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- Georg Christensen was born on 13 December 1890 in Aarhus, Denmark. He was an actor, known for The Heir to Skjoldborg (1914), Den sorte familie (1914) and Udenfor loven (1916). He died on 24 June 1915.
- Mário de Sá-Carneiro was born on 19 May 1890 in Lisbon, Portugal. He was a writer, known for Cherchez La Femme, Retrato de Família (1991) and Pagina de um Suicida (1996). He died on 26 April 1916 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.
- George W. Chase was born on 30 August 1890 in Spokane, Washington, USA. He was an actor, known for Flying Colors (1917), The Argument (1918) and The Hard Rock Breed (1918). He died on 29 July 1918 in Woodhaven, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Frank Hallack was born on 29 November 1890 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for An Evil of the Slums (1914), A Seaside Samaritan (1913) and The Unhappy Pair (1913). He died on 21 September 1918 in Illinois, USA.
- Hal August was born on 23 August 1890 in Oakland, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Into the Lion's Pit (1914), The Taint of an Alien (1914) and The Romance of an Actor (1914). He died on 21 September 1918 in Great Lakes, Illinois, USA.
- Luray Huntley was working as an actress for D.W. Griffith's stock company when she met her future husband Walter Long, most famous for his black-face portrayal of Gus, an African American, in Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915). Huntley and Long performed together in several of Griffith's films including Traffic in Souls (1913), Let Katie Do It (1916), and Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916). They remained married until her death in 1918 at age 28 due to the Spanish influenza epidemic.
- Mary Moore was born on 23 July 1890 in County Meath, Ireland. She was an actress, known for Ignorance (1916), Under Southern Skies (1915) and Lola (1914). She died on 3 February 1919 in Fère-en-Tardenois, Aisne, France.
- Michael Collins was born on 16 October 1890 in Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland. He died on 22 August 1922 in Beal-na-Blath, County Cork, Ireland.
- William Musgrave was born on 5 October 1890 in Toledo, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Society's Driftwood (1917), The Black Sheep of the Family (1916) and Crown Jewels (1918). He died on 28 August 1922 in Clyde, Ohio, USA.
- Enrico Giaccone was born on 20 July 1890 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. He was married to Gina. He died on 26 August 1923 in Monza, Italy.
- Alois Katz-Bouny was born on 17 March 1890 in Prisimasy u Prahy, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Manzelé paní Mileny (1922), Zelený automobil (1921) and Komptoiristka (1922). He died on 13 November 1923 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- Samuel Cooper Seale was born to John Cooper and Sara Yates Seale in Waiohinu, Kau, Hawaii. He met Cecil B. DeMille on the beach at Waikiki in 1915, and took his advice to go to Hollywood where he appeared in at least two of DeMille's movies. He enlisted in the Army with the outbreak of World War I and was shipped to France. He received an injury and was medically discharged and returned to the United States before the war's end. He may have been slightly injured while tied to a stake being carried by an elephant during the filming of The Son of Tarzan in 1920. For years rumors persisted that he died shortly after the film was completed from injuries received during the filming. In 1921 Searle gave up acting to become a sculptor and painter. His career as an artist was cut short by disease. He died of cancer at the age of 33 in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 14, 1924.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Louis Delluc was born on 14 October 1890 in Le Buisson-de-Cadouin, Dordogne, France. He was a director and writer, known for Fumée noire (1920), The Woman from Nowhere (1922) and L'inondation (1924). He was married to Ève Francis. He died on 22 March 1924 in Paris, France.- Marjorie Ray was born in July of 1890 in Kansas City, Missouri. Her father, George Ray, was a farmer and she was one of eight children. When she was a teenager she went to New York City to become an actress. Marjorie joined comedian Dan Russell's popular show The Matinee Girls. She quickly fell in love with Dan, who was fifteen years older than her. They got married and their son, James Dunn, was born in December of 1909. Since Marjorie was busy working she left her son with her mother. Tragedy struck in May of 1910 when five month old James died from bronchitis and malnutrition. She spent the net several years performing in vaudeville with her husband. Both Marjorie and Dan were signed by L-KO productions in 1917. The couple costarred in the comedies Shot In The Excitement, The Battles Of Let Go, and Two Gun Trixie.
