Julia Hoyt (September 15, 1897 – October 31, 1955) was an American actress on stage and in silent films.
Early life
Julia Wainwright Robbins was born in 1897, the daughter of Julian W. Robbins and Sarah Guthrie (née Jewett) Robbins (1862–1939). Her grandfather Hugh Judge Jewett was president of the Erie Railroad and a congressman from Ohio.
Career Julia Robbins performed on stage as a debutante in charity entertainments."Miss Julia Robbins to Wed Lydig Hoyt" New York Times (March 25, 1914). Films she appeared in included The Wonderful Thing (1921) with Norma Talmadge, The Man Who Found Himself (1925), and Camille (1926). During World War I, she lent her image and name to an American Red Cross campaign for the employment of disabled veterans.Mrs. Lydig Hoyt, "Woman's Vital Duty in the Work of Upbuilding our Disabled Soldiers" South Bend News-Times (September 5, 1918): 9.
On Broadway,Ruth Waterbury, "Merely 'Julia Hoyt' of Broadway" Detroit Free Press (December 17, 1922): Magazine Sec., p. 13. via Newspapers.com she was in a revival of The Squaw Man (1921) by Edwin Milton Royle,"Mrs. Lydig Hoyt Makes Stage Debut with Faversham in 'The Squaw Man'" Sacramento Union (December 18, 1921): 25. Rose Briar (1922) by Booth Tarkington, The Virgin of Bethulia (1925) by Gladys Buchanan Unger, The School for Scandal (1925), The Pearl of Great Price (1926), The Dark (1927), Mrs. Dane's Defense (1928), Within the Law (1928) by Bayard Veiller, Sherlock Holmes (1928), Serena Blandish (1929), The Rhapsody (1930) by Louis K. Anspacher, The Wiser they Are (1931), and Hay Fever (1931–32) by Noël Coward, with Constance Collier.
Her fashion business, named Julia Hoyt Modes, designed dresses and coats sold in department stores across the United States. She wrote syndicated articles about etiquette and fashion."Good Etiquette is Worth the Time and Trouble to Achieve, is Viewpoint of Mrs. Hoyt" Pittsburgh Gazette Times (January 13, 1924): sec. 7, p. 4."Julia Hoyt Says Chic is Instinct" Pittsburgh Press (June 22, 1930): Society Sec., p. 6. In 1924, she wrote a series of reports from a European trip for the Bridgeport Post."Take a Little Jaunt to Europe with Julia Hoyt" Bridgeport Telegram (July 4, 1924): 9. via Newspapers.com
Personal life
Julia Hoyt was considered a great beauty,"Julia Hoyt Loses in Beauty Contest to her Double in 'Half Moon Inn'" Columbia Spectator (February 26, 1925): 1. and sat for portraits by Paul Helleu, Neysa McMein (for the cover of Woman's Home Companion in 1921 and McCall's in May 1923), John Singer Sargent and Carl Van Vechten.John Singer Sargent, "Mrs. Lydig Hoyt (Julia Wainwright Robbins)" (drawing, 1920), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.A 1933 portrait of Julia Hoyt, by Carl Van Vechten, in Yale University's Beinecke Library Digital Collections.McCall's Magazine (May 1923), cover by Neysa McMein.
Julia Robbins was married three times, first to lawyer Lydig Hoyt in 1914, as his second wife, when she was 17 years old."Miss Julia Robbins Marries Lydig Hoyt" New York Times (June 4, 1914). They had two children who died in infancy,"Ex-Actress Julia Hoyt Dies at 58" Corpus Christi Times (November 1, 1955): 7-B. via Newspapers.com and divorced in 1924."The Lydig Hoyts' 'Amiable' Love Wreck" Ogden Standard-Examiner (September 7, 1924): Sunday Feature Sec., p. 2. via Newspapers.com She later wed actor Louis Calhern in 1927, the same year they co-starred in The Dark on Broadway; she divorced him in 1932. In 1935, she wed motion picture executive Aquila C. Giles.
Hoyt had several health problems in the late 1930s, including pneumonia while at sea in 1935,"Noted Beauty Gravely Ill on Sea Voyage" Fresno Bee (May 22, 1935): 1. via Newspapers.com and a lasting chest infection that necessitated the removal of ribs."Julia Hoyt Loses Ribs" Wilkes-Barre Evening News (June 4, 1937): 23. via Newspapers.com Julia Hoyt Giles died in 1955 from a heart attack at age 58."Julia Hoyt, Film and Stage Beauty, Dead" Chicago Tribune (November 1, 1955): pt. 3, p. 10.
References
External links
Julia Hoyt's listing at IBDB