Barbara Cloutman, later known as Barbara Kent, was a petite and captivating actress of the silent and early sound era, born on December 16, 1907, in Gadsby, Alberta, Canada.
After graduating from Hollywood High School in 1925, Kent won the Miss Hollywood Pageant and set her sights on a career in the movies. At the age of 18, she was signed by Universal Studios and made her film debut in the western Prowlers of the Night in 1926.
That same year, Kent established herself with the classic romantic melodrama Flesh and the Devil, in which she played the rival to Greta Garbo's affections for John Gilbert. She was loaned to MGM for the movie. Kent's performance in Flesh and the Devil led to her selection as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1927, following the success of her film No Man's Law, in which she had a nude scene.
Kent went on to appear opposite Richard Barthelmess in The Drop Kick and had a starring role in the silent classic Lonesome before smoothly transitioning to talkies. She played Harold Lloyd's love interest in his first two sound movies, Welcome Danger and Feet First. Kent also had supporting parts opposite Gloria Swanson in Indiscreet and Marie Dressler in Emma, as well as playing the role of the aunt in Oliver Twist, notable since the character is often omitted from dramatizations of the novel.
In 1933, Kent took a year-long hiatus from acting to allow her new husband, talent agent Harry E. Edington, to groom her for a high-profile return. Unfortunately, Kent's popularity had declined by the time she returned. She made three more films between 1935 and 1941 before retiring from the screen.
Edington passed away in 1949, and Kent remarried in 1954 to Jack Monroe, an engineer. They settled in Palm Desert, California, where Kent remained after Monroe's death. Her retirement was long and peaceful, and she passed away on October 13, 2011, at the age of 103.