She was often billed as "Mrs. Dan Russell". Unfortunately by 1921 her film career and her marriage to Dan were over. Marjorie continued to perform on stage and spent time working in Mexico City. In 1923 she was joined the Colonial Theater stock company in San Diego. Sadly she had become addicted to morphine and opium. One night in July of 1924 she was unable to find a syringe and used a safety pin and eyedropper to get high. She contracted tetanus but continued to perform nightly even though she was sick. Tragically she died on July 22, 1924 at the young age of thirty-four. More than four hundred friends and fans attended her funeral. Marjorie was buried in Texas wearing her favorite stage dress. Her ex-husband Dan Russell died just eight months later following an ulcer operation. - Camera and Electrical Department
Carl Barlow was born on 13 January 1890 in Fort Meyers, Florida, USA. He died on 10 January 1925 in California, USA.- Zip Monberg was born on 9 August 1890 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Adventures of Tarzan (1921), A Lion in the House (1919) and Dainty Damsels and Bogus Counts (1919). He was married to Virginia Theckla McMaster. He died on 7 March 1925 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Director
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Grey was born on 19 February 1890 in San Diego, California, USA. He was a director and actor, known for Down on the Farm (1920), Loose Change (1922) and Stand Pat (1922). He was married to Florence Anna Pauly. He died on 18 April 1925 in Glendale, California, USA.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William J. Rau was born on 23 October 1890 in Illinois, USA. William J. was an assistant director, known for The Shock (1923). William J. was married to Marion Rau. William J. died on 29 September 1925 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Lucille McVey was a writer at Vitagraph when she met Sidney Drew shortly after his wife's death. They married almost immediately although he was more than twice her age. She scripted and he directed a number of domestic comedies, said to be more subtle and wholesome than those previously filmed. After his death she lost interest in films. She died in 1925 after a lingering illness.- Actress
- Writer
- Art Department
Lottie Lyell has been called Australia's first movie star - which makes it all the more tragic that little of her work survives. That which does provides ample proof of her prodigious and versatile talent. The actress called the `gladsome centaur' by one critic (for her formidable talent as a horsewoman) acted, directed, scripted, and edited numerous films, with her partner, eminent film director and producer, Raymond Longford. Her best known role is undoubtedly that of Doreen in `The Sentimental Bloke' (1919), an adaptation of the popular poem by Australian poet C.J. Dennis. Its wide appeal, gentle humour and clever use of Australian slang made it one of the best loved films of early Australian cinema, as well as a commendable success in overseas markets such as England and America. Some critics commented that: `Doreen in the book charms us so little that we often feel like throwing things at her; but the little Australian girl who plays Doreen on the film is so sprightly and honest, so womanly and sweet, so un affectedly Australian and human, that we find ourselves really believing in Doreen' (`The Triad', 10th November 1919) Together, Lyell and Longford formed their own production company which, though successful, was liquidated in 1924 for reasons still unclear. Sadly, Lottie Lyell passed away at the age of 34 of tuberculosis, depriving the Australian film industry of one of its most influential early figures. `Everyones' Magazine called her `One who has left the mark of her genius on Australian screen progress'.- Florence Saunders was born on 24 June 1890 in Valparaiso, Chile. She was an actress, known for The Wandering Jew (1923). She was married to John Laurie. She died on 24 January 1926 in London, England, UK.
- Ethel Ritchie was born on 22 October 1890 in San Diego, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Understudy (1917), Who Is Number One? (1917) and The Weaker Vessel (1919). She died on 28 December 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
Cécile Guyon was born on 4 December 1890 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for Sapho (1912), Les filles du saltimbanque (1912) and L'enfant prodigue (1916). She was married to Henri Bosc. She died on 29 January 1927 in Paris, France.- Kay Laurel was born Ruth M. Leslie on June 28, 1890 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Sadly her father George died when she was eight. She briefly worked as a telephone operator. Then she moved to New York City and became an artist's model. Kay started dating George Messinger, a merchant from San Francisco. When he broke up with her in 1913 she sued him for $25,000 for breach of promise. Florenz Ziegfeld discovered her in 1914 and offered her a role in the Ziegfeld Follies. The shapely brunette caused a sensation when she appeared as a semi-nude Aphrodite in the opening of the show. Kay quickly became famous for her perfect figure and her willingness to be nude on stage. Florenz Ziegfeld said she was "the embodiment of feminine beauty." At the height of her popularity she was earning $500 a week. She married producer Winfield Sheehan in 1916 and retired from the stage. They had a very rocky relationship and legally separated in 1918.
That Spring she returned to the Ziegfeld Follies. Kay made her film debut in the 1919 drama The Brand. Then she appeared in the films The Valley Of The Giants and Lonely Heart. Unfortunately she wasn't offered any other film roles. Kay starred in the Broadway shows Quarantine and Nocturne. She also performed vaudeville. In 1925 she moved to Europe and acted with a French stock company. She fell in love with Joseph Whiteside Boyle, a businessman, and moved to London, England. The couple wanted to get married but she was still legally married to Winifred Sheehan. She became pregnant in the Spring of 1926. Tragically on January 31, 1927 she died shortly after giving birth. When she was told it was a boy she spoke her last words "That is just what I wanted." Kay was only thirty-six years old. Her body was cremated in London. The press falsely reported that she had died from pneumonia. She left her entire $100,000 estate to her fiance who raised their son Joseph Kay Boyle. - Hakon Ahnfelt-Rønne was born on 18 June 1890 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Guldhornene (1914), The Isle of the Dead (1913) and Letsind (1914). He died on 30 March 1927.
