American film actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist Marion Davies, known for some time in the 20's as "Queen of the Screen," often found her career overshadowed by her personal life. Davies' romantic relationship with businessman William Randolph Hearst initially proved beneficial to her artistic career, but he became very controlling, stifling her inclinations to pursue comedic acting. In addition, the scandal of their relationship continually distracted from her success as an actress. By the time talkies made their appearance in American cinema, Davies was concerned that her stutter would keep her from working, but she continued to make many comedies and musicals in the years following.
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Examples of Work:
Cecilia of the Pink Roses (1918) When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922) Little Old New York (1923) Marianne (1929) Polly of the Circus (1932) |
Paulette Goddard, an American actress, performer, and child fashion model, made her debut in the Ziegfeld Follies at the age of 13. She gained fame with the show as the girl on the crescent moon, and was married to a wealthy man by the time she was 16. After her divorce she went to Hollywood in 1931, where she appeared in small roles in pictures for a number of studios. A stunning natural beauty, Goddard could mesmerize any man she met, a fact of which she was well aware. In 1932 she met Charlie Chaplin, and they soon became an item around town, starring alongside each other in many films, getting secretly married in 1936, and then divorcing just a few years later. After Goddard's career peaked in the 40's, her success began to fade and her contract with Paramount Pictures was dropped. She left the film industry and lived in Europe for a while, only to return again decades later for a role in a television movie.
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Examples of Work:
Modern Times (1936) The Young in Heart (1938) The Great Dictator (1940) Second Chorus (1940) So Proudly We Hail! (1943) Kitty (1945) |
Joan Blondell was born into a vaudeville family, and she found her way very easily into both vaudeville and the film industry. Establishing herself as a sexy, wisecracking blonde, she was a Pre-Code staple of Warner Bros. pictures, and appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions. Nevertheless, although she worked hard, like most actresses in that era, she felt the studio underutilized her talent—particularly her affinity for light comedy. While audiences appreciated the assured optimism her characters possessed on-screen, it was her self-deprecating humor that sustained her offscreen.
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Examples of Work:
The Blue Veil (1951) The Cincinnati Kid (1965) Opening Night (1977) Grease (1978) The Champ (1979) |
American film and television actress, model, and dancer Barbara Stanwyck had one of the most lucrative careers filmdom had ever seen, but somehow the success never went to her head. Stanwyck danced with the Ziegfeld Follies in the 1922 and 1923 seasons, working for years as a chorus girl and dance instructor until her career took off in 1928. Stanwyck was known for her versatility in performance - she starred in a number of melodramas, thrillers, westerns, and comedies alike - as well as how easy she was to work with. Despite growing up in a number of foster homes after being orphaned at the age of four, by 1944 she was the highest-paid woman in the United States. Ultimately, by the time Stanwyck died she had made 93 movies as well as a number of television appearances.
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Examples of Work:
Stella Dallas (1937) Remember the Night (1940) Ball of Fire (1941) Double Indemnity (1944) The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1961) The Big Valley (1965) |
Billie Dove, an American actress born to Swiss immigrants, began working as a model when she was a teenager in order to support her family financially - at least until she was hired by Florenz Ziegfeld to appear in his Ziegfeld Follies Revue. Dove then moved to Hollywood in the early 20s to begin her silent film career, which eventually gained her a huge legion of fans (especially male fans). She was incredibly photogenic and known for her voluptuous femininity in her silent film career, stealing the screen as a leading woman in only her second film. Dove went on to star alongside some of Hollywood's biggest male stars, including John Gilbert and Douglas Fairbanks. Nonetheless, once the talking picture era began she only lasted a couple more years.
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Examples of Work:
At the Stage Door (1921) The Black Pirate (1926) The Marriage Clause (1926) The American Beauty (1927) The Painted Angel (1929) |
Louise Brooks took America by storm not only due to her acting and dancing career, but also because of her popularization of the bobbed haircut so characteristic of the flapper. By her own admission, Brooks was a sexually liberated woman, not afraid to experiment, even posing fully nude for art photography and openly engaging in relationships with women and men. Nonetheless, she considered herself neither lesbian nor bisexual.
Brooks, like many other young and beautiful actresses of the time, began dancing with the Ziegfeld Follies, but soon moved into the silent film industry. Although successful and well-loved by audiences, Brooks apparently hated the Hollywood lifestyle and left for Europe when film producers attempted to pressure her into transitioning to sound pictures. |
Examples of Work:
A Girl in Every Port (1928) Beggars of Life (1928) Pandora's Box (1929) The Canary Murder Case (1929) |
Known for her roles as the "femme fatale" or "vamp", American silent film actress Nita Naldi hit immediate success when she was hired by Paramount, following a brief career onstage and in the Ziegfeld Follies. Naldi liked to refer to herself as the "female Valentino", in reference to actor and sex symbol Rudolph Valentino, and she apparently maintained this persona both on and off screen. She became known for her roles as temptresses and in Blood and Sand (1922), she was said to have literally energized Valentino himself with her lustful behavior. Once the talkies took precedence over silent films, Naldi's film career came to a halt due to her thick New York accent. She did a few more silent films in Europe and then retired in 1929.
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Examples of Work:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) Blood and Sand (1922) Cobra (1923) The Ten Commandments (1923) A Sainted Devil (1924) |
American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter Mae Murray rose to fame during the silent film era, beginning as a chorus girl in the Ziegfeld Follies and then a headliner a few years later. Murray's performance style tended to incorporate over-the-top costumes and very exaggerated emoting, which critics didn't love yet still drew large audiences and significant financial successes. Many of Murray's films also included dance sequences that were specifically designed and choreographed for her.
Murray's career came to a close with the onset of the talkies because her voice wasn't suited for it, but also because her fourth and final husband took control of her business affairs and gave her the poor advice to quit MGM. They divorced, Murray lost her son in the custody battle, she went bankrupt, and she lived the rest of her life in poverty. |
Examples of Work:
To Have and to Hold (1916) The Delicious Little Devil (1919) Big Little Person (1919) The Merry Widow (1925) |
Due to Bessie Love's small frame and delicate features, she reached success in silent and sound film playing innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies. Love was very active in managing her own career as well as publicizing herself by playing the ukulele and dancing for soldiers. Due to Love's role in The King on Main Street (1925), she was credited with being the very first person to dance the Charleston on film, and subsequently popularizing it in the United States. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Love survived the transition to talkies, appearing both in sound pictures and musicals, some of which earned her nominations.
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Examples of Work:
The Flying Torpedo (1916) The King on Main Street (1925) The Broadway Melody (1929) Chasing Rainbows (193) |
British-American actress Dorothy Mackaill dreamed of a career in theater from a very young age. After running away to London to take lessons and then becoming a chorus girl in Paris, Mackaill met a Broadway choreographer who landed her a job with the Ziegfeld Follies in New York. Mackaill was making movies by 1921, but she didn't become a star until three years later, when she rose quickly to leading lady status. In these peak ten years or so of her life, Mackaill starred opposite leading men such as George O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart and she made deals with Warner Bros, MGM, and Paramount Pictures. Mackaill's career stalled a little with the start of the talkie era, and even though her contract with First National wasn't renewed she successfully made a few sound pictures before the end of her career.
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Examples of Work:
The Man Who Came Back (1924) Chickie (1925) Joanna (1925) The Dancer of Paris (1926) The Barker (1928) Love Affair (1932) |
American film actress Claire Dodd was usually type-cast as the "other woman," a femme fatale, siren, seductress, mistress, blackmailer, or otherwise scheming blonde. She went to New York at the age of fifteen, lied about her age, and joined the Ziegfeld Follies where she was eventually discovered by Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck. Dodd went on to work at Warner Bros, Paramount and Universal studios in more than sixty films over a dozen years, from 1930 to 1942. Dodd was especially known for her aloof attitude and her disdain for the Hollywood system, earning her the nickname "Ice Bucket." She ultimately quit films and married second husband H. Brand Cooper with whom raised four children.
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Examples of Work:
Whoopee! (1930) Ex-Lady (1933) The Case of the Curious Bride (1935) The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936) Navy (1941) |
Cecile Arnold was an American silent film actress and Ziegfeld Follies girl. Her background is very sketchy and unknown, which is amplified by the fact that she apparently didn't know/divulge her background, either. Arnold was known for playing "femme fatale" characters and she appeared in upwards of fifty films with stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Rosco "Fatty" Arbuckle, and Mack Swain.
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Examples of Work:
The Property Man (1914) The Face on the Bar-Room Floor (1914) His New Profession (1914) |
American actress and dancer Iris Adrian was known by an array of nicknames, namely Sugar, Pepper, Pearl, Sunny, Goldie, and Bubbles. Such nicknames reflect her winning femininity, its sweetness, its spiciness, and its radiance - but she never really played more powerful female characters. Adrian began working with the Ziegfeld Follies before entering the film industry to begin a career of playing glamorous women. She did have a strong sense of comedic timing, however, and a quick and witty sense of humor. This aspect of her personality helped her to evolve and last, changing from the roles of blonde chorines or waitresses to colorful bit parts in comedies with Abbott and Costello, Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley.
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Examples of Work:
Chasing Husbands (1928) Paramount on Parade (1930) The Paleface (1948) Once a Thief (1950) |
Actress, tap dancer, and singer Marilyn Miller's youthful grace, small figure, dazzling smile, and blonde beauty made her seem the very embodiment of youth. She began as a headliner in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1919 and apparently even became his mistress. Her movie career, with only three films under her belt, was much more short-lived and less successful than her stage career, where she worked with big names like Fred Astaire and George Gershwin.
"Look for the Silver Lining" became the appropriate signature song for Miller, who was one of Broadways's most popular musical stage stars of the 1920s, for she embodied a vibrant, child-like optimism in her very best "happily ever after" showcases. Such happiness, however, did not extend into her personal life. She was frequently ill and plagued with tragedy and disappointment separate from her acting career. |
Examples of Work:
Sally (1929) Sunny (1930) Smiles (1930) Her Majesty Love (1931) |