Silent Forever

Anita Berber

Howdy. I am currently working on entries about stars that never made it to the talkies. They are actors and actresses that only appeared in silent films before passing away. Gotta make sure these fine people are remembered. 

This is who I will be profiling: Art Acord, Florence Barker, Anita Berber, Vedah Bertram, True Boardman, Rex Cherryman, Bobby Connelly, William Courtleigh Jr., Ward Crane, Florence Deshon, B. Reeves Eason Jr., Frank Farrington, Vladimir Fogel, Tom Forman, Myrtle Gonzalez, Joseph Graybill, Eina Hanson, Arthur V. Johnson, Lamar Johnstone, Dee Lampton, Ormer Locklear, Harold Lockwood, Lottie Lyell, Charles Emmett Mack, Elsie Mackay, Eva May, Evelyn Nelson, Maria Orska, Vitold Polonsky, Valdemar Psilander, Dorothy Seastrom, Jack Standing, Emily Stevens, Fred Thomson, Mary Thurman, and Dorrit Weixler.

Stay tuned!

Dorothy Seastrom

Barrymore Gals

I had a request to do an entry on Katherine Corri Harris, the first wife of John Barrymore and I figured I could cover a few of the other Barrymore wives that were also actresses.

When I first went to visit the final resting places of the Barrymores (John is now buried in Pennsylvania) I saw that Lionel was buried with second wife, who died at a fairly young age and that intrigued me. Her name was Irene Fenwick Barrymore and I will be covering her, along with Lionel's second wife, Doris Rankin, as well as Katherine Corri Harris. I already covered Dolores Costello, John Barrymore's third wife in a previous entry so that is why she isn't included here.

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Katherine and John Barrymore

Katherine Corri Harris was born October 1, 1893 (although I have also read 1890). Her father, Sidney, was a very successful lawyer, so Katherine grew up in high society. Her mother, also named Kathryn, divorced Sidney around 1901 so the child rearing was left up to her. I am not sure whether or not Katherine had any siblings. 

I know pretty much ZIP about her life before she met John Barrymore. I do know that she spent a lot of time in Europe, and was educated in a French convent. 

Katherine and John's engagement announcement ran in the newspapers on April 6, 1910. The Flushing Daily Times wrote: 

"Announcement was made yesterday of the engagement of Mr. John Barrymore...and Miss Katherine Corri Harris, of Flushing, daughter of Mr. Sidney Harris, a wealthy lawyer, and one of the prettiest and most popular members of the younger social set...The present Mr. Harris has not shown any signs of melting and that even now he is speeding across the ocean to prevent the marriage. It is understood that his only objection to the match is his daughter's age. She has just turned eighteen, while Mr. Barrymore is near his twenty-seventh birthday. While Mr. Harris is opposed to the match it is understood that Mrs. Harris is doing everything in her power to smooth the way to the altar for the young couple."

There was a bit of an age difference, but that didn't seem to bother the elder Mrs. Harris. Sidney Harris however was pretty riled up about the whole affair and his feelings were no secret. When John was asked by a reporter what he thought about his fiance's father's objections, he refused to discuss the matter. I should note that I am not sure how close Sidney Harris was to his daughter. According to the divorce papers that were drawn up between him and Kathryn Harris, he was allowed to see his daughter only 6 or 7 times a year. I don't know if these are specific times like holidays or if that was one strict rule put down by the father or the mother. Oy vey!

According to Barrymore, his dashing lover persona on the stage didn't translate into his real life. He said that me and Katherine were just friends who eventually began liking each other in a romantic sense, and he just asked her to marry him one day. Yeah....OOOOOKAY there, John.

"Mother is perfectly in sympathy with the affair. She considers Mr. Barrymore a very fine young man, and has known him for a long time." ~~ Katherine Harris when asked about her engagement (New York Times - August 7, 1910).

John and Katherine were married on September 1, 1910. It didn't take long for their marriage to head into a negative direction. Soon after their wedding, John had to go on tour with a show he was in, so Katherine went to live with his sister Ethel and her husband, Russell Colt. She eventually moved into John's apartment in New York City, which had been his bachelor bad, so...he was in for a nice surprise! 

