Miss Grace Darmond

Well, lets just bring this full circle and look at Grace Darmond. I never knew much about her until I read Dangerous Curves and got to learn about who she was.  I used to just look at her picture, but now I can look at it and see it with new eyes.

Grace Darmond was born Grace Glionna on November 20, 1893 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her mother's name was Alice, and her father James was a musician.

When she was younger, she caught the acting bug after appearing in a school play. And lucky girl she was, a member of the audience was a member of the Selig film company who wanted to sign her up on the spot!

She made her screen debut in 1914 and actually appeared in the first Technicolor picture, The Gulf Between, in 1917. Unfortunately, the film was a failure, mostly due to the fact that the color process in the film required a special projector that ended up making the colors look odd. Also, very few theatres actually had the projector. This is sadly also considered a lost film. There are only a few frames that survive.

Although she appeared in quite a few films, she never was a big star. She either was in small roles supporting bigger stars or in films that were lesser known. She bounced from Selig, to Vitagraph, and to Paramount Studios and even some independent film companies.

Her last film role was in 1927. She did make an appearance in a 1941 film, but her role was uncredited. She just didn't make it in the talkies.

After her retirement from film, Grace disappeared from the public eye.

Grace Darmond passed away on October 8, 1963 in Los Angeles.

Grace was reportedly a lesbian since she had a relationship with actress Jean Acker beginning in 1918. However, it seems she was married not once, but twice. So, it seems that she was bisexual. Her first marriage was to Henry Matson in 1926. They divorced later that year. Her second and final marriage was to Randolph Jennings in 1928. I can't find an ending date, so I am not sure if they were married till one of their deaths or if they divorced.