WAMPAS Baby Stars
The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored thirteen (fourteen in 1932) young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. Not all of them reached expected heights.
Most well known names include Joan Crawford, Janet Gaynor, Ginger Rogers, Mary Astor, Jean Arthur, Delores Costello, Gloria Stuart, Delores Del Rio, Clara Bow, Joan Blondell and Anita Page.
Interesting to note that of 145 women on this list, three lived passed their 100th birthday, 27 lived into their 90s, at least three committed suicide at young ages, the youngest to die was 14 years old, thirteen were born outside the US and only one WAMPAS Baby Star is still living.
Interesting to note that of 145 women on this list, three lived passed their 100th birthday, 27 lived into their 90s, at least three committed suicide at young ages, the youngest to die was 14 years old, thirteen were born outside the US and only one WAMPAS Baby Star is still living.
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- Marion Aye was born Maryon Eloise Aye on April 5, 1903 in Chicago, Illinois. Her father was a lawyer who moved the family to California. She was discovered by Fatty Arbuckle and started her career at Balboa Studios. When she was fifteen Marion lied about her age to elope with cameraman Sherman Plaskett. Sadly he passed away just a year later. After moving to New York City she worked at Bothwell Browne's Revue and became a Mack Sennett bathing beauty. Marion appeared in more than a dozen films including The Hick, Montana Bill, and The Weak-End Party with Stan Laurel. She also starred in a series of Cactus Westerns with Bob Reeves. In 1921 she made headlines when she became the first star to sign a contract with a morality clause in it. The following year was chosen to be one of the first Wampas baby stars along with Colleen Moore and Lois Wilson.
Her second marriage, to press agent Harry Wilson, ended in 1924. That same year Marion appeared in a successful stage production of White Collars. She seemed destined for stardom but her career never took off. Her last movie role was in the 1930 drama Up The River. Marion continued to work on the stage and the radio. Unfortunately she suffered from depression and in 1935 she attempted suicide. She married actor Robert Forester in 1936. Marion tried to make a comeback in 1951 and auditioned for a role on television. When she didn't get the part she became despondent. On July 10, 1951 she swallowed a large amount of poison in a Culver City motel. She was hospitalized but tragically she died eleven days later at the age of forty-eight. Her husband later told reporters that he never took her threats of suicide seriously. Marion was buried next to her mother at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1903 - Died 1951 aged 48 - Illinois-born Helen Ferguson is thought to have made her film debut at age 13 in 1914, although her first recorded credits are in 1917. She played opposite such action stars as Hoot Gibson and Harry Carey, and when she went to Fox in the early 1920s to star opposite Buck Jones, her career really took off. She went to Pathe in 1925 and was featured in several serials, westerns and comedies. She had married actor William Russell in 1925 but he died in 1929. The next year she married a wealthy banker, and left films to concentrate on stage work. Though she achieved some success in that medium, she gave up acting altogether in 1933 to concentrate on publicity work, and it was here where she achieved her greatest success. She soon became a major power in Hollywood, representing the top stars of the day, such as Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor and Jeanette MacDonald, to name a few. She remained in that business until 1967, when she retired.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1900 - Died 1977 aged 76
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A performer since childhood (she was widely known then as "Cuddles"), pert and pretty, raven-haired Lila Lee was brought to Hollywood by Paramount mogul Jesse L. Lasky and debuted in a starring role with The Cruise of the Make-Believes (1918) as a poor girl supported by a rich admirer. Following her appearance as a servant wench in Cecil B. DeMille's Male and Female (1919), Paramount starting grooming her to eventually supplant the highly temperamental and troublesome Gloria Swanson. Lila's talent, however, was lighter in weight and, though she enjoyed great popularity in such films as Blood and Sand (1922) with Rudolph Valentino, Another Man's Wife (1924), The Midnight Girl (1925), Love, Live and Laugh (1929) co-starring George Jessel and The Unholy Three (1930) opposite Lon Chaney, Swanson had little to worry about. A series of bad judgments and highly publicized bouts with illness led to Lila's swift decline. She made a few dismal comebacks on stage and in TV soaps in the 1950s but to little fanfare. Her last picture was as a hayseed mom in the deservedly obscure Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers (1967). Her actor-turned-writer son James Kirkwood Jr., however, earned fame on his own for penning the play "P.S. Your Cat Is Dead" and the musical "A Chorus Line." Lila died of a stroke in 1973.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1901 - Died 1973 aged 72- Actress
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Beautiful auburn-haired, green-eyed leading lady of the silent screen, a "hand-picked" (by the great Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. himself) Ziegfeld Follies girl of 1920. "Jackie" was the daughter of architect Charles A. Logan and the Boston Conservatory opera singer and music teacher Marion Logan. She had a bit of a musical background, singing and learning to play piano and pipe organ at an early age. She was educated in Colorado and briefly worked as a newspaper reporter prior to finding her way into an acting troupe bound for Chicago. Having lied about her age, she was eventually let go and made her own way to New York, where (still without the requisite approval or even knowledge of her parents as to her newfound acting ambitions) she made her theatrical debut in a revival of "Floradora" in 1920. That same year she appeared as a dancer in the Follies and modeled as a "Dobbs Girl" for noted Broadway photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston (1885-1971). After successful auditions (with a little mentoring from the actor Ben Lyon), she began to grace the screen in 1922 and quickly moved on to leading roles in westerns, dramas and romantic comedies. Her part as Mary Magdalene in Cecil B. DeMille's epic The King of Kings (1927) is often cited as her most high-profile performance.
