Image: Movies & Million-Dollar Mansions, Betsy J. Green, 2022
Happy Birthdate, Beatriz Michelena!
Silent film actress Beatriz Michelena was born February 22, 1890, in New York City. She was a successful opera singer before appearing in a dozen or so silent films. In 1915, she starred in the movie version of the opera Mignon. Some scenes were filmed at one of the million-dollar mansions in Montecito, CA.
"It is a bold step indeed to present an old-world romance such as Mignon by the modern method of the cinematograph ... We welcome Mignon as a picturesque and decidedly artistic picture-play which, supported by the beautiful orchestral music of the opera, should make a lasting success." – Bioscope [London, U.K.], June 24, 1915