Cythia Rathbone

According to her obituary, Ouida was "one of the first women to attain prominence in the early days of film".

Barbara Cynthia Rathbone, known as Cynthia Rathbone, was adopted into a family deeply involved in the entertainment industry. She was raised as the daughter of Eula "Ouida Bergere" (Branch) Rathbone (1889 - 1994) and Basil Rathbone (1892 - 1967), a renowned actor famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in several films. According to a 1939 article named "In Hollywood" by Milton Harker, Cynthia was adopted by Basil and Ouida when she was around 11 weeks old. See In Hollywood - Cynthia's adoption. Cynthia's mother, Ouida Bergere, was an actress and playwright, and her father, Basil Rathbone, was an accomplished stage and screen actor. Basil and Ouida had a daughter named Barbara Rathbone who had died in infancy eleven years previous to Cynthia's adoption and Basil Sr. had a son, Basil Rathbone Jr., an actor who was also known as John Rodion, from a previous marriage. Ouida and Basil also raised Ouida's niece, Ouida Branch. Ouida Branch married David Bruce Huxley, who was the brother of writer and philosopher Aldous Huxley. In 1950, when Cynthia was 11 years old, she was living with her parents Basil and Ouida in New York, NY, as recorded in the federal census. At the time, her father Basil was continuing his successful career as a prominent actor in the theater. Cynthia Rathbone, who was an assistant art director at the Hockaday Advertising Agency, died at the age of 30 in New York City of acute anemia. She is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York. See Cynthia Rathbone: Obituary.