A breath-taking series of photos showing some of early Hollywood’s most glamorous actresses have been brought to life in colour for the first time.
The images include portraits of Louise Brooks who popularized the bobbed haircut in the 1920s and the stunning Anna May Wong who is considered to be the first Chinese-American movie star.
They are the work of Matt Loughrey, a colourist from Westport, Ireland who carefully brought the photographs into the 21st century.
‘These are the chorus, cabaret, screen and stage icons of an era long gone, brought to life using technology and patience,’ he said.
‘I want people, especially the younger audience, to see history in a new light. It is arguable that colour engages the brain far better than monochrome while at the same time bringing the past closer to us.’
A breath-taking series of photos showing some of early Hollywood’s most glamorous actresses have been brought to life in colour for the first time. Evelyn Nesbit (pictured here in 1903) was a hugely popular American chorus girl, artists’ model, and actress
Stage actress Ione Bright (pictured in 1912) was mostly known for her work on Broadway but also appeared in the 1917 comedy Mixed Nuts
American actress Anna May Wong (pictured in 1930) is considered to be the first Chinese American movie star. She starred alongside Marlene Dietrich in the 1932 hit film Shanghai Express
Polish stage and screen actress Pola Negri (pictured here in 1932) was one of the most popular actresses in American silent film. She starred in the critically-acclaimed silent drama Forbidden Paradise in 1924 and was well-known for her personal relationships with Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino
British actress Vivien Leigh (pictured here in 1944) is remembered as one of the finest actresses of her generation. She famously earned won two Academy Awards for Best Actress for her iconic performances as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Star of radio, stage and screen, Agnes Moorehead (pictured here in 1942) won an Emmy and two Golden Globe awards. She appeared alongside Orson Welles in the 1941 classic Citizen Kane
American actress and dancer Louise Brooks (pictured in 1925) starred in popular films such as Pandora’s Box (1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), and Miss Europe (1930) but is best known for popularizing the bobbed haircut
This picture of actress Genevieve Lyon from 1914 was taken around the time of her marriage to the theater impresario John Murray Anderson and two years before her death from tuberculosis
Frances Day (pictured in 1926) was born in New Jersey who achieved great success with her recordings, stage performances and films in the UK in the 1930s
American actress Mary Anderson is pictured here in 1883 as Parthenia in Ingomar, the Barbarian
American actress Lillian Gish (pictured here in 1920) was called the First Lady of American Cinema. Alongside acting, she branched out into writing and directing
Canadian-American film actress and producer Mary Pickford (pictured in 1914) was one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences