Biography for
Corinne Griffith More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

21 November 1894, Texarkana, Texas, USA

Date of Death

13 July 1979, Santa Monica, California, USA (cardiac arrest)

Birth Name

Corinne Mae Griffin

Nickname

Orchid Lady

Height

5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Biography

Corinne Griffith was a popular star of the silent movies. Corinne started her film career at Vitagraph in 1916. She later moved to First National where she became one of their big stars. At the height of her popularity, she was known as the "Orchid Lady of the Screen". 'Black Oxen (1924)' was one of her most popular films. In 1925 she made the film 'DeClasse' in which a young extra named Clark Gable appeared. Corinne received an Academy Award nomination for her work in 'The Divine Lady (1929)', but sound did not embrace her in the same way that the silent films had. Music was a popular device used in many early sound movies, but Corinne quickly proved not to be a singer. Also her acting style became wooden. Her last Hollywood film was released in 1930. After appearing in an English film in 1932, she retired.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>

Mini Biography

Corinne Griffith was educated in public schools. She appeared in the play "Design for Living". She was a member of the American Newspaper Women Club in Washington, DC, and joined the American Society of Composers and Publishers in 1950, collaborating musically with Barnee Breeskin. Her song compositions include "Hail to the Redskins", "Chanson du Bal" and "October".

IMDb Mini Biography By: Hup234!

Mini Biography

Corinne Griffith was a silent film star. She was born in 1894 and appeared in the first of her sixty films at the age of 22 in 1916. She was the executive producer of eleven of her films starting with Single Wives in 1924 and ending with Three Hours in 1927. She was known as "The Orchid Lady." Unlike many of the silent stars she did not fade into obscurity taking smaller and smaller roles. She was also not crushed by the advent of sound. She starred in her last film, Lily Christine in 1932, and then decorously retired. She invested her money in real estate and became very wealthy. For unknown reasons she did appear in one more film, Paradise Alley in 1961. She received fifth billing in the Hugo Haas potboiler. Hugo Haas is an interesting story in himself. Paradise Alley was his last film. As usual for him he produced, wrote, directed and starred in it.

In 1966 she divorced her fourth husband, Broadway actor Danny "Call Me Mister" Scholl. They had only been married a few days. In court she testified that she was not Corinne Griffith. She claimed that she was the actresses' younger (by twenty years) sister who had taken her place upon the famous sister's death. Contradicting testimony by the actresses' Betty Blythe and Claire Windsor, who had both known her since the twenties, did not shake her story. In 1974 Adele Whitely Fletcher, editor of Photoplay, said Corinne was still claiming that she was her own younger sister. Her other marriages were to actor Webster Campbell (1920-23), producer Walter Morosco (1924-34 and to the owner of the Washington Redskins football team George Preston Marshall (1936-58). She was an accomplished writer who published over a dozen books including two best sellers. Papa's Delicate Condition was made into a movie starring Jackie Gleason.

IMDb Mini Biography By: georgeeliot

Spouse

Danny Scholl	(1965 - 1965)
George Preston Marshall	(1936 - 1958)
Walter Morosco	(1924 - 1934)
Webster Campbell	(1920 - 1923)

Trivia

An astute businesswoman after leaving her film career behind, she soon amassed a fortune in real estate holdings. At the time of her death on July 13, 1979, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world, leaving an estate of $150 million.

Her parents were John Lewis Griffin and Ambolyn (Ghio) Griffin.

Her father was a Methodist minister, but for much of her life she was a Christian Scientist.

Her third husband, George Preston Marshall, was founder and longtime owner of the Washington Redskins.

Widely considered to be one of the most beautiful stars of the silent screen.

Starred in a touring production of Noel Coward's "Design for Living" in the mid 1930's, her only theatre work.

Authored eleven books published between 1947 and 1973.

The film version of her best-selling memoir 'Papa's Delicate Condition' misspelled her name as "Corrine Griffith" in the credits. Griffith was not fond of the film and had unsuccessfully campaigned for Fred Astaire to play her father and was disappointed with the choice of Jackie Gleason.

Corinne's claim not to have been the silent actress Corinne Griffith during her 1965 divorce trial inspired the Tom Tryon novel 'Fedora' which was later filmed by Billy Wilder and released in 1979, coincidentally the year of her death.

One of the richest women in California during her later decades, she owned four office buildings in California, each of them named after her (ie: Corinne Griffith Building Number One, etc.).

Made headlines in 1965 with her request for an annulment from actor Danny Scholl, almost thirty years her junior, and her claim she was not the Corinne Griffith of the silent film era. Although former associates denied her claim of being a different woman, she was granted the annulment 33 days after the marriage.

At the time of her death, in 1979, she was not only the richest woman in America but she was also one of the most prominent forces in Republican politics in the state of California.