---
name: "Louise Dresser"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/louise-dresser"
fi1m_id: "louise-dresser"
imdb_id: "nm0237571"
tmdb_id: 146141
wikidata_id: "Q275952"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "3 October 1878"
died: "24 April 1965"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-25T06:14:50.818579+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Louise Dresser

## Identity

Louise Dresser

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/louise-dresser
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** louise-dresser
- **IMDb ID:** nm0237571
- **TMDB ID:** 146141
- **Wikidata ID:** Q275952
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Dresser, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q275952, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0237571/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/146141

Actor. Born 3 October 1878 in Evansville, Indiana, USA. Died 24 April 1965.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 3 October 1878, Evansville, Indiana, USA
- **Died:** 24 April 1965
- **Also known as:** Lulu Josephine Kerlin, Louise Josephine Kerlin
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Dresser, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q275952, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0237571/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/146141

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Eagle*](https://film.one/film/the-eagle.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Louise Dresser was an American actress. Born Louise Josephine Kerlin in Evansville, Indiana, she began her career in vaudeville around 1900 and later appeared on Broadway in productions including *Matinee Idol* (1910–1912) and *Have a Heart* (1917). She adopted her professional surname from songwriter Paul Dresser.

Dresser made her film debut in *The Glory of Clementina* (1922). She played The Czarina, Catherine II, in *The Eagle* (1925) opposite Rudolph Valentino, and appeared in *The Goose Woman* (1925) and *The Scarlet Empress* (1934). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for *A Ship Comes In* (1928) and was frequently cast as the wife of Will Rogers in films such as *State Fair* (1933) and *David Harum* (1934). Her final film was *Maid of Salem* (1937).

She was married twice: to Jack Norworth from 1898 until their divorce in 1908, and to Jack Gardner from 1910 until his death in 1950. Dresser died in 1965.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, catalog.afi.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Eagle* (1925), Fi1m 70, as The Czarina, Catherine II — [page](https://film.one/film/the-eagle.md)

## Complete filmography (49)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Oscars* (1953), series, Actor
- *Maid of Salem* (1937), as Ellen Clarke
- *The County Chairman* (1935), as Mrs. Rigby
- *A Girl of the Limberlost* (1934), as Katherine Comstock
- *Servants' Entrance* (1934), as Mrs. Hansen
- *The World Moves On* (1934), as Baroness von Gerhardt
- *The Scarlet Empress* (1934), as Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
- *David Harum* (1934), as Polly
- *Cradle Song* (1933), as Prioress
- *Doctor Bull* (1933), as Mme Herbert Banning
- *Song of the Eagle* (1933), as Emma Hoffman
- *State Fair* (1933), as Melissa Frake
- *Stepping Sisters* (1932), as Mrs. Cissie Ramsey
- *Caught* (1931), as Calamity
- *Lightnin'* (1930), as Mrs. Mary Jones
- *The Three Sisters* (1930), as Marta
- *This Mad World* (1930), as Pauline Parisot - Paul's Mother
- *Mammy* (1930), as Mother Fuller
- *Not Quite Decent* (1929), as Mame Jarrow
- *Madonna of Avenue A* (1929), as Georgia Morton
- *Mother Knows Best* (1928), as Ma Quail
- *The Air Circus* (1928), as Mrs. Blake
- *The Garden of Eden* (1928), as Rosa
- *A Ship Comes In* (1928), as Mrs. Pleznik
- *Mr. Wu* (1927), as Mrs. Gregory
- *White Flannels* (1927), as Mrs. Jacob Politz
- *The Third Degree* (1926), as Alicia Daly
- *Everybody's Acting* (1926), as Anastasia Potter
- *Gigolo* (1926), as Julia Gory
- *Broken Hearts of Hollywood* (1926), as Virginia Perry
- *Padlocked* (1926), as Mrs. Alcott
- *The Blind Goddess* (1926), as Mrs. Eileen Clayton
- *Fifth Avenue* (1926), as Claudine Kemp
- *The Eagle* (1925), as The Czarina, Catherine II — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-eagle.md)
- *The Goose Woman* (1925), as Marie de Nardi / Mary Holmes
- *Percy* (1925), as Mrs. Rogers
- *Enticement* (1925), as Mrs. Samuel Murray
- *Cheap Kisses* (1924), as Jane Dillingham
- *To the Ladies* (1924), as Mrs. Kincaid
- *The City That Never Sleeps* (1924), as Mother O'Day
- *What Shall I Do?* (1924), as Mrs. McLean
- *The Next Corner* (1924), as Nina Race
- *Woman-Proof* (1923), as Wilma Rockwood
- *Ruggles of Red Gap* (1923), as Mrs. Effie Floud
- *Prodigal Daughters* (1923), as Mrs. Forbes
- *The Fog* (1923), as Mrs. Theddon
- *Enter Madame* (1922), as Mrs. Flora Preston
- *Burning Sands* (1922), as Kate Bindane
- *The Glory of Clementina* (1922), as Lena Fontaine

## Gallery

- ![Louise Dresser, stage and vaudeville actress Subjects: actresses (1912)](https://film.one/media/person/3849801/gallery-1f01983c0a5e.jpg) Louise Dresser, stage and vaudeville actress Subjects: actresses (1912) — Studio of George Moffett, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Louise_Dresser%2C_stage_and_vaudeville_actress_%28SAYRE_23908%29.jpg/1280px-Louise_Dresser%2C_stage_and_vaudeville_actress_%28SAYRE_23908%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Louise Dresser as the prima donna in the "The Candy Shop", as extracted from the November 1909 issue of The Blue Book Magazine.](https://film.one/media/person/3849801/gallery-7318555ee4ad.jpg) Louise Dresser as the prima donna in the "The Candy Shop", as extracted from the November 1909 issue of The Blue Book Magazine. — Moffett Studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Louise_Dresser_in_%22The_Candy_Shop%22.jpg/1280px-Louise_Dresser_in_%22The_Candy_Shop%22.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Stage actress Louise Dresser. Subjects (LCTGM): actresses (1926)](https://film.one/media/person/3849801/gallery-bbd85aea62cf.jpg) Stage actress Louise Dresser. Subjects (LCTGM): actresses (1926) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Stage_actress_Louise_Dresser_%28SAYRE_22944%29.jpg/1280px-Stage_actress_Louise_Dresser_%28SAYRE_22944%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Lightnin' Subjects (LCTGM): motion pictures, actresses, actors (1930)](https://film.one/media/person/3849801/gallery-1247a2695434.jpg) Lightnin' Subjects (LCTGM): motion pictures, actresses, actors (1930) — Unknown photographerUnknown photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Lightnin%27_%28SAYRE_15441%29.jpg/1280px-Lightnin%27_%28SAYRE_15441%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Louise Dresser](https://film.one/media/person/3849801/gallery-420701cee35d.jpg) Louise Dresser — Image via TMDB
- ![Mother Knows Best Subjects (LCTGM): motion pictures, actors, actresses (1928)](https://film.one/media/person/3849801/gallery-5ec5256bff37.jpg) Mother Knows Best Subjects (LCTGM): motion pictures, actors, actresses (1928) — Max Munn Autrey, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Mother_Knows_Best_%28SAYRE_14106%29.jpg/1280px-Mother_Knows_Best_%28SAYRE_14106%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1929: Best Actress (nominated), for *A Ship Comes In*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/louise-dresser