- Gilda Leary was born on 20 May 1890 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Seventh Noon (1915). She died on 17 April 1927 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Katherine Corri Harris was born on 1 October 1890. She was an actress, known for The House of Mirth (1918), Nearly a King (1916) and The Lost Bridegroom (1916). She was married to Leon Orlowski (secretary of the Polish Legation), John Barrymore and Alfred D.B. Pratt (broker). She died on 2 May 1927 in New York City, New York, USA.
- American actor of silent films. A native of Albany, New York, the son of a railroad engineer, he began a career in government, serving as confidential stenographer and then secretary to Governor William Sulzer of New York. Sulzer's impeachment and removal from office left Crane without a job, and he obtained a commission in the U.S. Navy. While stationed at the Navy's San Diego, California submarine base, Crane met a number of visiting movie personalities including Allan Dwan, who suggested the handsome young officer try the movies. Following the war, he did so, making his debut in 1919. He gained work as a leading man, but more frequently played darker roles. An attack of pleurisy led him to a rest cure in the resort of Saranac Lake, New York. Pneumonia developed and he died three months later, aged 37.
- Corinne Barker was born Gertrude Corinne Riely in Salem, Oregon. Her father, Charles Riely, was a prominent businessman, and her mother, Amelia Riely, taught elocution. Corinne was educated at the Academy of the Sacred Heart and Williamette University. When she was a teenager she began acting in local stage productions. She married William Barker in Portland in 1908; they divorced five years later. In 1914 she moved to New York City and planned to become an interior designer. Instead she was cast in a stage production of "The Squab Farm." Corinne appeared in several Broadway shows including "Shirley Kaye" and "On With The Dance." Then she spent two seasons as the leading lady in "Potash and Perlmutter." The beautiful brunette became known for her hourglass figure. She made her film debut in the 1918 mystery :Money Mad." Corinne costarred with Mabel Normand in "Peck's Bad Girl" and with Marion Davies in The Restless Sex.
On July 24, 1920, Corinne married Hobart Henley, who had directed her in "One Week Of Life." Unfortunately, her film career never really took off. Her final film was the 1921 romance "Enchantment." Then she started a new career designing clothes for the theater. She was the costume supervisor for the Broadway show "No, No, Nannette" and she designed all the clothes for Vincent Youmans' productions. By 1925 her marriage to Hobart was over. She had a brief romance with Robert L. Hague, a millionaire oilman. During the summer of 1928 she went on a vacation to Europe. Shortly after returning home she was hospitalized with a case of food poisoning. While in the hospital she developed peritonitis. Tragically on August 6, 1928 she died at the young age of 38. She was buried at River View Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. - Writer
- Soundtrack
Klabund was born on 4 November 1890 in Crossen an der Oder, West Prussia, Germany [now Krosno Odrzanskie, Lubuskie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Ein Sommernachtstraum (1925), Mephisto (1981) and Television World Theatre (1957). He was married to Carola Neher and Brunhilde Heberle. He died on 14 August 1928 in Davos, Graubünden, Switzerland.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
All but forgotten today, Fred Thomson was a silent movie westerner who at one time rivaled 1920s heroes Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson in popularity. Unlike the early, myth-inducing demise of a Rudolph Valentino or Jean Harlow, Fred's untimely death of tetanus prevented the actor, who was at one time billed "The World's Greatest Western Star," from creating a durable Hollywood legacy. Christened Frederick Clifton Thomson, he was born in Pasadena, California, in 1890 and proved a natural athlete, playing football at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and then at Princeton Theological Seminary, and breaking all sorts of various records while a student. Initially interested in the ministry, he became a pastor in both Washington, DC, and in Los Angeles, and subsequently married his college sweetheart, Gail Jepson, in 1913. Following her tragic death of tuberculosis in 1916, he left his fellowship and enlisted in the military.
During his duty as a serviceman, he served as a technical adviser for the film Johanna Enlists (1918), a Mary Pickford war feature. It was through Pickford that he met his second wife, pioneer screenwriter/director Frances Marion. They married in 1919 following his WWI overseas duty as an Army chaplain. Initially interested in directing, he ended up standing in front of the camera for one of Frances' films Just Around the Corner (1921) when an actor failed to show up for a shoot. The movie was a hit, and the handsome, highly appealing Fred was signed. Following a co-starring role in another Pickford movie, The Love Light (1921), which was also directed and written by Frances, Fred was off and running with his own action serial The Eagle's Talons (1923), in which he performed his own stunts. Over the years, he provided heroics in such oaters as The Dangerous Coward (1924), Ridin' the Wind (1925), The Lone Hand Texan (1924) and the title role in Lone Hand Saunders (1926). Towards the end of his career, he was seen playing the legendary Jesse James and Kit Carson. With his cowboy reputation solidified alongside faithful horse Silver King, Fred became the No. 2 box office star for 1926 and 1927.
