The Maybelline Story

Maybelline vintage ad model Ethel Clayton, 1915.

By Sharrie Williams · Written June 2011 · 1 min read

Mabel Williams was the inspiriation and face for Lash-Brow-Ine ads in 1915, followed by silent film star, Ethel Clayton.


Maybelline vintage ad model Ethel Clayton, 1915.
Mabel Williams
Maybelline vintage ad model Ethel Clayton, 1915.
Ethel Clayton

Ethel Clayton (November 8, 1882 — June 6, 1966) was an American actress of the silent film era. Clayton’s screen debut came in 1909, in a short called Justified. She jockeyed her early film appearances with a burgeoning stage career. Her pretty blond looks were reminiscient of the famous Gibson Girl drawings by Charles Dana Gibson. On the stage she appeared mainly in musicals or musical reviews such as The Ziegfeld Follies of 1911. These musical appearances indicate a singing talent Clayton may have possessed but went unused in her many silent screen performances.




Maybelline vintage ad model Ethel Clayton, 1915.



Read more about Mabel Williams and her tremendous contribution to brother, Tom Lyle Williams, Maybelline Company, in the Maybelline Story.



Pick up your copy of The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It at Barnes and Nobel, Amazon, or buy a signed copy from maybellinestory.com. Also now available on Kindle and ebook for the Nook.

Coming soon · Next from Sharrie Williams

Maybe She’s Born With It

The next chapter of the Maybelline family story. Get a text the day it’s out.

Where it began: The Maybelline Story — Amazon · Ebook · Signed copy