Unaccountably, though she took vocal lessons, her career in talking pictures never took off. Her looks remained exquisite and her voice was apparently good enough for the Broadway stage, to which she returned-- albeit unsuccessfully--in the mid-'30s. She attempted another comeback on the London stage and co-starred with English matinée idol Owen Nares in the comedy The Middle Watch (1930). Under contract to British International Pictures the following year, she wrote and directed the crime comedy Strictly Business (1931), a modest box-office success. However, upon her return to Hollywood, she found all doors firmly closed. Another Dorothy Arzner was not what the studios had in mind.
She may well have been too outspoken for her time, for in her later years she took on another role as a determined advocate of right-wing conservatism.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1901 - Died 1983 aged 82
*Performed as a 1920 Ziegfeld Girl with Doris Eaton- Louise Lorraine's small stature and delicate beauty seemed hardly the qualities to be desired in a serial heroine, but she starred in 11 of the physically demanding, action-filled cliffhangers, and showed as much spirit as, and in some cases more than, many of her colleagues in that genre. Louise's entry into the film industry came about when a photography salesman knocked on the door of the suburban Los Angeles home she lived in with her widowed mother and five siblings. The 13-year-old Lorraine answered it, and the salesman was so impressed by her look and demeanor that he told her mother she should be in the movies, and he had a contact at the Ince Studio who could arrange it. At first, Louise's mother refused to let her daughter enter the film industry but eventually gave in. Louise started out in two-reel comedies for independent studios, and then alternated among Universal, MGM and Warner Bros. She left the screen after making her second sound movie n 1930, ostensibly to devote her time to her second husband (her first was cowboy actor Art Acord) and two children. She died in 1981.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1901 - Died 1981 aged 80
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Bessie Love was born in Texas. Her cowboy father moved the family to Hollywood, where he became a chiropractor. As the family needed money, Bessie's mother sent her to Biograph Studios, hoping she would become an actress. D.W. Griffith saw she was pretty and had some acting talent, and put her in several of his films, also giving her a small part in Intolerance (1916). Bessie became popular with audiences and worked with Douglas Fairbanks in Reggie Mixes In (1916) and William S. Hart in The Aryan (1916). She then moved to Vitagraph and starred in a number of comedy-dramas. In the 1920s she began to act in more mature roles, such as Those Who Dance (1924), and also began working on the stage. She performed the first screen "Charleston" dance in The King on Main Street (1925), and gave one of her best performances in Dress Parade (1927). When sound movies came into vogue, she made a number of them and received an Academy Award nomination for The Broadway Melody (1929). By 1931, however, her career was over. She moved to England in 1935 and entertained the troops during World War II. By the 1950s she started playing small roles in movies such as No Highway in the Sky (1951). She played in a handful of low-budget films from the 1950s through the 1970s. In the 1980s she appeared in the big-budget Ragtime (1981) which starred James Cagney, and later that year in Reds (1981) which starred Warren Beatty.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1898 - Died 1986 aged 87
*Nominated for an Oscar in 1930 *Appeared in the James Bond movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service- Kathryn McGuire was born on 6 December 1903 in Peoria, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Navigator (1924), Sherlock Jr. (1924) and The Big Diamond Robbery (1929). She was married to George Landy. She died on 10 October 1978 in Los Angeles, California, USA.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1903 - Died 1978 aged 74
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Patsy Ruth Miller was born on 17 January 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), Daughters of Today (1924) and Fools in the Dark (1924). She was married to Effingham Smith Deans, John Lee Mahin and Tay Garnett. She died on 16 July 1995 in Palm Desert, California, USA.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1904 - Died 1995 aged 91
*Had the lead female role opposite Lon Chaney in The Hunchback of Notre Dame- Actress
