Sybil Seely

Sybil Seely (born Sibye Trevilla,[1] January 2, 1900 [2]– June 26, 1984)[3] was a silent film actress who worked with the well known silent film comedy actor Buster Keaton. She was credited in some of her films as Sibye Trevilla.

Sybil Seely
Seely photographed by Nelson Evans, c. 1920
Born
Sibye Trevilla

(1900-01-02)January 2, 1900
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedJune 26, 1984(1984-06-26) (aged 84)
Culver City, California, U.S.
Other namesSibye Trevilla
Sibye Travilla
OccupationActress
Years active1917–1922
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1920; died 1966)​
Children1

Early years

Seely was born to Harry Travilla and Lucie Ellen Boyker in Los Angeles, the sixth of seven children. She was of French, English, and Scottish descent. Her three brothers performed "as the Travilla Brothers, a popular vaudeville act featuring stunts in a huge onstage tank using a trained seal named Winks, advertised as 'The Seal With The Human Brain.'”[4]

Career

Seely is known to have appeared in 23 films, and her first role, according to IMDb, was an uncredited part in Her Nature Dance (1917), at the age of 17. This picture was made for the Mack Sennett studio, where she began as a "Bathing Beauty" and where she was under contract for all of her short career. Sennett loaned her to Buster Keaton for five short films, including her first role with the great silent screen comedian as his bride and fellow ill-fated house-kit-builder in One Week (1920). This is the role for which Seely is best known, and her unflappable screen personality, as well as the ability to keep up with Keaton and perform her own stunts, earned her the roles in the four other Keaton two-reelers.[4] The final role of her short career was in Buster Keaton's The Frozen North (1922).

Still from Buster Keaton's "One Week" with Keaton and co-star Sybil Seely

Family

In 1920, she married screenwriter Jules Furthman. They had a son, Jules Jr. In 1922, she retired from her acting career.[5]

Death

Seely was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1983 and also suffered from cerebral arteriosclerosis at the time of her death from cardiac failure[3] in Culver City, California, aged 84, on June 26, 1984.[6]

Filmography

References
  1. Massa, Steve. Slapstick Divas: The Women of Silent Comedy. BearManor Media. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  2. "SYBIL FURTHMAN". jewishgen.org. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  3. Walker, Brent E. (2013). Mack Sennett's Fun Factory: A History and Filmography of His Studio and His Keystone and Mack Sennett Comedies, with Biographies of Players and Personnel. McFarland. p. 551. ISBN 9780786477111. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  4. "Sybil Seely, Buster's Most Charming Leading Lady". The Keaton Chronicle. Spring 2015. July 21, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2023 – via Silent-ology.
  5. Sybil Seely, Classic Video Streams; accessed January 18, 2019.
  6. Death Certificate of Sybil Travilla Furthman, classicvideostreams.com; accessed January 5, 2017.
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