Miss Helen Holmes/Miss Carmelita Geraghty

Helen Holmes in action

I'm really cranking them out, eh? On first blush with these two ladies: I know Helen Holmes was good friends with Mabel Normand, and I know that I have seen Carmelita Geraghty in the Mary Pickford movie, My Best Girl where I thought she did a great job.

Please proceed into the theater...

Helen Holmes was born June 19, 1893 in South Bend, Indiana. Her birthplace is based on what Helen has told people since no one has been able to find a birth record anywhere. She may have been born in Indiana, but she grew up mostly in Chicago, Illinois.

The same song and dance progression here: artist's model, stage actress, then film actress. She made her stage debut when she was 16 years old. It was here that she met and became good friends with another actress, Mabel Normand.

A few years later, Helen headed out to California not to star in the movies, but to take care of her brother who had taken ill. Mabel followed soon after to work for Keystone and convinced Helen that she should try out. It wasn't until her brother died a few months later that Helen took her friend up on the offer.

She appeared in a few Keystone films but never really found her niche there, so she moved on to the Kalem Company. It was here that she learned to become an action star (well, action during that period) and that seemed to fit her abilities better than being in slapstick comedies at Keystone.

In 1914, Pearl White became the big name in action serials when The Perils of Pauline first began appearing in theaters. Kalem wanted their own action star to have her own serials, so they created The Hazards of Helen. Helen did her own stunts in all 26 episodes of the serial.

This serial made Helen a big name in the industry. She appeared in more and more action films with a few different studios before her career began to slowly decline when people started to get tired of seeing all these female action films. So, she began appearing in westerns but not to the same fanfare as her earlier shorts were.

Helen did appear in some talkies, but not in any big roles (if she was even credited at all). She made her last film appearance in 1943.

Helen Holmes passed away from heart failure on July 8, 1950. She had been plagued with heart problems for the five years prior to her death.

She is buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California.

Helen was married twice. Her first husband was director J.P. McGowan and I am not sure exactly when they married and when they divorced but it was sometime between the 1910s and 1920s. Her second husband was stuntman Lloyd Saunders in the late 1930s. When her career began to wane, she and her husband worked instead on training animals for movies such as Rin Tin Tin. They stayed married until Lloyd died in 1946. From what I have read, I don't believe she ever had children.

After she retired, Helen and her husband also ran an antique store. Apparently, Helen had quite a collection of rare, antique dolls.

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Carmelita Geraghty was born on March 21, 1901 in Rushville, Indiana. Her father was a screenwriter named Tom Geraghty and her mother's name was Ethel. She was the oldest of four children which included sister, Gladys, and brothers Gerald and Maurice who both worked as writers.  

She grew up in New York City and then the family moved to California (presumably to follow the movie making industry) where she graduated from Hollywood High School.

Her parents were not thrilled with their daughter's film star aspirations, but she ignored them and tried her luck. She began working under a made up stage name as an extra until she got work working for Mack Sennett. It was here she chose to appear under her real name.

In 1924, she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star alongside such future stars as Clara Bow, Julanne Johnston, and the tragic, little Lucille Ricksen.

Directors and studios alike loved her, but her career never really skyrocketed in the silents and it did even worse when the talkies came. Her parts in the films just kept getting smaller and smaller. She made her last film appearance in 1936.

Carmelita Geraghty passed away from a heart attack on July 7, 1966 in Manhattan.

She was buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Carmelita was only married once, to writer/producer Carey Wilson in 1934. They remained married until his death in 1962 and never had children.

After she retired from the movies, she found another niche she excelled in. Painting. Her work was so well received that she even exhibited some in Paris. 

Miss Louise Lorraine/Miss June Caprice

Another two for one! More silent ladies I am going to pay a visit to in a couple of days. The first things I know about these girls are, 1) Louise Lorraine is NOT Lillian Lorraine, the famous Ziegfeld girl and 2) June Caprice had a big, toothy smile.

Read on...

Louise Lorraine was born Louise Escovar on October 1, 1904 in San Francisco, California.

Her introduction into movies is something that young aspiring starlets dream of. When she was 13 years old, a photography salesman came to the door and remarked how beautiful Louise was. He told her mother that he knew someone who worked at the Ince Studios and would make a call to get Louise in. Of course at first her mother scoffed at what the man was saying, but eventually she was convinced and let the man do what he could do for her daughter.

Louise worked mostly in action serials, kinda like Pearl White. And like Pearl, it was her presence on screen that made her a fan favorite. One of her most well known roles was as Jane in a 1921 serial of The Adventures of Tarzan. Her 'Tarzan' was of course, Elmo Lincoln.

In 1922, she was selected as a WAMPAS Baby Star alongside such lovelies as Jacqueline Logan, Bessie Love, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Colleen Moore.

