Phelps was born on April 19, 1915, in
Shreveport, Louisiana, to Rinaldo Abel Phelps (1872–1951) and Lillian Maude Tiffin (1891–1983). In May 1924 Phelps participated in
Good Fairy, a fantasy play in two acts, at the
Philharmonic Auditorium in
Los Angeles, California. She performed along with almost twenty other children. Phelps appeared as a dancer at the
Christmas program of the
Cosmos Club the following December. Her presentation was highlighted by a rendition of
Pierrotte Phantasy. The dance was her original creation and demonstrated her unique personality. Phelps gave a similar interpretation of the dance at the Ambassador Theater in Los Angeles. Her performance was part of a concert given by ''The Children's Opera'' in June 1926. Phelps appeared in four motion pictures in the early 1920s: in
The Man Who Waited (1922), as "June", a baby, and in
The Jungle Goddess (1922) as "Betty", a little girl,
Strange Idols, as a girl at seven and
Slippery McGee. Her fame as a youth performer did not endure. She had a birthday luncheon in 1928 at the
Elite on
Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Guests were entertained at a table replete with a centerpiece of
sweet peas rendered in
pastel shades. Later the celebrants went to
Grauman's Chinese Theater. Fellow silent film star
Virginia Marshall was among Phelps' birthday attendants. In 1935 she spent twelve weeks dancing in
Mexico at the Paris Inn Cafe. On December 7, 1940 in
Alameda, California, she married Gerald Russell Hunsaker (1919–1997). She died in Los Angeles, California, on September 2, 2004, at the age of 89. ==References==