June 13, 2025 and seventy-six years ago on this day in 1951, Actress Bessie Toner, who appeared in the silent films, “Tarzan of the Apes,” and “The Romance of Tarzan,” died in Los Angeles, California. Bessie only had seven film credits. Her role in “The Romance of Tarzan” wasn’t clearly defined, but in the 1918 “Tarzan of the Apes,” she played a barmaid.
For details about the two films, I suggest https://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0503.html
When radio and sound pictures became popular, she left the film industry and had a successful career as a voice teacher. Elizabeth Toner married S. Russell Chesley, a businessman and socialite in 1914. She had two sons, Harry Childs Jr., from her first marriage, and Russell Chesley Jr., from her second. She moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1918 to pursue her acting career. Her grandson, Russell H. Chesley, is an entertainment industry executive and motion picture writer and producer.
The one hundred word fictional drabble for today, “Don’t Like Your Tone,” was inspired by Bessie’s decision to change careers and become a “voice” teacher. To quote Friedrich Nietzsche, “We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it has been expressed is so unsympathetic to us.” There’s an axiom about arguments, “10% of conflicts are due to a difference of opinion. 90% are due to the wrong tone of voice. Alas, Bessie, we need you today more than ever!”
“Russel,” Bessie Toner, said to her husband. “I’m giving up making pictures and opening a studio to teach actors how to talk.”
“That’s nice, dear, but everyone I know already knows how to talk.”
“Not really. Talkies and radio need people who enunciate properly and can communicate emotions with the tone of their voices and the slightest inflection when they speak.”
“Will people pay for that? My dear, I’m at a lost as to why you think you’re qualified to teach such a thing.”
Bessie froze him with a word. “Really!”
Russell blanched. “Sorry. I understand now. You’ll be perfect.”
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