Jobyna Howland

Who was Jobyna Howland?

Jobyna Howland was an American stage and screen actress. Born to a Civil War veteran named Joby Howland who at eleven was one of the youngest enlistees in the conflict, and his wife Mary C. Bunting, she was given the feminine version of her father's name. Tall, regal and beautiful Howland was another model for Charles Dana Gibson's famous sketching The Gibson Girl. Howland made her first appearance on the New York Stage in 1899 managed by Daniel Frohman. During her long theatrical career she apprenticed everything from drawing room farces to musical comedies always seeming to play the other woman, a best friend's pal or a distant cousin. She didn't achieve the kind of stardom of other beautiful actresses such as Elsie Ferguson, but was content to play the amiable and much needed support so vital in numerous Broadway productions.

In film she appeared in a scant few silent pictures alas in that medium could not use her booming, direct and distinct voice. When talkies became popular they were more to her calling. She typically played the kind of roles she had mastered on the stage, the domineering but dependable support. Fortunately for film buffs Howland now in her 50s took to talkies better than she had silents and left several examples of the kind of performances she had become famous playing in the theatre. Her appearances in the comedies of Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey are some of her best known as the films of those two comedians lapsed into the public domain and were shown on late night television on numerous occasions in many markets for years.