The couple would fight, and get back together, then fight, and then get back together and this became the norm for their marriage. Katherine was itching to be an actress and kept bugging John to put her in his plays or his movies. I am sure he loved that.

Katherine's screen career consisted of three films, and only one was not with her husband. The Barrymores appeared together in Nearly a King and The Lost Bridegroom (both in 1916). Her one film without John was 1918's House of Mirth. Unfortunately, all three of these films are considered lost. 

The couple's fights began to get the best of both of them, and on December 16, 1916 they were officially divorced. 

Another thing that didn't help the relationship was the fact that both John and Katherine had affairs. Katherine had an affair with a mutual friend, artist James Montgomery Flagg. 

Katherine eventually did marry again, to a stockbroker named Alexander Dallas Bache Pratt in 1921, but they divorced two years later. Her third and final marriage was in 1923, the same year as her divorce from Pratt, to a man named Leon Orlowsky. 

Katherine Corri Harris-Barrymore-Pratt-Orlowsky (whew!) passed away on May 2, 1927 in New York City. The cause of death was pneumonia. John Barrymore was by her side when she passed away. They had remained on friendly terms even through their divorce and other marriages (he was a guest at her second wedding!)

Unfortunately, I have no idea where she is buried. I would venture a guess that it is somewhere in New York. 

She did manage to appear in a few plays before, during, and after her short film career. 

Here is a freaky deaky coincidence for ya. Katherine and John's second wife, Blanche Oelrichs were born on the same day and delivered by the same doctor with an hour of each other. Actress Alice Joyce also shares the same birthday.

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Doris and Lionel Barrymore

Doris Rankin was born on August 27, 1887 in New York City. She was the daughter of stage actor, McKee Rankin and a young actress whose name seems to have been lost to history (or maybe he never divulged the name of the woman). He was married at the time of his indiscretion, to another actress named Kitty Blanchard. She had two older sisters (who were the products of the Kitty/McKee Rankin marriage) named Gladys and Phyllis. 

Considering her pedigree, it is no surprise that Doris and her sisters grew up appearing in various plays for her father's theater company. It was during one of these performances that she met and acting alongside Lionel Barrymore.

Doris and Lionel married on June 19, 1904 when he was 26, and she only 16 years old. Seems like those Barrymore boys liked their women young! 

Two years after they were married, the couple decided to stop acting in the theater and moved to Paris where they stayed for four years before moving back to the states. 

Apparently there is some mystery and confusion surrounding the children of Doris and Lionel, and I am not really sure why. They had a daughter named Ethel (named after Lionel's sister) in October of 1908, but when she was just barely two years old, Ethel fell ill and died. She was buried in the Barrymore family plot alongside her grandparents, Georgianna and Maurice, at the Mount Vernon Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The couple also had a daughter named Mary while living in France, but she only lived a few months. Mary is buried somewhere in France.

Why such mystery about Ethel and Mary Barrymore? Well, it could be because Lionel Barrymore would tell people that he didn't have children. But, he was absolutely heartbroken about losing his two daughters, that I think perhaps he just didn't want to think or talk about his babies. Ethel Barrymore wrote in her autobiography about meeting her namesake niece once while visiting her family in France. And I even read a newspaper article from 1922 addressing the divorce of the couple that said Doris was given custody of their one child. If anyone has some solid information on this subject, I would be very thankful. 

Doris made her film debut in the 1920 film, The Copperhead, which starred her husband. Like Katherine Corri Harris, Doris' career was tied in with her husband's so most of her films were with him. After she and Lionel divorced though, her career continued on up to the talkies until she made her last film in 1939.

Doris and Lionel Barrymore officially divorced on December 21, 1922. The deaths of their daughters broke both of them done and they just weren't functioning as a happy married couple anymore. I am sure there were other reasons for the divorce, especially since Doris would never talk about him or their marriage. 

She did marry again though, to a British author named Malcolm Mortimer. I don't know when they married or if the marriage lasted or anything really. I do know that the couple had two children, but I don't know anything about that really either.

hollywoodheyday.blogspot.com

Doris Rankin Barrymore-Mortimer passed away in 1946 (don't even know what day!) in Washington D.C. I do not know where she is buried. 