Jack Pickford and Louise

Like a lot of stars back in those days, Louise did her own stunts. Apparently she became a little more hesitant when it came to doing ALL her stunts after she witnessed a car crash that ended up killing the passengers.

Although she was pretty popular during the silent age, it didn't translate well to the talkies. She only appeared in five talking pictures, and none of them were in a blockbuster feature. She quietly bowed out of pictures around the early 1930s to concentrate on being a wife and mother.

Louise Lorraine passed away on February 2, 1981 in New York City.

She was buried at Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills.

Louise was married twice. Her first marriage was to actor Art Acord. Not sure exactly when they married, but they did divorce in 1928. Her second marriage was to Chester Hubbard in the 1930s. They stayed married until he died in 1963. Louise and Hubbard had two children, not sure of their genders though.

Apparently later in life, it really amazed and tickled Louise to learn that her serials and movies were remembered and still loved.

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June Caprice was born Helen Elizabeth Lawson (Valley of the Dolls reference anyone) on November 19, 1895 in Arlington, Massachusetts. Her parents were Peter and Anna Lawson.

You know the story...she began her career acting on stage before signing with a movie studio in 1916.

What got June signed to the studio was the fact that Fox was looking for another Mary Pickford type. They held a contest where girls sent in their pictures to try and score a contract. It was actually June's friends who sent in her picture as kind of a joke. They and she didn't really give it much thought until she was contacted and told she won.

She didn't quite become as big as Mary Pickford, but she was pretty popular in her own way. Her films sound like Mary would have starred in them though: Little Miss Happiness (1916), The Ragged Princess (1916), and A Modern Cinderella (1917).

Another big difference between Pickford and June was that June stopped making movies in the silents. She never made a talkie. She chose to start a family over a career in the movies, although she did do some modeling and stage work every once in awhile.

Sadly, June Caprice passed away from cancer on November 9, 1936 in Los Angeles. She had just turned 40 about a week earlier.

She was buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale.

June only married once, to director Harry Millarde in 1923. They remained married until 1931, when Millarde died after suffering a heart attack. The couple had a daughter named June Elizabeth in 1923.

June Elizabeth Millarde became an orphan at age 13 after her mother died, so she moved to Long Island where she was raised by her grandparents (June Caprice's parents). She became kinda famous in her own right. During the 1940s, she went by the name of 'Toni Seven' and worked as a pin-up model. She appeared in a few films, but not in any big roles.

Miss Dorothy Phillips/Miss Mignon Anderson

So, on Monday I am heading back out to California to visit my favorite lads and ladies from the silent screen. I am trying to get my grave hunting lists together and find who I haven't yet and I have come across quite a few names of silent film stars that I have heard of or seen in films, but don't know much about. I like to know really who I am looking for, so I am cracking out two biographies today. One is Dorothy Phillips and what I know about her is that she was reportedly one of the nicest and most approachable stars during her time. The second is Mignon Anderson, and what I know about her is that she worked for Thanhouser Studios, and that is pretty much it.

Dorothy Phillips was born Dorothy Gwendolyn Strible on October 22, 1882 in Baltimore, Maryland.

She began her career as most do, on the stage. She made her film debut in 1911, and after making quite a few films, she earned, the nickname "Kid Nazimova" because she did such a great job imitating Alla Nazimova. Kinda interesting they called her a kid, considering she was in her twenties.

Silent films she appeared in include: A Doll's House (1917) with Lon Chaney, Broadway Love (1918) also with Lon Chaney, Upstage (1926) with Norma Shearer, and Cradle Snatchers (1927) with Louise Fazenda.

Talkies she appeared in include: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) in an uncredited role as a nurse, Father of the Bride (1950) in an uncredited role in a dream sequence, and her last film role was in 1962's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in a nameless, uncredited role.

Dorothy may have been quite a lovely little comedian, but her star power didn't seem to have any staying power. Her popularity began to decline during the late 1920s, right about when talkies were starting to loom on the horizon. If she did get film roles, they were either bit parts or uncredited roles.

Dorothy Phillips passed away on March 1, 1980 in California. She was buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Dorothy was only married once, to actor/director/producer Allen Holubar in 1912. They remained married until his death in 1923 from complications following gallstone surgery. The two were a Hollywood power couple during that era.

Like I said earlier, she was known as one of the nicest gals you could ever meet. She had a lovely disposition and movie fans found her very approachable. You don't find that in film stars very much, so good for you Dorothy!

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Mignon Anderson was born on March 31, 1892 in Baltimore, Maryland (same as Dorothy!) Her father, James Frank Anderson, was an actor who appeared on the vaudeville stage and in operas and her mother, Hollie, also appeared on the stage.

