Her mysterious death obscuring whatever qualities she had as an actress, brunette Lillian Drew had entered films in 1912 along with her husband, actor/director E.H. Calvert. A musical comedy star of some note, Drew publicly declared a propensity for "heavy drama" and was mainly cast as "vampires" (read: villainesses). Often appearing opposite her illustrious husband, Drew later starred in such potboilers as In the Palace of the King (1915) and Vultures of Society (1916) and delivered a funny Effie Floud in Ruggles of Red Gap (1918). Her popularity waned in the late 1910s when "vamps" fell out of favor and she suffered a nervous breakdown in 1920. By the time of her death in February 1924, Drew was recovering from both a car accident and a difficult breakup with Calvert. Attributed to veronal poisoning, the death was eventually ruled an accident.