Actress. Leading lady in early silent movies. She was the first wife of acclaimed director Allan Dwan. She was born in Wahoo, a suburb of Lincoln, Nebraska, to parents Dr. Russell Bush and Charlotte Garfield Bush. She was educated in a private school in Virginia and attended the University of Nebraska. She appeared in her first stage show, Kitty Gray, in 1907. She then toured in stock companies until 1911 when she entered the fledgling moving picture business with the American Film Company, also called “The Flying A”. Allan Dwan, who was just beginning his directing career as well, was in charge of the western unit at the Flying A. He made Pauline his leading lady and over the next two years made over 150 western shorts that were very popular with the public. She became a star and received the nickname “The Madonna of the Movies” from the fan magazines of the day. Allan Dwan was almost always her director. In 1913 both she and Allan Dwan left the “Flying A” to join the newly formed Universal Film Company where Pauline made 100 more films. From 1911 to 1915 she appeared with the most popular leading men including Wallace Reid, Lon Chaney Sr., J. Warren Kerrigan and Jack Richardson. Allan and Pauline got married on May 7, 1915 and a year later she decided to retire from acting to enjoy the life of a director’s wife. The enjoyment didn’t last long and they divorced in October of 1920. She made headlines when she would not accept a $200,000 one-time divorce settlement from Dwan. Instead optioning for yearly support of $10,000. She would live for another 49 years and Dwan paid her yearly until she died in 1969. She had a comfortable life living in Los Angeles, New York City and even in Switzerland during the 1930s. She settled in San Diego, California, where she passed away. She donated her body to the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.