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Colleen Moore was born Kathleen Morrison in Port Huron, Michigan. Her father was an irrigation engineer and his job was good enough to provide the family a middle-class environment. She was educated in parochial schools and studied at the famed Detroit Conservatory. Colleen's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and later to Tampa, Florida, where she spent some of her happiest years. She described her childhood as a happy one where her parents were very much in love. In fact, she claims she never heard her parents argue with each other, although she admitted they had their differences. As a child she was fascinated with films and the queens of the day such as Marguerite Clark and Mary Pickford and kept a scrapbook of those actresses; she even kept a blank space for the day when she would be a famous star and could put her picture there. When a neighbor down the street from her had a piano delivered, Colleen talked the deliverymen into taking the wooden packing crate to her house, and she set it up as a stage. It was the beginning of her career, as she and her friend performed plays for the other neighborhood children. By 1917 she would be on her way to becoming a star. Colleen's uncle, Walter C. Howey, was the editor of the "Chicago Tribune" and had helped D.W. Griffith make his films The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916) more presentable to the censors. Knowing of his niece's acting aspirations, Hovey asked Griffith to help her get a start in the motion picture industry. No sooner had she arrived in Hollywood than she found herself playing in five films that year, The Savage (1917) being her first. Her first starring role was as Annie in Little Orphant Annie (1918). Colleen was on her way. She also starred in a number of westerns opposite Tom Mix, but the movie that defined her as a "flapper" was the classic Flaming Youth (1923), in which she played Patricia Fentriss. By 1927 she was the top box-office draw in the US, pulling in the phenomenal sum of $12,500 a week (unlike many other young, highly-paid actresses, however, Colleen did not spend her money frivolously. Instead, she put it into the stock market, making very shrewd investments). She successfully made the transition into the "talkie" era of sound films. Her final film role was as Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter (1934). She did make one final appearance in the TV mini-series Hollywood (1980), but it was her silver screen appearances that mattered most. After she retired she wrote two books on investing and went so far as to marry two stockbrokers. On January 25, 1988, Colleen died of an undisclosed ailment in Paso Robles, California. She was 88.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1899 - Died 1988 aged 88- Mary Philbin's life should be a lesson to domineering parents. Mary was born on July 16, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois, to John Philbin and his first wife and namesake, Mary. The child was regarded as a little beauty from an early age and her mother was exceedingly proud of her and loved to show her off. Howevr, unlike her gregarious mother (who many regarded as controlling and domineering, to the point of imprinting her strict religious beliefs on the child), Mary took after her shy, quiet and reserved father, whom she adored. Many of her contemporaries remarked how she didn't seem to belong to the current age; her personality was a throwback to the 19th century with her mannerisms and religious, quiet and very gentle nature. Being an only child, Mary grew up quite spoiled by her mother. Her father would take her often to see the plays at local theaters and even, on rare occasion, to see an opera at the Chicago Opera House. She fell in love with the stage immediately and, once home, would re-enact what she saw to her dolls--performing the leading heroine roles. She decided at an early age that she wanted a career in the theater. She took up classical dancing (ballet and waltz) and was quite adept at playing the pipe organ and piano (in her later years she kept her family's pipe organ close at hand), although much to her chagrin, she could not sing. However, she did not train in an acting school and this would ultimately impact on her later career.
Mary's early life was relatively uneventful; her mother's strong nature created friction between her parents and she became even more reserved and quite shy in public when meeting new people. The only real friend she had at that age (who would be her lifelong friend and even colleague in The Phantom of the Opera (1925)) was Carla Laemmle (aka Rebecca Laemmle), the daughter of Joseph Laemmle, brother of Universal Studios mogul Carl Laemmle. Through her friend's uncle Mary became interested in films and put her stage career on hold. Upon seeing her first "Nickelodeon", she was bitten by the film bug and eagerly awaited any new ones that came out. She was particularly fond of the films of Erich von Stroheim, so much so that at the age of 16, when she heard that the director was making his new film Blind Husbands (1919) and a contest was set up to search for talent for the film, Mary tried to sign up. At first she could not find the right photograph worthy of submission, but her mother had taken a picture and submitted it and was allowed to join the contest. The contest was held in Chicago at the Elks Club and was sponsored by her church, with Von Stroheim himself as the judge. The Teutonic director was smitten with her beauty and her eagerness to behave and speak well, and gave her the leading role in one of his films. When finding out she was to move to Los Angeles to make the film, Mary at first had reservations and (as always) consulted her parents. Her parents refused until they found out their old family friends, the Laemmles, were moving out to Los Angeles as well, and they gave consent for Mary to go but only with her parents as her chaperones (due to their fear that the "sheiks" of Los Angeles would corrupt Mary's moral character).