In 1928, the unthinkable happened. Fred, who was in his movie prime at age 38, was just making his the transition into talkies. He apparently broke the skin of his foot stepping on a nail while working at his stables. Contracting tetanus, which the doctors initially misdiagnosed, he died in Los Angeles on Christmas Day in 1928. His wife and two young sons survived him.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Albert Russell was born on 2 August 1890 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The Lion Man (1919), The Moon Riders (1920) and The White Horseman (1921). He was married to Vola Vale. He died on 4 March 1929 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
H.C. Witwer was born on 11 March 1890 in Athens, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Cain and Mabel (1936), Her Father Said No (1927) and Bruisers and Losers (1926). He was married to Sadie S.. He died on 9 August 1929 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Jeanne Eagels, one of the most intriguing stars of late silent films and the early talkies, was born Amelia Jean Eagles on June 26, 1890 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Edward and Julia Sullivan Eagles. Young Jean was part of an impoverished family of eight, with three brothers and two sisters. She likely stopped going to school when she was 11 years old.
As a girl, she decided to become an actress after appearing in a Shakespearen play. Of that performance, she said, "I played the grave-digger in 'Hamlet,' first, at the age of seven. They gave me the chance to play Shakespeare because nobody else of the tender age of seven would do so. They wouldn't say the rather amazing words...the other kiddies. I took it all quite seriously and said ALL the words without a quiver. Once I had begun I could not be stopped. I was ill when I was not on the stage. It seemed to me I couldn't breathe in any other atmosphere."
She followed up the experience up by playing bit parts in local theatrical productions. When she was 12 years old, she became a member of the Dubinsky Brothers' traveling stock company, appearing at first as a dancer, but eventually working her way into speaking roles. Eagels soon was playing leading roles in the stock company's repertory, including "Camille," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Later, a myth arose that Eagels' began her career as a circus performer. The 1957 biographical film "The Jeanne Eagels Story" erroneously depicts Eagels' beginning as a hootchie-kootchie dancer in a carnival. The Dubinsky Brothers did use a tent to put on their shows, but they did not present carnival acts but performed popular comedies, musicals, and dramas. The tent was only used during the spring and summer months, while during the colder months, the company performed in theaters and halls in the Midwest.
Jeanne Eagels married the scion of the Dubinsky family, Morris, the oldest of the brothers. She was likely in her teens, and probably had a baby by Morris. Stories about Eagels' past diverge, and in one account, the child was adopted by family friends, while in another, Eagels' baby boy died in infancy, triggering a nervous breakdown for the bereft mother. Eagels and Dubinky separated, likely due to his infidelity. Jeanne eventually left the Dubinksy company and joined another touring stock company, which eventually brought her to New York City.
Eagels decided to make herself over in New York as she fought her way up in the fiercely competitive theatrical world. A brunette, Eagels dyed her hair blonde and said that she was of Spanish and Irish lineage, and that her surname was originally "Aguilar," which loosely translates into English as "eagle." She changed the spelling of her name from "Eagles" to "Eagels," reputedly as she thought it looked better on a marquee. Eliminating her past, she presented herself as an ingÃffÃ'©nue rather than as a divorced woman and mother of a dead infant. She also adopted an English accent as David Belasco, the legendary theatrical impresario, had commented that she spoke like an "earl's daughter."
She began her climb up the greasy pole of Broadway stardom by appearing as a chorus girl. She even served a stint as a Ziegfield girl, but Eagels was determined to establish herself as a dramatic roles, wining bit parts in the plays "Jumping Jupiter" and "The Mind the Paint Girl."
Eagels took a trip to Paris, where she likely studied acting with Beverly Sitgreaves, an expatriate American actress who had appeared with Sarah Bernhardt, Eagels' idol. After Jeanne Eagels' death, there arose a myth that she was a "raw," untrained talent who just happened to have the spark of genius on stage. This is demonstrably false as she had a thorough grounding in technique in her six-year apprenticeship in regional stock companies. She also studied acting with Sitgreaves and with acting coaches in New York. The myth likely is rooted in the biography of Eagels' stage co-star Leslie Howard that was written by his children. Howard was of the opinion that Eagels was untrained, but that likely was rooted in English snobbery vis-ÃffÃ'Â -vis America actors as he had the same opinion of the great Bette Davis. What Howard likely meant that the emotionally erratic Eagels was undisciplined rather than untrained. George Arliss, considered one of the great stage actors at the time he appeared on Broadway with Eagels, would hardly have chosen her to appear in three of his productions if she were not trained and up to giving a fine performance. Arliss was full of praise for Eagels.
In Paris, Eagels attracted the attention of Julian Eltinge, the famous Broadway female impersonator, though they were not introduced. Ironically, when he returned to New York, Eltinge found out that Eagels was to be his co-star in what turned out to be a long tour of the play "The Crinoline Girl." The two became good friends.
Eagels won the role of a prostitute who becomes a faith-healer in the touring company of the play "Outcast" by modeling herself after the play's star, Elsie Ferguson, for her audition. She won the part, and also won great reviews during the tour's swing through the South. When the touring company returned to New York for an off-Broadway engagement, some critics were there to see if Eagels actually did live up to the road reviews of her "Outcast" performance. She did, and the critics were suitably impressed.
