Introduction
Julia Crawford Ivers (October 3, 1869 – May 8, 1930) was an American motion picture pioneer. Born in Boonville, Missouri, her family arrived a year later in Los Angeles. Her father was a dentist. Her mother died in 1976, when Julia was seven years old. Julia's sister, Grace, died at age 14. Ivers watched the film industry come into existence and establish itself in southern California. She participated in the new industry as writer, producer and director.
She and her husband, Franklin S. Van Trees (aka Frank Van Trees 1866-1914), a famed "society" architect best known for his mansions in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, had a son, James Van Trees (1890–1973), who became a popular cinematographer for Paramount and Warner Bros. and shot some of his mother's films. Ivers later worked with director William Desmond Taylor and was reportedly a part of his inner circle before his murder. Her extremely wealthy second husband was Oliver Ivers (who died in 1902, two years after their marriage).
Death
Julia Crawford Ivers died in Los Angeles in 1930, aged 60, from stomach cancer.
Selected filmography
- The Heart of Paula (1916) (director, writer, story)
- The American Beauty (1916) (lost film)
- The Intrigue (1916) (writer)
- David Garrick (1916)
- A Son of Erin (1916) (director, writer) (print: Library of Congress)
- The World Apart (1917)
- Widow by Proxy (1919)
- Huckleberry Finn (1920) (writer)
- Nurse Marjorie (1920) (writer)
- The Furnace (1920)
- Sacred and Profane Love (1921) (writer)
- Beyond (1921) (story, scenario)
- The White Flower (1923) (director, writer)
- Married Flirts (1924) (writer)