The Rankin sisters really knew what families to marry into! Gladys Rankin was married to Lionel Barrymore's uncle, Sidney Drew. So, Gladys was Doris' sister aunt? Oh man...Gladys sadly passed away in 1914 from cancer, and Sidney followed five years later. Phyllis Rankin was married to Harry Davenport who was a well known stage actor (you may know him best as Dr. Meade from Gone with the Wind). They were married from 1896 until Phyllis passed away in 1946. Also, I just found this out while researching this marriage. Harry Davenport was the father of actress Dorothy Davenport, the actress who was married to Wallace Reid. I never knew that! What a groovy little fact!

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Irene Fenwick was born Irene Frizzel on September 5, 1887 in Chicago, Illinois. 

I unfortunately do not know much about Irene's early life because I couldn't dig up census information. Grrr!!

Before Irene appeared in film, she was a stage actress beginning in 1910. One of her stage roles was as Simonetta in a 1921 production of "Laugh, Clown, Laugh." 

Her screen debut was in the 1915 film, The Commuters. All together she appeared in 10 films in a span of two years. Not bad. Some of her co-stars included Owen Moore, Olive Thomas, Ethel Barrymore, and Annette Kellerman. Irene preferred stage acting over movies because she felt much more fulfilled, so she returned to the theater.

Interestingly enough, she dated John Barrymore during her early years in the theater. While courting her, Lionel confronted his brother over the true extent of his relationship with Irene, namely had the two been lovers. This caused a rift in the brothers relationship that last for two years!

Lionel and Irene Barrymore

Lionel Barrymore met Irene in 1923 when they both appeared in the play, "The Claw" in Los Angeles. It appears to have been love at first sight because they were married only a short time later on June 14, 1923.

The couple quickly became a favorite of friends and fans. The couple never had children (which I am sure was somehow due to Irene's health issues) but they were still very devoted and loving to one another. 

I do not know how long Irene battled with anorexia, but it is just heartbreaking looking at photos of her and she is just skinny as a rail. This could have been something from her early days in plays and film, or something fairly recent, I am not sure.

Irene Barrymore passed away on December 24, 1936 in Beverly Hills. She had been pretty much bed ridden for the past seven years, and Lionel stayed right by her side. 

Newspapers reported that Irene had died from a lung condition as well as pneumonia. The real cause of death was due to the effects of anorexia. But, no one was going to air out something so personal to the newspapers.

She was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles. 

Lionel, Irene, Dolores (Costello), and John Barrymore

Lionel was devastated by the death of his wife. The day after her death, he was supposed to be appear on a radio program as Ebeneezer Scrooge, and he just could not do it. Instead, his brother John stepped in and took his place while Lionel went to a Christmas Mass where he collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. 

Irene had been married twice before marrying Lionel. Husband #1 was a dancer/bobsled champion named Jay O'Brien, but I do not know when they were married or when they divorced. I do know that Jay had been married to actress Mae Murray from 1916 until 1918 though. Husband #2 was a man named Felix Isman, and all I know about him was that he married Irene around 1909. 

Irene, Lionel, and Ethel Barrymore

Miss Bessie Eyton

Another reader suggestion! This is a woman who appeared in almost 200 films in a span of 15 years. Miss Bessie kept busy!

Bessie Eyton was born Bessie Harrison on July 5, 1890 in Santa Barbara, California. She was the second child born to Wallace and Camille Harrison, joining her one year old brother, Julian. 

She made her film debut in the 1911 short, The Sheriff of Tuolomne, which also featured Hobart Bosworth. And according to IMDB, the short was released with a documentary about the rubber industry in the Amazon. EXCITING!!

The next three years were spent appearing in a number of shorts. In 1914, she made her first feature, a western called The Spoilers. What followed were another billion more appearances in shorts before she appeared in her next feature in 1916, The Cycle of Fate. 

During her screen career, Bessie also appeared in a Broadway production called Civilian Clothes. She was with the production for around 150 performances. 

Bessie's career seemed to be more about the amount of work she was a part of as opposed to having a long and lasting film career. Her last film appearance was in 1925. She didn't stick around for the talkies. 

Bessie Eyton passed away on January 22, 1965 in Thousand Oaks, California. 

She was buried at the Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura, California. 