Once in Los Angeles, Mary was under watch all the time by her parents (in particular her mother) and, when working, by her new boss, Carl Laemmle. When arriving at the studio, she found out that she had been replaced in the leading role in "Blind Husbands". Mary was deeply hurt at the time and felt cheated, and was considering going home had it not been for her friend Rebecca (whom was now known as Carla) who recommended her to her uncle, the owner of Universal City, Carl Laemmle, and the man in charge of production, Irving Thalberg. Although Carl Laemmle had met Mary some time earlier and always regarded her as an "angelic, sweet, quiet" young lady, he was none too impressed with her at the time to consider her for a contract, owing mostly to her moralistic and reserved disposition. Thalberg held the same reservations about her. However, after being persuaded by Mary's family and Carla, Carl caved and gave 17-year-old Mary her first big part: "Talitby Millicuddy", the leading lady, in the melodrama The Blazing Trail (1921), directed by Robert Thornby. Mary caught on in films very quickly and was considered by the public, initially at least, in the same league as her bigger contemporaries - Mary Pickford, Florence Lawrence, Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish, one of those "child-woman" actresses particularly noted for her subtle but extraordinary ethereal Irish beauty.
After the moderate success of "The Blazing Trail" she was cast in Danger Ahead! (1921) in the role of Tressie Harlow; the one-reel comedy Twelve Hours to Live (1921); the western Red Courage (1921) as Eliza Fay, and Sure Fire (1921) in an extra part (her earliest known surviving film); and False Kisses (1921) as Mary. In all, she made six films in 1921. After seeing her work in "False Kisses" and in particular "Danger Ahead"; Erich von Stroheim cast Mary for his next film, which would become the most expensive (to that date) production ever for Univeral City (the costs rising up to a million dollars) - the part of the crippled girl (an extra part) in Foolish Wives (1922). Mary can be seen in the film as the little girl on crutches with her back turned, and you only quickly get a darkened glimpse of her face through her curly ringlets. Although her role in the film was just a bit part, Mary relished being under Von Stroheim's tutelage and it was from him, as she always said, she learned about "true" acting in comparison to stage acting. It has always been said of Mary Philbin that when the director was really good (such as von Stroheim, Paul Leni, William Beaudine), people noticed she could be equally as good an actress as her colleagues. However, in the hands less talented directors (such as Rupert Julian', - who would partly direct her later in Merry-Go-Round (1923) and "The Phantom of the Opera"--her lack of acting training became a real handicap for her (this is clearly evident in some of her later films).
Mary began to get more notice from Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg, after Erich von Stroheim's high recommendation of her (and of course the public's approval), and after a minor film, _The Trooper (1922)_ (v), she was given the role of "Ruth" in Human Hearts (1922). Mary began to get even further recognition and it was around this time that her face always was featured on movie magazines as the 'Cover' Girl. But Mary's personal life was darkened by her father's divorce and remarriage to Alice Mead. Mary was shattered by the event, and as a result became even closer to her mother (her biggest mistake), but nevertheless was very loving to her new stepmother and continued to adore her father.
Mary made two more films before she received her first big break as the heroine "Agnes Urban", in von Stroheim's "The Merry-Go-Round" in 1923. The casting for this film was impeccable and many of its stars would later repeat many films with Mary afterward - in particular her leading man, Norman Kerry. He always had a crush on Mary and flirted with her many times on the set, although von Stroheim, Mary's mother and father (who always were on the set with her; her stepmother stayed at home) and even Mary herself kept him from getting too carried away. Mary said in her later years how deep down she always had a great crush on Norman Kerry and considered him "a very handsome, dashing man". Everything was going well in the production until it came to a standstill for the most unusual and even hilarious reason. Erich von Stroheim was known to be a perfectionist in his work, so much so that in the plot of this film (set in the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the time of 'Emperor Franz Josef') he insisted that some of the actors wear underwear embroidered with the Imperial Austrian Royal Family insignia - infuriating Carl Laemmle. After an intense argument with Laemmle the wildly extravagant director was dropped from the picture. The cast was stunned and the two most affected were Wallace Beery (who was originally cast as Agnes' father) and Mary Philbin. Wallace, infuriated with Carl Laemmle's decision walked out, as did many others--even Mary considered it. To clean up the mess quickly, Carl hired Universal actor Rupert Julian to direct (who previously had directed and starred in The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin (1918) with Lon Chaney). Mary, at first, refused until Carl insisted that Julian would be just as good a director as von Stroheim. Not having met or worked with Julian before, she decided to stay and Cesare Gravina (a favorite actor of von Stroheim) was re-cast in Beery's role. However, it became clearly evident that Julian was a novice compared to von Stroheim, although he reportedly considered himself equal to, if not better than, von Stroheim in directorial skills. Much of the original footage was cut or re-filmed upon its release, "The Merry-Go-Round" launched Mary as an "official" Hollywood star.
Although not as popular as her contemporaries, Mary graced many more magazine covers and was the feature girl for various products - even the Victrola Recording Company. During this time, Mary met the love of her life, Universal Studio executive/producer Paul Kohner - through the Laemmles. Paul Kohner was only a year older than Mary and born in Teplitz-Schoenau, Austria-Hungary (now Teplice, Czech Republic). They were immediately smitten with each other - but due to Mary's parents' religion (Roman Catholicism) and the fact that Paul was a Jew - they kept their relationship, in the early years, secret as much as possible. They exchanged love letters to each other (which both of them kept till their deaths).
