Google honors Myrtle Gonzalez, Hollywood's first Latin & Hispanic movie actress

Google today dedicates a very beautiful artistic doodle to Myrtle Gonzalez, very short-lived American actress who starred in at least 78 silent era motion pictures. A magazine writer once called Myrtle Gonzalez "The Virgin White Lily of the Screen". She is regarded as Hollywood's first Latin and Hispanic movie star actress.

Myrtle Gonzalez was born on September 28, 1891 in Los Angeles, California. Her siblings were Stella M. Gonzalez and Manuel G. Gonzalez, Jr. She had a lovely soprano voice, often singing in church and at local charity events as a young girl. She later played juvenile parts on the stage with Fanny Davenport and Florence Stone.

Because Myrtle Gonzalez grew up in Los Angeles, the shift of movie production to her hometown from New York was a big advantage for her. Myrtle Gonzalez seized the opportunity to get involved in film like other filmmakers who enjoyed diverse chances to build their careers.

Myrtle Gonzalez participated in a few local plays before joining a silent motion picture studio called Vitagraph Company of America, where she made her film debut in The Yellow Streak. She appeared in five movies opposite William Desmond Taylor at Vitagraph, the comedy/drama Her Husband's Friend (1913), the drama Tainted Money (1914), the comedy Millions for Defence (1914), the drama The Kiss (1914), and the drama Captain Alvarez (1914).

In many of Myrtle Gonzalez’s roles, she typified a vigorous out-of-doors type of heroine. During the last six years of her career, many of the movies she starred in were stories of the snow country and of the forests. As shown in today’s Google doodle, Myrtle Gonzalez once acted in three feet of snow.

Myrtle Gonzalez died on October 22, 1918 at the age of 27. She lost her life during the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. While much of Myrtle Gonzalez’s work was lost over the years, the Library of Congress preserved a few of her films. She is remembered as one of the first Latina actresses to break into Hollywood.

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