Bessie was married twice. Her first husband was a man named Charles Eyton, but I am not sure what the date of their marriage was. The couple did divorce in 1915, and Bessie decided to keep her married name as her stage name. Her second husband was actor named Clark Coffey who she married in 1916. The couple divorced in 1923. Neither marriage produced children. 

She was given the nickname the "girl with the wonderful hair" by the Selig Players studio. 

According to a Milwaukee newspaper, in 1915, Bessie had to call in the police to help her while she was out shopping and was swarmed by fans who wanted a look at her and her new car.

The Duncan Sisters

Rosetta and Vivian Duncan

I guess we will stay on the sisters kick! I am the middle child with an older sister and a younger sister, so I consider myself an expert on the subject :)

These ladies were also a suggestion by a reader along with two other pairs of sisters: Katherine MacDonald and Mary MacLaren, who I covered in the previous entry, and Adamae and Alberta Vaughn, who I will get to as soon as I dig out the book I need that has some information about them in it. Give me a few thousand years to do that though...I am lazy.

Rosetta and Vivian Duncan

Rosetta Duncan was born on November 23, 1894 and sister Vivian was born June 17, 1897, both in Los Angeles, California. Their father, Samuel once performed as a violinist but then got a job in sales, and their mother, Locky, was at home with older brother, Alexander and older sister, Evelyn. The girls also had a younger brother named Harold. 

In 1911, the girls made their stage debut together in the Kiddie's Revue. It was during this time that the girls thought that they would have more opportunities as a sister act, so they worked on perfecting a routine where Rosetta was the loud comedian and Vivian was the dumb one. It didn't take long for their act to gain a reputation on the vaudeville circuit, and they soon added singing to their repertoire. 

In 1917, they had the amazing opportunity to appear at the Winter Garden Theatre starring alongside Ed Wynn. The girls were going somewhere quick, and the only place for them to go seemed to be up!

Vivian Duncan

The "up" came in 1923 when the girls starred in a play derived from the book Uncle Tom's Cabin,  called Topsy and Eva. Understandably, this musical comedy is not something you would see around these days due to some of the songs, content, and of course, the black face makeup worn by actors, including Rosetta, who played Topsy. During the early 1900s though, this was THE entertainment.

The girls' performance on stage led to movie producers wanting to put them on film! So, in 1927 the film version was released, also featuring Marjorie Daw, Mary Nolan, and Carla Laemmle.

While the girls were popular on stage, this popularity unfortunately did not translate the same way on the silver screen. They appeared in the 1929 early musical film, It's a Great Life, but the film didn't rake in the same cash as producers hoped so it seemed as if the stage is where the girls belonged. 

Rosetta Duncan

The stress of dealing with a movie career on top of a stage career finally caught up to Rosetta in 1928. The sisters had to cancel a few of their Topsy and Eva performances so that Rosetta could get some rest and clear her head. Vivian made a statement to the Pittsburgh Press on November 16, 1928 saying that her sister's breakdown was caused by "the efforts of 'certain American interests.'" Perhaps she was referring to the movie industry people they were now having to deal with. Who knows. 

The bright lights of Broadway and the movie sets of Hollywood were behind them, but the Duncan Sisters continued appearing at various night clubs and appearing on television shows.

Around 1931, the sisters began appearing in the news again, but not for rave performance reviews as it was before. It came to light that unfortunately, the sisters were broke. The explanation for their empty pockets? Vivien explained in a December 8, 1931 article in The Evening Independent: "Gold mines with no gold, worthless stock, the fickleness of Wall Street and signatures on too many dotted lines are responsible. Three years ago, we had more than a million and the money was rolling in. We were a big success and everyone with something to sell was plying us with propositions back stage. We signed up for almost anything they had to offer. We listened to everyone. Now we're penniless. We bought two gold mines...one in Arizona, and one in Mexico. We played margins in Wall Street and and you know what happened to actors who played margins in Wall Street a couple of years ago...And now, it's all gone and all we've done today is cry like a couple of babies. But we're starting all over again and we're going to do a comeback. We'll pay our debts if they'll just give us a chance - watch and see."

Rosetta Duncan

On November 30, 1959, Rosetta Duncan was out driving in Illinois when she struck a bridge post after swerving to avoid another vehicle. She ended up breaking both legs, 10 ribs, a fractured skull, and suffered numerous internal injuries. The driver of the other car was seen getting out of the vehicle, removing the plates and anything else that could be used to identify them, and fled the scene. Rosetta held on in the hospital for four days with her sister, Vivian by her side.

