Wikipedia is trying to kill me this morning.

"Most of the famous actors from the Silent Era, who were primarily pantomimes, had untrained voices and were incapable of expressing the necessary emotions with the addition of words."

Here's my article on the talkie transition and why the old myth of "silent stars couldn't talk, some had funny voices" doesn't hold water.

https://moviessilently.com/2013/02/12/silent-movie-myth-1-silent-stars-had-funny-voices/

But briefly:

A great many of the big silent stars DID have stage experience/trained voices.

Some of the biggest talkie success stories actually did NOT have stage experience.

Silent film acting is not an inferior art and requires not apologies.

Thank you, good night.

I mean, it goes the other way, too. A great many theater superstars tried to make it in the movies in the 1910s and washed out miserably.

Apparently, stage actors didn't have the necessary skill to perform in the mute cinema.

Neener neener.