Jobyna Howland (March 31, 1880 - June 7, 1936) 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.Howland was married once to Arthur Stringer (married 1900) but the marriage didn't last and was dissolved. As far as is known she bore no children. For many years up to the end of her life she was purportedly in a lesbian relationship with famed Broadway playwright Zoë Akins.She was found dead on the kitchen floor of her home in 1936. Police said death apparently was caused by heart disease.Her brother was character actor Olin Howland.
Her height (6 ft.) had an impact on her career. When she started out as a stage actress she was typically cast as mothers, even in her 20s. She appeared in several Shakespearean roles, such as Hamlet's mother Gertrude. Only once, according to theater critic Burns Mantle, did she play Juliet, and that occurred only when a very tall actor was found to play Romeo.
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Began her career as an artist's model. Not long after arriving in New York City she became a "Gibson Girl" for artist Charles Dana Gibson.
$1.3 Million
