At one point she was Warner Brothers answer to Clara Bow, a vivacious flapper with at the height of the jazz age. Like her Clara Bow, Alice White was the epitome of what "IT" was. Bubbly, blonde and energetic on film, she would also face some of the career pitfalls Bow had, learning all too quickly how quickly Hollywood and the public can change their minds. Alice White was born Alva White on August 25, 1904 in Paterson, New Jersey. When she was still quite young her mother who was also an actress died, and she and her maternal grandmother moved to Hollywood.

There she attended and graduated from Hollywood High School with the likes of Joel Mcrea. She got work as a secretary and script girl for Joseph Von Sternberg who thought she lacked the temperment to be a secretary for him, she then went to work for Charlie Chaplin. Her first break into film was in the movie "Sea Tiger" (1927). She was generally cast as the sexy, bubbly flapper types which worked quite well for her. She was one of the lucky few who made a successful transition to sound, but her flapper image was about to become a her downfall.

When the stock market crashed in 1929 people began to resent all things that were considered a frivolis holdover from the 1920`s. The Jazz Age was over and Alice suddenly found herself playing second female leads in usually the tough girl type of role. She did some work on stage when parts were starting to become scarce.

If the slow down in work wasn`t hard enough, her personal life was about to become her next downfall. In 1933, White was involved in a very public fight with Jack Warburton. Warburton and Alice apparently got into an argument at a party resulting in Warburton getting drunk and beating Alice. Shortly after the beating, Warburton was assaulted by two men who later claimed that Alice and future husband Sydney Bartlett had hired them to beat up Warburton. The idea apparently to disfigure him where he would leave Hollywood and return to England. The charges were dropped, however the publicity was ugly and appeared in the papers for days. Alice`s career took somewhat of a detour from here. The once steady stream of parts suddenly started to dry up by the late 1930`s. She went back to work on the stage and taking small parts in films. Her final film was a small part in the 1949 film "Flamingo Road" starring Joan Crawford. An accident in 1957, did finally succeed in ending her career. White had been trimming her garden when she fell from the ladder she had been standing on. The fall caused her to have an accident where her left eye was gashed and she was blinded for a year.

Following the end of her acting career she returned to work as a secretary, and on February 19, 1983 Alice White died in Los Angeles, California of a stroke. Her ashes were scattered at sea.. Alice White was part of a fascinating time period in Hollywood history that is mostly forgotten today. Unfortunately, today she isn`t always remembered for her work as an actress, but for scandal and misfortunes. Her wonderful films are quite a legacy for this actress and we can only hope that more of her films will start to become available to the public.