From Silents to Sound: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Performers Who Made the Transition to Talking Pictures »

Roy Liebman, formerly a librarian and film bibliographer at California State University, works at the Los Angeles Public Library. He is the author of several reference books on the cinema, published by McFarland and lives in Woodland Hills, California.

Garbo talked, Gilbert self-destructed and Chaplin refused—that's about all many people know about silent film actors who faced the transition into talking pictures. Yes, Greta Garbo's talkie debut was successful, John Gilbert's was disastrous, and Charlie Chaplin did not deign to make one for over a decade. But there were many others—both stars and lesser lights—who also made the leap for at least one talking film.

From Renee Adoree to Loretta Young, more than 500 actors who made at least three silent films and had some starring or supporting roles in sound films are included in this reference work. For each performer, vital data are given and a source for filmographic information. This is followed by capsule accounts of the performer's silent and sound careers, along with contemporary reviews of selected talkies in which they appeared.

Public Library Quarterly

Wonderful.