Alice Chapin

Alice Chapin or Alice Ferris (August 28, 1857 – July 5, 1934) was an American actress, playwright and suffragette active in England. She returned to America and played roles in silent films.

Life Chapin was born in Keene, New Hampshire to Ephraim Atlas Chapin, who had interests in the railroad, and to Josephine, née Clark. Alice had an elder brother Alfred,

In London, her life involved professional acting. She appeared in important productions, including one The Websters, with her son Harold and his wife-to-be Calypso Valetta, at the Royalty Theatre. On a political basis, she was an active member of the Actresses' Franchise League. The league included many notable actresses among its members, and with their help, the League produced suffrage plays. Chapin wrote and adapted some of the plays. Chapin was successful in damaging many ballot papers, and Neilans damaged a few. Most of the ballot papers were still readable and John Dumphreys was elected. However, presiding officer George Thorley had chemicals splashed in his eye. At their trials the doctors said that Thorley may have a haze over his eyes for life but Thorley stated that he did not believe that injury had been intended. Some suffragettes believed that Thorley had exaggerated his injury and that the damage was due to someone applying ammonia after the incident in an attempt at treatment.

Chapin and Neilans were tried at the Old Bailey, and Neilans later published an account of their defence. Chapin was given a larger sentence than Neilans, but she was released two days after her under the "King's Pardon".

Alice Chapin returned to the U.S., and by 1917, she appeared in silent films.

Chapin died in Keene, New Hampshire in 1934.

Plays Shame (with E.H.C. Oliphant 1892) The Wrong Legs (1896) A Knight Errant (1906) The Happy Medium (with P. Gaye, 1909) Outlawed (Court, 1911) a dramatisation, with Mabel Collins, of the novel by Collins and Women's Freedom League leader Charlotte Despard

Partial filmography Thais (1917) The Spreading Dawn (1917) By Hook or Crook (1918) Anne of Little Smoky (1921) Icebound (1924) Daughters of the Night (1924) Manhattan (1924) Argentine Love (1924) Youth for Sale (1924) The Crowded Hour (1925) Pearl of Love (1925)