The Thanhouser Film Co. cast Eagles in the film of "Outcast" in 1916, which was entitled The World and the Woman (1916) upon its release. Eagels was working during the daytime in films and at night on the stage. Suffering from fatigue and insomnia, she sought treatment and likely became hooked on drugs during this period. With the aid of physician-prescribed dope, Jeanne Eagels continued her hectic dual-career of making movies during the day while acting on stage at night. The routine continued until 1920. Suffering from chronic sinusitis and other maladies, Eagels descended the slippery slope of self-medicating her ills, an unfortunate situation exacerbated by her fondness for drink.
Eagels received great reviews when she starred with George Arliss in the Broadway hit "The Professor's Love Story" in 1917. She followed up their joint triumph with two more co-starring ventures with Arliss, "Disraeli" and the even-more-popular play "Hamilton." Of his co-star, Arliss said that each of the three distinctly different parts she acted were "played with unerring judgment and artistry."
In 1918, she appeared in Belasco's production of "Daddies," an original play about the plight of war orphans starring George Abbott. She quit the hit show either due to exhaustion or because, as rumor had it, she was fed up with Belasco's sexual harassment, though she praised him as a producer.
"Often in the theater there is a feeling of commercialism in every detail; it may not touch one directly, but it is there, and the consciousness that the financial success of the play is perhaps of first importance is decidedly unpleasant. Now, Mr. Belasco puts acting, like every other element of a production, upon an artistic basis. He makes you feel that a thing is important artistically or not at all. Money seems never to be a consideration, yet the making of it follows as a result of making the production as nearly perfect as possible.... That point of view on the producer's part means a great deal to the actor; it leaves him free to do so much, and is an incentive to work toward a faithful portrayal of character. To me everything about Mr. Belasco's theater points toward that one ideal of his -- perfection."
She next appeared in the comedy "A Young Man's Fancy" (1919), followed up by "The Wonderful Thing" (1920). By the time she appeared in the latter, a modest success that played for 120 performances, she had become a true Broadway diva, having to wait for the applause to die down after her entrance before she could deliver her lines. She had her own distinctive ideas on how to give a fresh impression to the audience for each performance:
"Audiences mean as much to an actress as the acoustics of a concert hall mean to a musician. The musician must vary his playing according to his acoustics--according to the sort of room in which his concert is given.... A sort of sixth sense enables me to discern the character of an audience within a few minutes after I have begun to play, and it is only the people for whom I am making this lovable girl live at that one performance that matter. Former audiences are swept from my thought as though they had never been. As far as the audience of the moment is concerned others have never been. What I have done, or have not done, for them doesn't matter to the folk who have come to see the play to-night. I am so very conscious of this that I am able to play to them as though I were creating the part for the first time... I do wrong in speaking of 'playing to an audience,' however. A true artist never 'plays to the audience.' Rather he or she keeps his or her own vision true, and the creation evolves itself."
Her next Broadway appearance, "In the Night Watch" (1921), was another modest success, but she soon was to appear in the play that would make her lasting reputation. The opportunity came her way when another actress turned down the role of the prostitute Sadie Thompson in the theatrical adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's short story "Rain."
On the road in Philidelphia, the play received discouraging reviews, necessitating a rewrite of the second act. By the time the rewritten "Rain" debuted on Broadway on November 7, 1922, at Maxine Elliott's Theatre, all the kinks had been worked out, and the play was a smash, running for 256 performances. When the company returned to Broadway after the road show, re-opening at the Gaiety Theatre on September 1, 1924, "Rain" starring Jeanne Eagels ran for another 648 performances, transferring to the New Park Theatre on December 15, 1924. "Rain" elevated Jeanne Eagels into the pantheon of American theater greats.
John D. Williams, the director of "Rain" said, "In my score of years in the theater Miss Eagels was one of the two or three highest types of interpretive acting intelligences I have met. To work with her on a play was once more to feel one's self in the theater when it was in its finest estate; when a play was not a 'show,' nor even a performance, but a work, which because it had something to say that might clarify life, was a living thing and simply demanded to be heard. It was then that somebody, known or unknown, wrote something that deserved fanatically true fulfillment--and somebody else of magic touch acted it.... Miss Eagels had that touch of magic in character interpretation- the quick exchange of ideas as to the sense of the scene. And then would come the superbly tragic entrance, for example, of Sadie Thompson in the last act of 'Rain,' with its flawless blend of bitter disillusionment, irony, revenge, terror."
Eagels' great performance was acknowledged as responsible for the great success of the play, and although Gloria Swanson had some success playing Sadie in the silent movie version of the play in 1928, Joan Crawford did less well in the role in the 1931 talkie version. Both Swanson and particularly Crawford were upstaged by their leading men, Lionel Barrymore and Walter Huston, respectively. Rita Hayworth's version in 1953, opposite José Ferrer, is barely remembered. Sadie Thompson belonged to Jeanne Eagels, and the touring company of "Rain" toured for four years.