Her family, which included two older sisters, Charlotta and and Hollie, moved to New York City where they went to school and Mignon made her stage debut when she was only six months old.

While also working on the stage, she also worked as an artist's model.

When she was in her late teens in 1911, she signed with Thanhouser Studios. She signed on as a sweet, dainty ingenue. Very dainty considering she was only about five feet tall. Her fellow Thanhouser actors apparently nicknamed her "Filet Mignon." (of course)

After staying at Thanhouser for about four or five years, she left and signed with a few other studios briefly before becoming a freelance player.

Apparently she knew where her talents lay because she went from silent movies back into theatre work. She never appeared in a talkie, and her last film appearance was in 1922.

Mignon Anderson passed away on February 25, 1983 in Los Angeles. She was buried at Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills.

She was only married once, to fellow actor Morris Foster in 1915. According to a news article at the time, the wedding took place at her home because her family was still in mourning. Not sure exactly what they were in mourning about, but it could be for Frank Anderson, who died around that time. The two had a wonderful marriage and remained married until he passed away in 1966. They did not have any children.

Although she was only married once, she did have quite a few other beaus around the studio. She was linked to another actor named Val Hush, who was once linked to another Thanhouser beauty, Florence LaBadie. But, the one actor it seemed like she almost married was Irving Cummings. They two, according to Cummings, were going to be married very soon, but the next thing people knew, she married Morris Foster. Ah love... 

For more information on Mignon and a ton of other actors and actresses who were part of the Thanhouser Studios, check out their amazing website! Thanhouser Studios



Nickelodeon

Moving pictures! What will they think of next?! TALKING pictures?!

These are some animated gifs I have found all over the web of some of our favorite silent stars. I do not own any of them (I have no idea how to make them). 

The Cat's Pajamas

As I have stated a few hundred times, I love pictures of the actors and actresses of yester year. I realized I had a bunch on my computer that have just been lying in wait. They are of lesser known actresses, so getting info on all of them can be hard and would only garner a few second long entry. So, instead...I present them to you all at once. Feast your eyes on these lovely ladies of the silent screen.

This is Olive Ann Alcorn. She was born March 10, 1900 in Stillwater, Minnesota. Her film debut was in a Charlie Chaplin short called Sunnyside in 1919.  She was credited in five silent film features all together, most notably 1925's The Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney.  Olive was known more for her dancing abilities on stage rather than her acting on the screen. She was a member of the Denishawn Players, starting when she was still in her teens. Another thing she was famous for was her nude postcards that she posed for. Olive Ann Alcorn passed away on January 8, 1975.

Here is Miss Elisabeth Bergner. She was born Elisabeth Ettel on August 22, 1897 in Ukraine. She began working as a model in her teens and eventually moving to the silver screen, making her film debut in 1923. Her film career had some ups and downs. The down was that one of her films was banned in Germany because it had Jewish actors in it. The upside was that she earned an Oscar nomination in 1935 for her role in the film Escape Me Never. Mind you, this was all over in Europe. She did make one film in America, but the film and Elisabeth weren't hits with the public. She did have something in common with such Hollywood actresses as Julie Andrews, Joanne Woodward and Jean Simmons though. They were all in films that were directed by their husbands (Elisabeth was married to director Paul Szinner). She eventually retired from film and stage alike in the 1970s. Elisabeth Bergner passed away on May 12, 1986 in London. Interesting little fact about Elisabeth was that she was part of the inspiration behind the famous story/film All About Eve.

This cutie is Dulcie Cooper. She was born on November 3, 1903 in Sydney, Australia. She appeared in roughly six silent films. After the silent days passed by, she appeared in a number of stage productions, and even made a few television appearances, including a spot on "The Phil Silvers Show" in 1957. Dulcie Cooper passed away on September 3, 1981 in New York City.

Clara Horton was born on July 29, 1904 in Brooklyn, New York. She made her film debut in 1912 when she was still a kid, and even earned the nickname "The Eclair Kid." Clara appeared in over 50 silent movies including 1917's Tom Sawyer with Jack Pickford. Since she was such a film veteran by the time the talkies came around, she seemed to be ready for the new talking picture medium, but like so many other silent film actors, her career didn't last. She made her last film in 1942. Clara Horton passed away on December 4, 1976 in Encino, California.

Those beautiful eyes look right into you don't they? The eyes belong to Mona Maris. She was born Rosa Emma Mona Maria Marta Capdevielle in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She appeared in roughly 10 silent films, and most were Westerns. Even when the talkies came, she still appeared in a lot of Westerns. Typecasting is an age old thing, ain't it? Incredibly, her last film role was in 1984. Mona Maris passed away on March 23, 1991 in her hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I love the head wrap in the hair look, so flapper! This beauty is Marguerite Namara. She was born Marguerite Banks on November 19, 1888 in Cleveland, Ohio. She only appeared in two silent films and then only three talkies. Her first talkie was in a 1932 version of Carmen, where she had the starring role. Her daughter, Peggy, also appeared in a few films. Marguerite Namara passed away on November 3, 1974 in Marbella, Spain.

