Anne Shirely has been portrayed by many actresses in numerous film, television, radio, and theatrical versions since 1919. She was played by Mary Miles Minter in "Anne of Green Gables" (1919) a silent film directed by William Desmond Taylor and released by Paramount Pictures. The film was heavily panned by Montgomery, who dismissed the Americanization of the story. Dawn O'Day starred in the subsequent RKO remake, "Anne of Green Gables" (1934), which garnered such commercial success that O'Day became permanently billed as Anne Shirely in the 1940 sequel and her future works.