Actress. A lively dark-haired comedienne of the silent film era, she was sometimes referred to as “the female Charlie Chaplin.” She appeared in over 160 films from 1913 until 1930, mostly shorts. Born in Topeka, Kansas to an affluent family, she began her career on stage in Chicago, Illinois and toured on the vaudeville circuit. In 1913 she moved to California where she met the legendary director D.W. Griffith, and after appearing in a few short films, he cast her as a vamp in “The Battle of the Sexes” (1914). She played in “Bill Manages A Fighter” (1914), one of a series of “Bill” comedy shorts directed by Edward Dillon for the Komic Pictures Company of Los Angeles, California, in which she successfully created her own regular character, a feisty stenographer named ‘Ethel’. In 1915 she gained further public notice by winning a bathing suit contest at Venice, California, which led to further job offers. By the end of that year, she worked for the Fine Arts Film Company. Between 1916 and 1919, she starred in two-reelers for Arts-Triangle, Keystone and Al Christie, including the Western cowgirl films “Rowdy Ann” (1919), “Go West Young Woman” (1919), “Wild and Western” (1919), and “Dangerous Nan McGrew” (1919). Aside from comic roles, she often depicted working class types such as a laundry girl in “Laundry Liz” (1916). In 1918 she briefly formed her own company, Fay Tincher Productions and her movies were released by the World Film Company. In 1923, she settled at Universal Studios, adopting the character ‘Min Gump’ in the long-running Andy Gump series (1923 to 1928), based on the comic strip. However, with the advent of sound, coupled with the end of the Andy Gump series, her popularity began to wane. Her final film appearance was in “All Wet” (1930), after which she retired from acting. She died of a heart attack in Brooklyn, New York at the age of 99. (bio by: William Bjornstad)  Family links:  Parents:  George W. Tincher (1857 – 1906)