Mary's film career took off with "Where Is This West?"; "The Age of Desire"; "The Temple of Venus"; "The Thrill Chaser"; among others with Paul Kohner sometimes as the producer (affording her more time to be with him, under the protection from her parents observance). But it wasn't until 1924, after she made good in the role of Marianne in The Rose of Paris (1924) that Mary was to be cast in her next, most famous and best- remembered film role of her entire career.
In 1924, Carl Laemmle was searching among the elite list of Hollywood starlets (among those listed were Lillian Gish, Madge Bellamy, Betty Bronson, Patsy Ruth Miller, Mildred Davis) for the role of the young Swedish soprano Christine Daaé in the film adaption of Gaston Leroux's novella "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra" (The Phantom of the Opera) starring in the leading role of Erik (the Opera Ghost/Phantom of the Opera) was one of Hollywood's best actors - Lon Chaney, fresh from his success in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and, much to the concern of the cast and crew, the director hired for the picture was the temper-mental Rupert Julian. Julian remembered Mary from "The Merry-Go-Round" (he also remembered Norman Kerry and hired him for role of Viscount Raoul de Chagny). Mary was cast in the key role of Christine, the chance of a lifetime. But the production was one of the most difficult for the cast to endure. Although Mary was working alongside of many of her former colleagues and friends (Norman Kerry, Cesare Gravina, John St. Polis, and Carla Laemmle), she had never met Lon Chaney personally before and, in keeping with her nature, was initially very shy and nervous around him.
During the filming Chaney and Julian exchanged heated arguments. Charles Van Enger, the main cameraman for the film, commented on how they "just hated each other" and how Julian was obsessed with Mary; adjusting her clothes, wigs, even the padding on her legs and chest. Mary put up with it - because of not only was her mother on the set most of the time, but Julian's wife Elisie Wilson was an old friend of Mary's. Upon seeing Julian's conduct- Elisie took over Mary's wardrobe and makeup for the film. On the Phantom set Mary seldom worked with Chaney alone, most of the time it was under Julian's supervision - but due to Chaney and his arguments- Chaney would direct his own scenes including several scenes with
WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1902 - Died 1993 aged 90
*Appeared opposite Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera *Lifelong friends with Carla Laemmle - Pauline Starke was born on 10 January 1901 in Joplin, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for Captain Salvation (1927), A Royal Romance (1930) and Salvation Nell (1921). She was married to Jack White and George Sherwood. She died on 3 February 1977 in Santa Monica, California, USA.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1901 - Died 1977 aged 76
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A schoolteacher who became a stage actress (briefly), Lois Wilson entered films in 1916 at Paramount (her sisters, Diana Kane and Connie Lewis, also worked as actresses). Wilson played leading roles well into the sound era, and after she retired from the screen she worked sporadically in television and again appeared on stage.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1894 - Died 1988 aged 93
*Best friends with Gloria Swanson- Silent-era star Claire Windsor was born Clara Viola Cronk in Cawker City, Kansas, the daughter of Ella and G.E. Cronk. She was educated at Broadway High School in Seattle, Washington, and Washburn Preperatory Academy in Topeka, Kansas. She studied voice and piano at Cohn's Conservatory of Music in Seattle. Claire began her film career as an extra on the Famous Players-Lasky lot, and was signed to stock by director Allan Dwan to work at First National Pictures. She was then signed by writer/director Lois Weber to the lead role in What Do Men Want? (1921), at which time she changed her name to Claire Windsor (on the advice of writer Frances Marion). She toured with Al Jolson in his stage show in 1933.WAMPAS Baby Star 1922 Born 1892 - Died 1972 aged 80
*Had dinner with William Desmond Taylor the night before he was murdered. - Philadelphia-born Eleanor Boardman had always wanted to be an actress, and as soon as she graduated high school she headed for New York to conquer Broadway. When Broadway proved not quite ready to be conquered yet, she took whatever jobs she could find, including one as an artist's model. In that capacity she heard that the Selwyn Organization, a major producer of Broadway plays, was looking for girls with no stage experience. Since she was more than qualified in that respect, she tried out for the job and before she knew it she was in the chorus line of "Rock-a-Bye-Baby" until the show closed three months later. She then got a job in another Selwyn production, "A Very Good Young Man", but that show closed not long after opening. It was at this time that a casting director for Goldwyn Pictures hit the Broadway scene looking for new faces. She tested for him and impressed him enough that he finally picked her out of a pool of more than 1000 young girls who tested for the opportunity to go to Hollywood. She made her first film in 1922 and stayed in the business until 1935, when she retired. She was married twice, first to director King Vidor from 1926-1931, then to director Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast from 1940 to his death in 1968. She died in Santa Barbara, CA, in 1991.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1898 - Died 1991 aged 93
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Petite, sultry leading lady of the 1920's and 30's who was born and schooled in Tampa, Florida, until the age of ten when she lost her mother. She moved to New York with her dad and started modelling while still in her teens. Her original intention was to go into the teaching profession. Instead, Evelyn became enamored with acting during a school visit to the Popular Plays and Players Studio in Ft.Lee, New Jersey, a production cooperative for distributors World Film, Pathe and Metro. Before long, she obtained a job as an extra for $3 a week using her birth name Betty Riggs. Between 1914 and 1920, she appeared in featured film roles with stars like Olga Petrova and John Barrymore (who hand-picked her as his leading lady for Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman (1917)), then took a sabbatical for health reasons and went to England.