In 1917, Eagels had said, "I am timid and afraid of men and far too busy to become well acquainted with them. My work fills my life, and I should not care to fall in love or marry before I am very, very old -- about thirty-five -- because a woman gives too much of herself when she loves, and that would interfere with her career."
By the time Eagels married her second husband, the stockbroker Edward H. Coy, in 1925 at the age of 35, she had developed a reputation as a temperamental actress who was a hard drinker. Coy had achieved Ivy League gridiron immortality as a 6-foot, 195-pound fullback at Yale, where he was named an All-American in 1908 and 1909 but had turned to the sauce for solace now that the cheers had faded. The incompatibility between the two did nothing to ameliorate her problems with her mood swings or with drink.
After "Rain," she took time off, either turning down offers such as the role of Roxie Hart in "Chicago" (1926) or quitting plays she did sign up for during rehearsals. Finally, she made her Broadway return in the George Cukor-directed light comedy "Her Cardboard Lover" (1926) opposite Leslie Howard. Broadway critics and audiences had grown accustomed to Eagels in more substantial fare, and on opening night, it was Leslie Howard whom the audience cheered, calling for Howard to take curtain calls. Controversially, Eagels took Howard's curtain calls, thanking the audience "on behalf of my Cardboard Lover." The critics, too, wound up praising Howard rather than Eagels.
Eagels fondness for medicating herself and for drink caused problems during the run of the show. Her on-stage behavior could be egregious, as when she stepped out of character and, thirty for the sauce, asked Howard's character for a drink of "water." This caused the stage manager more than once to bring down the curtain during a performance, and Howard left the stage in a huff at one point.
About bad acting, Eagels blamed it on "...[N]ot being a good listener. So few people are. For instance, when you and I are talking here and I say 'no' very deeply and quietly, your reply will be 'yes' with something of a rising inflection, a lighter modulation. You have listened to me and have made a correct tonal reply. On the stage, most of the actors and actresses know their cue words and take their cues, but they haven't listened to the speech preceding their own. The result is a correct enough answer as to word, but not as to tone. There is not tonal intelligence in the reply. Good listeners...so rare."
John D. Williams, her director in "Rain," attributed her greatness on the stage to her great ability to listen while on stage.
"First off, she knew to perfection, and adhered to as to a religion, the art of listening in acting. At every performance, whether the first, or the hundredth, the speeches of the character addressing her were not merely heard but listened to. Hence there was always thought and belief and conviction behind every speech and scene of her own-- the essence of theater illusion."
The drink and drugs apparently were eroding that greatness. However, despite her on-stage antics, "Her Cardboard Lover" was another modest success, playing for 152 performances. After shooting the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Man, Woman and Sin (1927) with John Gilbert, she toured with the play in the large cities.
Eagels' behavior during the filming of Man, Woman and Sin (1927) was atrocious. Gilbert, whom she reportedly had an affair with, said Eagels was the most temperamental actress he had ever worked with. She would appear late at the studio, and once, she disappeared for several days. The Hollywood trade press credited Eagels disappearance to a drink binge, and at one point, she took off on a two-week vacation to Santa Barbara without informing her director, Monta Bell. Bell asked studio management to terminate Eagels' contract, which they did. Fortunately, there was enough footage so Bell could salvage the film without re-shooting.
John Gilbert said of Eagels, "She seemed to hate the movies for a popularity they could not give her....[The] blind, unreasoning adulation of the movie fans was a type of popularity she spurned. Fundamentally, Jeanne was much superior to us. Movie actors are crazy to be worshiped. Jeanne Eagels wanted to be understood and appreciated."
When the film was released, Eagels' performance received mixed reviews, but the picture was a failure primarily due to the poor reviews garnered by Gilbert. Critics rejected the great lover playing a naive mama's boy in this film. Gilbert's career was salvaged shortly thereafter by the release of his second film with Great Garbo, Love (1927), which was a smash hit at the box office.
When Eagels began touring the East Coast in "Her Cardboard Lover," the Boston engagement was cut in half to one week as Eagels reportedly was ill. After the play moved to Chicago with a revivified Eagels, she divorced Coy in 1928, citing physically abuse and accusing him of breaking her jaw. Eagels claimed that Coy had threatened to wreck her budding movie career by ruining her face. Coy, a heavy boozer like his soon-to-be ex-wife, pleaded no contest and the divorce was granted.
The Mid-Western tour of "Her Cardboard Lover" moved on to Milwaukee, but Eagels was a no-show at both the Milwaukee and the subsequent St. Louis performances. She claimed that she was suffering from ptomaine poisoning, but eye-witness accounts placed her in Chicago on a long boozing binge when she was supposed to have been in Milwaukee. Her indefensible and unprofessional behavior brought her an 18-month suspension from Actor's Equity, which banned her from performing on stage with any other Equity actor for the length of the suspension. The ban essentially ended her stage career in New York and the rest of the country, although it could not stop her from appearing by herself on stage in non-Equity venues. Eagels hit the vaudeville circuit, performing scenes from "Rain." She also appeared in movies as producers were desperate for trained stage people with the advent of sound, and she eventually made more money from the film industry and vaudeville than she ever had from the "legitimate" stage.