Sally Starr (perfect stage name) was born Sarah Kathryn Sturm on January 23, 1909 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She started off as a chorus girl in "George White's Scandals" and became so popular that she eventually became the girl who announced the next scene. She appeared in around four silent films, mostly because her time was spent on the stage. She was signed by MGM who wanted her to represent an everyday starlet. Sally was even supposed to be another up and coming Clara Bow. But, as we all know, no one can touch Clara. Her last film appearance was in 1938. Sally Starr passed away on May 5, 1996 in Pennsylvania.

Please meet Miss Charlotte Stevens. She was born August 25, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois. She made her film debut in 1915 and kept making movies all the way til 1928 when she retired from the industry. Charlotte Stevens passed away on October 28, 1946 at age 46 in Los Angeles. I can't find out how/why she died so young though.

This is Raquel Torres. She was born with the less exciting name of Paula Osterman in Hermosillo, Mexico on November 11, 1908. She made her film debut at age 19 in the not really silent film White Shadows in the South Seas. This was actually MGM's first film to use synchronized music, dialogue, and sound effects. She really find her stride as another Mexican Spitfire type (like Lupe Velez) and also from her appearance in the Marx Brother's film, Duck Soup in 1933. Her last film appearance was in an uncredited role in a 1936 film. Raquel Torres passed away on August 10, 1987 in Los Angeles.

Last but not least is another lovely Latin lady, Lupita Tovar. She was born Guadalupe Tovar on July 27, 1910 in Oaxaca, Mexico. She made three silent films before moving right along to the talkies. Interestingly, one of her more notable film roles was in the Spanish version of Dracula in 1931. She married agent Paul Kohner in 1932, and their daughter, Susan, became an actress as well, appearing in Imitation of Life with Lana Turner. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role. Another cool note about Lupita....she is still alive! Man oh man...

Miss Nancy Carroll

Hello, hello! *whew* I have finished fixing all "lost" pictures on the blog. Even though I love looking at pictures of these great people, that was a tedious and looooong task. BUT, all fixed now! On with the show!

What do I know about Nancy Carroll? Well, she was the picture of the perfect flapper with her big beautiful eyes, cutesy smile, and curly bobbed hair. Oh, and from what I have read, she was kind of a bitch. But hey...let's dig a little deeper and see if we can find a nice lady under this Hot Toddy.

Nancy Carroll was born Ann Veronica Lahiff on November 19, 1903 in New York City. She was the youngest child of Thomas and Ann Lahiff, joining older sisters Sarah, Theresa, Elsie, Margaret, and Agnes, and older brother Martin (Margaret and Agnes died in infancy).

Nancy and her sister, Theresa (her stage name was Terry) began appearing on the stage at a young age, dancing away and even winning contests for their talents. She eventually danced her way to the Broadway stage.

In 1927 she made her film debut in Ladies Must Dress (Yeah, never heard of it either). Throughout her silent film career, she appeared in around 13 films.

Like many of her fellow actors, her stage experience helped usher her in to the talkies. She was popular little actress appearing in such films as Honey (1930), Paramount on Parade (1930), and That Certain Age (1938). I actually have sheet music from the film Honey that I found at an antique store. For $1.00, you bet I snapped that up!

Nancy did manage an Oscar nomination for her role in the 1930 film The Devil's Holiday, but she lost out to Norma Shearer and her role in The Divorcee.

During the late 1930s, she began getting restless with the roles being offered to her from Paramount Studios. This is probably where the whole 'bitch' aspect of her personality came through because word started spreading that she was difficult on set. The studio eventually let her go. She signed with Columbia, but only had bit parts in a few films.

No more films for Nancy. So, she moved on to the new medium of television. She appeared on a number of shows, and the only one I have ever heard of was The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen. She made her appearance on this show in 1959.

Nancy Carroll passed away on August 6, 1965 from an aneurysm.

She was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, New York alongside her parents and siblings, except for sister Terry.

Nancy was married three times. First to writer Jack Kirkland in 1925. They had a daughter together named Patricia, but divorced after only five years of marriage. Her second marriage was to Francis Bolton Mallory from 1931 until 1935. Her last marriage was to C.H. Jappe Green from 1953. They were married until her death.

For her work as an actress, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"Because you think differently, you're considered disagreeable, and upstage, and difficult. AN original thinker has to fight." ~~ Nancy Carroll (Well said, doll baby)