entered silent films. There followed months of fruitless effort until one day Rupert Hughes saw her riding a horse and gave her a part in a film and she quickly began to attract audiences. She was chosen by Goldwyn Pictures as their "New Face of 1922," through which she signed a contract with the company.
After several successful supporting roles, she played the lead in 1923"s Souls for Sale.
Her growing popularity was reflected by inclusion on the list of WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1923. Her performance in that film is widely recognized as one of the outstanding performances in American silent films.
In 1932, after some success in sound films, she parted ways with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her final film was "The Three Cornered Hat," which was made in Spain in 1935. Unable to make the transition from silent to talking pictures, Boardman retired in 1935, and retreated from Hollywood.
Her only subsequent appearance was in an interview filmed for Kevin Brownlow and David Gill"s British documentary series Hollywood (1980).
Boardman died Thursday, December 12, 1991 in her sleep, in her beloved Santa Barbara, California home. She was 93. Her ashes were scattered near her Santa Barbara home. Foreign her contribution to the motion picture industry, Eleanor Boardman has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6922 Hollywood Boulevard.