Ironically, it was Monta Bell, now working at Paramount's Astoria Studios in New York, who hired Jeanne Eagels for her film comeback. In 1929, Bell announced that even though Equity didn't want Eagels, he wanted her, for she had been the consummate professional during the making of Man, Woman and Sin (1927). The man who had urged the MGM brass to fire her now told the press that he had actually urged MGM to sign Eagels to long-term contract for more pictures.
The first movie Eagels made for Paramount was the Monta Bell-produced The Letter (1929), which reunited Eagels with W. Somerset Maugham. Katharine Cornell had had a Broadway hit with Maugham's play as the murderous adulteress, and Eagels delivered an electrifying, legendary performance in the role on film. After Eagels received rave reviews for her The Letter (1929), Paramount took Bell's advice and signed her to a contract for two more pictures, Jealousy (1929) and The Laughing Lady (1929).
She began shooting "Jealousy" (1929) with the English actor Anthony Bushnell, whom she had hand-picked to be her leading man, but during filming it was apparent that Bushnell's voice was not registering well on the sound equipment. Bushnell was replaced by the up-and-coming star Fredric March, who later said Eagels was "great" to work with, but that the movie they made together was a "stinker." There were rumors that Eagels had suffered a nervous breakdown while filming "Jealousy", but Paramount denied there had been any trouble with their new diva. However, Eagels asked to be let out of her contract for "The Laughing Lady" on the grounds that she was either ill or because she didn't like the script, and the studio obliged, replacing her with Ruth Chatterton.
About her management of her personal affairs, Eagels said, "I cannot bear to transact any of my own business or make any of my own professional arrangements. I have an aversion to it I cannot overcome. I can't read the papers, either. Mention of my personal life, even tho I expect it, acts terribly on my nerves. I suppose I'm an odd person."
It was reported that now that the Actors Equity ban was due to expire in the fall of 1929, Eagels was preparing to return to Broadway. In September, Eagles underwent successful surgery to treat ulcers on her eyes, a condition was caused by her sinusitis. Two weeks after surgery, on the night of October 3, 1929, as Eagels was preparing for a night out on the town, she fell ill and was taken to a private 5th Avenue hospital. In the hospital waiting room, she suffered a convulsion and died.
Three autopsies were conducted over the following three months and reached three different conclusions as to the cause of her death, which was variously attributed as an overdose of alcohol, the tranquilizer chloral hydrate, and heroin in the successive autopsy reports. All three substances likely were in her system when she died, and it was suggested that the unconscious Eagels had received a sedative from the first doctor to treat her, and that subsequently a second doctor, not knowing she had already been sedated, had unknowingly given the unconscious actress a second shot, thus causing the overdose that killed her.
When her estate went through probate, it was worth an estimated $52,000 (approximately $562,000 in 2005 dollars) after her debts and funeral costs were deducted. Dying intestate, the estate went to her mother. A wake was held at Campbell's funeral home in New York City, the same establishment that had handled Rudolph Valentino's funeral. Reportedly, her movie "Jealousy" was playing across the street from the funeral home as she lay in her casket, finally at peace. Her body was sent to Kansas City, where a Catholic mass and requiem was held, and she was laid to rest with her father and a brother.
Eagels was posthumously nominated for a 1929 Best Actress Academy Award for her role in "The Letter," the first actor to be so honored. She lost out to superstar Mary Pickford, one of the founders of the Academy, who took the Oscar home to Pickfair for her performance in "Coquette," her first talkie.
Jeanne Eagels' life was limned in the 1957 film _Jeanne Eagels_, which starred Kim Novak. This film is fictionalized biography that whitewashed the truth about Eagels' life. In recent years, there have been rumors that Eagels enjoyed same-sex relationships with other women, but the rumors remain unsubstantiated. In her lifetime, she was romantically linked to many famous men, including the conductor Arthur Fiedler, the gambler "Nick the Greek" Dandalos, and the theater critic Ward Morehouse. She was pursued by producer David Belasco, theater owner Lee Shubert, and the Prince of Wales, the future Duke of Windsor.
About actors, Jeanne Eagels was quoted as saying, "We are glorious, unearthly people, set above all others because of our genius, our capacity to sway others, to make them laugh and cry, or make them live a romance we but play." In the Academy Award-winning All About Eve (1950), writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz has the critic Addison DeWitt tell the great fictional diva Margo Channing (played by Leslie Howard's other great "untrained" co-star, Bette Davis), "Margo, as you know, I have lived in the theater as a Trappist monk lives in his faith. I have no other world, no other life -- and once in a great while I experience that moment of revelation for which all true believers wait and pray. You were one. Jeanne Eagels another."
The actor playwright Noël Coward said, "Of all the actresses I have ever seen, there was never one quite like Jeanne Eagels," while actress-playwright-Academy Award-nominated-screenwriter Ruth Gordon, a friend of Eagels, said of her, "Jeanne Eagels was the most beautiful person I ever saw and if you ever saw her, she was the most beautiful person YOU ever saw."