By making the acquaintance of American playwright Oliver Cromwell she was able to land a good role in the George Bernard Shaw comedy 'The Ruined Lady' on the London stage. This, in turn, led to her being cast as leading lady in several British films. In 1922, she even went to Spain as star of The Spanish Jade (1922), distributed in America by Paramount. Upon her return to the United States in 1924, she was briefly under contract to Fox, then joined Associated Authors, and, finally, Paramount-Famous Players-Lasky (1926-30). At the height of her career in silent films, the dark-haired, aquiline Evelyn became a matinee idol with performances as exotic temptresses and vamps, particularly in films by Austrian director Josef von Sternberg. She was notable as the gangster's moll 'Feathers' in Underworld (1927) (the proverbial tough broad with the heart of gold) and as a self-sacrificing Russian girl in love with an exiled Czarist general (Emil Jannings) in The Last Command (1928). She gave another interesting performance as a blackmailer in Paramount's first all-talking picture Interference (1928)
While Evelyn's voice proved no detriment to her success in talking pictures, the declining quality of her films certainly did. Her Alaskan epic The Silver Horde (1930) in which she portrayed another disreputable character named Cherry Malotte was described in critical review as 'dull and trivial' (New York Times, October 25). Her performances as gang molls in Framed (1930) and The World Gone Mad (1933), as well as her unlikely mission worker in Madonna of the Streets (1930) engendered lukewarm write-ups like 'satisfactory' or 'competent'. This did nothing to elevate Evelyn's post-Paramount career. By the end of the decade she had moved down the cast list from second leads to supporting roles, finally appearing in westerns and 'quota quickies' for poverty row studios, such as Monogram and PRC. One example of the 'cheap and cheerful' category in which she seemed to enjoy herself was the Columbia serial Holt of the Secret Service (1941), playing Kay Drew, partner of tough agent Jack Holt. She was also memorable in one of her last roles as a one-armed satanist in the eerie Val Lewton horror flic about devil-worshippers in Greenwich Village, The Seventh Victim (1943).
After making her last film in 1950, Evelyn found work as an actor's agent with the Thelma White Agency in Hollywood. After the death of her third husband, Harry Fox (who gave the Foxtrot its name) in 1959, Evelyn made a final screen appearance as a guest star on Wagon Train (1957). She left the limelight for good in 1960 and lived her remaining years in retirement in Westwood Village, California. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6548 Hollywood Boulevard.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1899 - Died 1975 aged 75- Diminutive, brown-haired Dorothy Devore was born Inez Williams in Ft. Worth, TX. She completed her schooling in Los Angeles when her family moved to California. She first acted in amateur revues, which she also produced and for which she contributed the music. While still in her mid-teens she performed in nightclubs and worked as a singer in vaudeville. In 1918 she signed a contract with film producer Al Christie. During the next five years she became a pre-eminent ingénue of light romances and star comedienne in numerous Christie two-reelers, on occasion billing herself as "De Vore".
In 1924 Dorothy took an offer of a seven-year contract with Warner Bros./First National to appear in feature films. Unhappy at being cast opposite canine hero Rin Tin Tin, she eventually bought out her contract. Joining Educational Pictures, she returned to her preferred two-reel format and made a brace of "Dorothy Devore Comedies", with full control over all aspects of production. Unfortunately, she failed to make the transition to sound pictures and left the industry in the early 1930s.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1899 - Died 1976 aged 76 - Virginia Brown Faire was born on 26 June 1904 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Broadway Billy (1926), Handcuffed (1929) and The Calgary Stampede (1925). She was married to William Bayer, Duke Worne, Jack Dougherty and Dick Durham. She died on 30 June 1980 in Laguna Beach, California, USA.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1904 - Died 1980 aged 76
- Betty Francisco was born Elizabeth Barton on September 26, 1900 in Little Rock, Arkansas. When she was a child she started acting in stock companies. She and her younger sister Evelyn Francisco performed in vaudeville as "The Dancing Franciscos". Betty worked as an artists model and starred in the Ziegfeld Follies for two years. In 1920 she made her film debut in A Broadway Cowboy. She had supporting roles in many films including Flaming Youth, Across The Continent, and Gambling Wives. Betty quickly found herself typecast as "the other woman".
