Gertrude Olmstead

and 1929.

Olmstead was born in Chicago, Illinois, and appeared in her first credited film role in the 1921 film The Fox. She obtained several more roles that same year, appearing in nine films in 1921, and another five in 1922. She would appear in seventeen more films by the time she received what is today her best-known role, opposite Rudolph Valentino in the 1925 film Cobra.

Throughout the silent film era her career thrived. From 1925 through 1929 she appeared in twenty eight films, most often portraying the heroine. With the advent of sound film her career stalled, and she retired from acting in 1929.

In 1926 she met MGM director Robert Z. Leonard and they were married June 8 of that year. Leonard and Olmstead remained married until his death in 1968.

After Leonard's death, Olmstead remained in the Los Angeles area, and died in Beverly Hills on January 18, 1975.