Kathleen Kennedy, her co-star in "Rain," said, "I sincerely doubt if Jeanne Eagels really knew, in spite of her pretensions, that she was a great actress. She was. Many times backstage I'd be waiting for my entrance cue and suddenly Jeanne would start to build a scene, and [we] would look up from our books at once. Some damn thing- some power, something- would take hold of your heart, you senses, as you listened to her, and you'd thrill to the sound of her."
John D. Williams, the director of "Rain," called her an acting genius. "Acting genius--that is, the power of enhancing a written character to a plane that neither author nor director can lay claim to -- Miss Eagels had at her beck and call, whether in tragedy or in comedy." - Joe Aiello was born on 27 September 1890 in Bagheria, Sicily, Italy. He died on 23 October 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Actor
- Stunts
- Location Management
Art Acord was born on 17 April 1890 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Set Free (1927), The Set-Up (1926) and Winners of the West (1921). He was married to Edna Nores, Edythe Sterling and Louise Lorraine. He died on 4 January 1931 in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico.- Composer
- Soundtrack
Juan Vert was born on 22 April 1890 in Carcagente, Valencia, Spain. He was a composer, known for Frivolinas (1927), La del Soto del Parral (1929) and Amor de hombre (1997). He died on 16 February 1931 in Madrid, Spain.- Soundtrack
Rachel was born on 20 September 1890 in Saratov, Russia. She died on 16 April 1931 in Tel Aviv, Israel.- Dwinelle Benthall was born on 27 May 1890 in Maryland, USA. Dwinelle was a writer, known for Burning Daylight (1928), The Goose Woman (1925) and Smouldering Fires (1925). Dwinelle was married to Rufus E. McCosh and Rufus McCosh. Dwinelle died on 8 October 1931 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Lillian Clark was born on 8 July 1890. She was an actress, known for Tongues of Flame (1918), The Yellow Dog (1918) and The Hun Within (1918). She died on 9 November 1931 in Near Liberty, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Andrew Percival Younger was born on 25 September 1890 in Sacramento, California, USA. He was a writer and director, known for The Torrent (1924), Pleasures of the Rich (1926) and The Abysmal Brute (1923). He was married to Marre V. Dunne Dearing Younger. He died on 29 November 1931 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance was born Sylvester Clark Long in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was the son of Joseph S. Long.
Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance's career started when he was employed by a wild west show, whose owner mistook him for native American. It being the 1920's, he knew that the racial prejudices of the time would keep him from advancing his career if he ever did correct anyone as to what his background was.
Long Lance took the opportunity to emerge himself in the culture of his co-workers and even was so skilled as to become fluent in Cherokee.
He went on to star in "The Silent Enemy" a film that exposed how hunger was silently killing Native Americans across the reservations at the time.
When it became common knowledge that Long Lance was part African American, he lost his career and many friends. This drove him to battle alcoholism and eventually lend to his death.
On March 20th, 1932 he committed suicide. - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Bruno Kastner was born on 3 January 1890 in Forst, Brandenburg, Germany. He was an actor and writer, known for Luther (1928), Zwischen zwei Welten (1919) and Das Herz des Casanova (1919). He was married to Ida Wüst. He died on 30 June 1932 in Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Olga Jensen was born on 18 October 1890 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was an actress, known for Elskovsbarnet (1916), Det store Mørke (1917) and Dydsdragonen (1927). She died on 5 September 1932.
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Robert Kurrle was born on 2 February 1890 in Port Hueneme, California, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for Revenge (1928), Hit the Deck (1929) and All the Brothers Were Valiant (1923). He died on 27 October 1932 in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Adele Watson was born on 3 January 1890 in Morris, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for Street Scene (1931), This Thing Called Love (1929) and Once and Forever (1927). She died on 27 March 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Einar Rinne was born on 31 January 1890 in Asikkala, Finland. He was an actor, known for Curses of the Witch (1927), Työn sankarilaulu (1929) and Lumisten metsien mies (1928). He was married to Eine Laine. He died on 31 March 1933 in Helsinki, Finland.
- Yrjö Saarnio was born on 18 September 1890 in Helsinki, Finland. He was an actor, known for Kajastus (1930). He was married to Dagmar Parmas. He died on 16 April 1933 in Hämeenlinna, Finland.
- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Millard K. Wilson was born on 5 April 1890 in Kentucky, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Call of the Unborn (1916), The Little Moccasins (1917) and Prowlers of the Sea (1928). He was married to Dorothy Wood and Lillian Belle Hutchison. He died on 5 October 1933 in Long Beach, California, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Sound Department
Gene Rodemich was born on 13 April 1890 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Gene was a composer, known for Awakenings (1990), The Chaplin Cavalcade (1941) and Bring 'Em Back Alive (1932). Gene died on 27 February 1934 in New York City, New York, USA.