She was chosen to be a WAMPAS baby star in 1923. That same years she was named "America's Most Perfect Blonde". She continued to get small roles in films like The Gingham Girl and Broadway Daddies. Betty married Fred Spradling, a New York stock broker, in 1930. She decided to quit Hollywood and become a full-time housewife. Her final film was the 1934 comedy Romance In Rain. She and her husband lived on a ranch in Corona, California. They never had children. On November 25, 1950 she died from a heart attack. She was only fifty years old. Betty was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1900 - Died 1950 aged 50 - Actress
- Stunts
Born in Montreal, the youngest of 11 children, Pauline Garon spent seven years at one of the most prestigious convent schools in Montreal, le Sacre-Coeur. She wasn't yet 20 when she ran away to New York to become an actress. After some success on Broadway in plays such as "Buddies" and "Sonny," she made her first movie, either as Dorothy Gish's double or in a small part, in Remodeling Her Husband (1920). She got her first important film role the following year as William H. Tooker's daughter-in-law in The Power Within (1921). By 1922, her star was rising steadily: she was Owen Moore's leading lady in Reported Missing (1922) and was the ingenue in Henry King's much-acclaimed adaptation of Sonny (1922). In 1923, she was hailed as Cecil B. DeMille's new discovery, and he cast her in Adam's Rib (1923). She was also a Wampas Baby Star that year.
Until the end of the decade, Pauline Garon was a popular flapper and a second-rank star. She starred in more than 20 films, most of them Povery Row productions. She also played the second female lead in many A movies.
In the 'thirties, after a few leads in French versions of Hollywood films and in comedy shorts, she would get smaller and smaller roles despite her pleasant voice and her perfect "Hollywood English" pronunciation. By 1935, she was only playing bit roles; her last one was in How Green Was My Valley (1941) in which she said only one word: "Divorce."
She died, of a brain disorder, at the Patton State Hospital in 1965.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1901 - Died 1965 aged 63
Of all the WAMPAS Baby Stars, only thirteen were born outside the USA. Pauline Garon was born in Canada.- Kathleen Key was born Kitty Lanahan. Her great-great grandfather was Francis Scott Key who composed The Star Spangled Banner. When she was a baby her family moved to ranch in Southern California. In 1920 she made her acting debut opposite Snowy Baker in the Australian film The Jackeroo of Coolabong. Then producer Thomas Ince offered her a contract. Kathleen was given supporting roles in The Rookie's Return and The Beautiful And The Damned. The lovely brunette was chosen as one of the Wampas Baby Stars of 1923. She was signed by MGM and cast as Tirzah in the drama Ben Hur. Her performance got rave reviews and she seemed destined for stardom. Kathleen appeared in several westerns including The Flaming Frontier, Under Western Skies, and The Desert's Toll. Off screen she became known for having a fiery temper.
In an interview she said "I think I'm a little bit crazy. Not much, you understand, but just a little nutty in the head." She was briefly engaged to Ottavio Prochet, an Italian doctor. Then she began a passionate affair with married actor Buster Keaton. When he ended their romance in 1931 she beat him up and ransacked his dressing room. Kathleen was arrested and the bad publicity destroyed her career. Her final role was a bit part in the 1936 film One Rainy Afternoon. By this time she was suffering from alcoholism and nearly bankrupt. She was arrested in November of 1938 for public intoxication. Three years later she was arrested for drunk driving. Eventually was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and moved into the Motion Picture Country House. On December 22, 1954 she died from a hepatic coma at the age of fifty-one. Kathleen was buried at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood, California.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1903 - Died 1954 aged 51 - Actress
- Soundtrack
Laura La Plante was 15 years old when she entered films as a Christie Comedy Bathing Beauty. By 1921, she had played a number of roles including a Tom Mix Western called The Big Town Round-Up (1921) for Fox and The Old Swimmin' Hole (1921) for First National. Laura, now 17, next signed with Universal, where she appeared in shorts, serials and many supporting roles. Over the next few years, she would become one of the leading stars at Universal and acted in in dramas, mysteries and comedies. Some of her more important films were the adventure Crooked Alley (1923), the comedy Sporting Youth (1924), the drama Smouldering Fires (1925) and the mystery The Cat and the Canary (1927). One of her successful comedies, Skinner's Dress Suit (1926), was directed by her husband, William A. Seiter. When sound came to Universal, she was one of the silent film stars who made the transition. She played a leading role in the sound film Show Boat (1929) and made her first all-talking picture with Hold Your Man (1929). By 1930, she decided that she had enough and left Universal, which terminated her contract. She went to England, where she would appear in a few more films over the years. Laura returned to Hollywood in 1935, where she again retired from the screen.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1904 - Died 1996 aged 91- Margaret Leahy was born on August 17, 1902 in London, England. Her father, William Leahy, was a garage mechanic. Margaret's family nicknamed her "Bubbles". When she was eighteen she opened a costume shop where she designed her own clothes. In 1922 she beat out 80,000 other girls to win a beauty contest sponsored by Norma and Constance Talmadge. Margaret, who was five feet, five inches tall with dark blue eyes, was described as "the most ravishing girl in England". Producer Joseph Schenck signed her to a three year contract and she moved to Hollywood. The press called her the "Cinderella Girl". She said "It all feels like a dream, like some fantastic fairy tale". Margaret was chosen to be one the 1923 Baby Wampas stars and appeared on the cover of Movie Weekly. The first movie she was cast in was the drama Within The Law. Unfortunately the director didn't like her acting and she was fired from the film. She was also told she needed to lose ten pounds.
