Rosina Henley

Rosina Henley was an American actress and screenwriter born Rosina Tomasi on November 18, 1890, in Manhattan. Her father, Achille Tomasi, was an Italian musician who died while she was young; her mother, Helen Bertram, was an opera singer. Following her father's death, she adopted the surname of her stepfather, E.J. Henley, and was raised primarily by her mother.

Henley made her stage debut in 1907 at the age of fifteen, launching a career as a stage actress that would bring her to Broadway between 1911 and 1915. Her Broadway credits included the play Moloch and the musical Marriage a la Carte. In 1910, she and her mother relocated to Los Angeles, where she continued her stage work and began taking on roles in motion pictures.

Her film acting credits span from 1914 through 1919 and include The Sign of the Cross (1914), The Lightning Conductor (1914), The Burglar (1917), Adventures of Carol (1917), The Strong Way (1917), The Gates of Gladness (1918), Wanted: A Mother (1918), and Courage for Two (1919), as well as the short Health by the Year (1915).

Henley expanded her work in the industry as a screenwriter, making her debut in that capacity with the 1920 film Guilty of Love, directed by British filmmaker Harley Knoles, whom she subsequently married. Her additional writing credits include A Romantic Adventuress (1920), Carnival (1921), and The Bohemian Girl (1922), which stands as her last known credit. After their marriage, Henley and Knoles moved to London, where both continued working in film. She is survived by her son, author William Henry Knoles, who wrote under the pen name Clyde Allison. Henley died on July 5, 1978, at the age of 88.