Actress. She was known for playing the roles of motherly types or aunts, and her resemblance to the better-remembered Canadian actress Marie Dressler and also to the later actress Frances Bavier, who played the character of 'Aunt Bee' on "The Andy Griffith Show" from 1960 to 1968, was very uncanny. She will be best remembered for her role as 'Freckles Mother' in the film, "Freckles" (1916). The film which was directed by Scott Sidney, written by Julien Josephson, and which also starred Cyril Gardner, Shorty Hamilton, and Milton Ross, tells the story of Freckles, a little crippled newsboy, who is devoted to his big brother, Chuck, who loses his job. A tough gang learning that Chuck has lost his job, try to persuade him to join them. Freckles' friend, Captain Arling, the harbor police, warns Chuck that his association with the gang is liable to get him into trouble, but as he is unable to secure work, reluctantly promises to join them. They plan to rob an old sailing ship in the harbor of a chest of pearls, in the captain's cabin. Brady, leader of the gang, writes Chuck a note, telling him where to meet them. Freckles then finds the pieces of the note and then leaves to try to intercept his brother. While crossing the street he is run down by an automobile and taken to the receiving hospital. In the meantime, Chuck has a change of heart and decides not to go with the gang, so he goes back home, where he finds his mother grief-stricken because Freckles has been gone so long. Freckles' mother and Chuck are notified of his whereabouts and they are overjoyed ongoing at once to the hospital, to learn that he is not seriously injured. She was born as Victory Creese (or Crease) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 6, 1865, to the actor Thomas Creese (or Crease), and his wife the actress Elizabeth "Lizzie" Perry Creese (or Crease), nine days before President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated but she was named Victory because of the North's eventual win over the Confederate South finishing the American Civil War. She was educated locally and at the prestigious St. Mary's Convent in her native Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A star of the silent film era, she started her acting career on stage at the age of three before venturing into films. Her first stage appearance was as a child, in "Rosedale," staged by the Wheatley Dramatic Association in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her first professional role was as 'Gertie Hacket,' supporting William Terriss, in "Romany Rye," in which she appeared for three seasons. She also played leading parts with Louis James and Frederick Warde and appeared in 'The Favorite," at the Stockwell Theatre in San Francisco, California, supporting E.J. Henly and Aubrey Boucicault. She was a leading woman at the Imperial Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri, playing the roles of multiple characters including, 'Carmen,' 'Camille,' 'Vera,' 'The Young Mrs. Winthrop,' 'Juliet,' and 'Portia.' Her role as 'Mercy Baxter' in "Caprice," was her greatest success of the same season. She also played 'Nora Hanlon' in "Burmah," an English melodrama produced in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1895. She also appeared in the role of 'Lucille Courtney' in the Broadway stage production of "We'Uns Of Tennessee" (1899), which was written by Lee Arthur and which also starred Robert Drouet (as 'Jack Gray') [Broadway debut], Charles French (as 'Uncle Ned'), Theodore Roberts (as 'Lige Monroe'), and Stephen Wright (as 'Seth Thomas'). According to the New York Times, she also played the role of the original 'Dearest,' in the stage production of "Little Lord Fauntleroy." During this time in the 1890s, she also became embroiled in the divorce proceedings of actor Aubrey Boucicault and his wife actress Amy Busby. She was later exonerated from all involvement in the case but she was forced to resign from an all-women's group called The Professional Woman's League. Her later stage work includes appearing in the original tours of the stage productions of, "The Man From Mexico" (1900), and "Seven Days' Leave" (1919). She was also a member of Bush Temple Stock Company in Chicago, Illinois, and worked at the Thanhouser Film Company in New Rochelle, New York, and with the Bosworth-Morosco Studios, later Pallas Pictures in Los Angeles, California. Besides, "Freckles" (1914), her many other film credits include, "Nicholas Nickleby" (1912), "Her Cousin Fred" (1912), "Tangled Relations" (1912), "A Guilty Conscience" (1913), "Her Nephews From Labrador" (1913), "The Dove In The Eagle's Nest" (1913), "Psychology Of Fear" (1913), "His Heroine" (1913), "For Her Boy's Sake" (1913), "The Lady Killer" (1913), "L' Article 47" (1913), "The House In The Tree" (1913), "The Hendrick's Divorce" (1913), "The Ten Of Spades" (1914), "What The Crystal Told" (1914), "The Ring" (1914), "The Thief And The Book" (1914), "The Stronger Hand" (1914), "His Little Pal" (1914), "A Slave Of Corruption" (1916), "The Power Of Evil" (1916), "Romeo And Juliet" (1916), "The Service Star" (1918), "Cinderella's Twin" (1920), "Beautifully Trimmed" (1920), "Keeping Up With Lizzie" (1921), "A Trip To Paradise" (1921), "The Idle Rich" (1921), "A Girl's Desire" (1922), "If I Were Queen" (1922), "Captain Fly-By-Night" (1922), "Can A Woman Love Twice?" (1923), "Human Wreckage" (1923), "The Eternal Three" (1923), "Tess Of The D'Urbervilles" (1924), and "The Turmoil" (1924). She was married three times, first to the actor and the son of actor John Sleeper Clarke and actress Asia Booth Clarke and nephew of actor Edwin Booth and actor and presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth, Wilfred Booth Clarke (1867-1945), from December 1893, until the couple was later divorced, second to actor and screenwriter Harry Mestayer (1876-1958), from 1900 until the couple was later divorced on June 3, 1905, and lastly to actor George Cleveland (1895-1957), from February 4, 1910, until the couple was later divorced. She continued acting until her death. She passed away from bronchial asthma and chronic myocarditis in Los Angeles, California, on March 2, 1926, at the age of 60, and she was cremated through Hollywood Crematory in Hollywood, California, and her ashes are currently in an unknown location.