Then she costarred with Buster Keaton in the comedy Three Ages. Her performance got mixed reviews and she would never make another film. She decided to sue Joseph Schenck for $50,000 for breach of contract and injured feelings. Margaret remained in California and married businessman Ernest Vogt in June of 1924. The couple divorced eleven years later. In court she testified that Ernest was cheap and forced her to wear shabby clothes. She started working as an interior decorator at Bullock's department store. By the early 1960s she had divorced her second husband and was living in a small apartment on Bronson Avenue. Her friends said she was very bitter about her failed acting career and had burned all her memorabilia. She was devastated when her beloved mother died in 1964. Tragically on February 23, 1967 she committed suicide by drinking drain cleaner, Margaret was sixty-four years old. She is buried at Hollywood Forever Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1902 - Died 1967 aged 64
Of all the WAMPAS Baby Stars, only thirteen were born outside the USA. Margaret Leahy was born in England. - Helen Lynch was born on 6 April 1900 in Billings, Montana, USA. She was an actress, known for Romance of the Underworld (1928), Minnie (1922) and Bustin' Thru (1925). She was married to Carroll Nye. She died on 2 March 1965 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1900 - Died 1965 aged 64
- Derelys Perdue was born on 22 March 1902 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for Quick Triggers (1928), Untamed Youth (1924) and The Last Man on Earth (1924). She died on 30 September 1989 in Los Angeles, California, USA.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1902 - Died 1989 aged 87
- Curly-locked, cherubic knockabout comedienne of the silent cinema. Her mother, portrait photographer Mrs. Kemp Raulston, named her after her favorite actress, Jobyna Howland. She harbored ambitions for her daughter to achieve similar fame and trained her to that end. After a failed teenage marriage to a local farmer, Jobyna left her Tennessee home and went to New York in 1919 to join the Ned Wayburn dancing academy, a popular springboard for aspiring actresses.
In 1920, she appeared first on screen in Reelcraft "Cuckoo" comedy shorts made in Jacksonville, FL. Around this time she also co-starred in Humor Risk (1921), which marked the film debut of The Marx Brothers, and is now considered a lost film. The following year she made her one Broadway appearance in "Two Little Girls in Blue" by George M. Cohan. Deciding that comedy was her forte, she went to Hollywood in 1922, starting as an extra with Hal Roach. She was cast in a rare dramatic role in The Call of Home (1922), then partnered with French comedian Max Linder and subsequently starred in Roach's James Parrott comedies. When Harold Lloyd became aware of her talent, he picked her as his leading lady, succeeding his wife-to-be Mildred Davis. By that time, Jobyna had already been in 60 one-reel comedy shorts for Hal Roach. She proceeded to star in six of Lloyd's features, of which Why Worry? (1923), The Freshman (1925) and The Kid Brother (1927) are standouts for her ability to combine considerable comedic talent with pathos. Of her performance in Girl Shy (1924), "Variety" commented (April 2) "Jobyna Ralston . . . proves herself considerable of an actress [sic] in addition to being decidedly pretty". In 1927 "Joby" was cast in a featured role in the Academy Award-winning drama Wings (1927), whose star, Richard Arlen, she married in January of that year (she eventually divorced Arlen in 1945 on the grounds of desertion, obtaining a $250,000 settlement). As a freelance comedienne she appeared in leading roles opposite stars like Eddie Cantor, Charles Ray and Buck Jones.
Jobyna also starred with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in an obscure Frank Capra melodrama, The Power of the Press (1928). She made just three talkies, The College Coquette (1929), Rough Waters (1930) (her co-star being Rin Tin Tin!) and Sheer Luck (1931). In regard to the first, the New York Times (August 26, 1929) declared that "Miss Ralston's utterances are frequently indistinct". Indeed, Jobyna was found to have a noticeable lisp which, combined with her impending pregnancy, effectively put an end to her career as a motion picture actress.WAMPAS Baby Star 1923 Born 1899 - Died 1967 aged 67