Rosetta Duncan passed away on December 4, 1959.

After her sister's death, Vivian continued performing on the night club circuit as a solo act.

Vivian Duncan

Vivian Duncan passed away on September 19, 1986 from Alzheimer's disease.

Both sisters are buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale.

Rosetta never married, but sister Vivian was married twice. Her first husband was actor Valentin Parera, who she married in 1930. I am not sure exactly when they divorced, but I know that it didn't come long after the wedding date because in 1931, he married actress and singer, Grace Moore. Vivian's second husband was another actor, this time it was Nils Asther, who appeared with the Duncan Sisters in their first film, Topsy and Eva. The couple married in 1930 (further proof her first marriage lasted for about a second) and ended up divorcing two years later. Her second marriage produced a daughter, Evelyn. 

Vivian and Rosetta Duncan

Vivien seems to have had quite the crush on movie actors, but she also did not have the best of luck with them (as evidenced by her two failed marriages). She had another negative outcome to a relationship with another actor in the 1930s. This is an excerpt from a July 30, 1970 newspaper article: 

"Rex Lease, 27, screen actor, was arrested early today when Vivian Duncan, member of the internationally famous Duncan Sisters dancing team, swore to a complaint that he knocked her down with his fist and kicked her during a seaside party at Malibu Beach outing place of the film colony...Miss Duncan exhibited a huge lump over her left eye to support her story."

Apparently the reason he hit Vivian was because he tried to kiss her and she denied his advances. What a douche. After her younger brother, Harold heard about what happened to his sister, he went on the war path looking for Lease. He found him at a Hollywood cafe and proceeded to beat the crap out of him. It was after this altercation that Lease went into hiding in the days leading up to his trial. It's a good thing because apparently Vivian's then husband, Nils Asther was telling people that he was out looking for Lease to seek his own revenge. 

 

Vivian and Rosetta Duncan

In 1946, Hollywood was planning on making a bio pic about the life and times of the Duncan Sisters but the project was plagued with rewrites and never got off the ground. I think this is probably a blessing in disguise considering how awful Hollywood is at getting the facts straight in their "biographical" pictures. 

Older sister, Evelyn, also appeared on stage with her sisters and also made a film in 1915. 

May Birthdays!

Leila Hyams ~ May 1, 1905

Josephine Dunn ~ May 1, 1906

Bing Crosby ~ May 2, 1904

Mary Astor ~ May 3, 1906

Audrey Hepburn ~ May 4, 1929

Tyrone Power ~ May 5, 1913

Rudolph Valentino ~ May 6, 1895

Gary Cooper ~ May 7, 1901

Mae Murray ~ May 10, 1889

Fred Astaire ~ May 10, 1899

Katharine Hepburn ~ May 12, 1907

Billie Dove ~ May 14, 1903

Henry Fonda ~ May 16, 1905

Estelle Taylor ~ May 20, 1894

James Stewart ~ May 20, 1908

Alla Nazimova ~ May 22, 1879

Douglas Fairbanks ~ May 23, 1883

Al Jolson ~ May 26, 1886

Norma Talmadge ~ May 26, 1894

Don Ameche ~ May 31, 1908

Miss Katherine MacDonald and Miss Mary MacLaren

Katherine MacDonald

A sister act! These ladies were both suggestions from a reader and I was able to dig up some interesting stuff about them in their later years. Mary's story especially is a reminder of what happens to many film stars that fade from the spotlight and just become lost. 

Mary MacLaren

Katherine Agnew MacDonald was born on December 14, 1891 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mary MacLaren, born Mary MacDonald, was born on January 19, 1896. Katherine was the eldest daughter of William and Lillian MacDonald, followed by sister, Marian, and then youngest sister, Mary. Their parents divorced sometime during the 1900s because Lillian is listed as such in a 1910 census record. (According to another census record from the 1920s, while the sisters were working as actresses, they shared a home with their mother and sister, Marian, who didn't have a career listed). 

The girls grew up with their mother in Pennsylvania and also spent a lot of time working as models in New York. 

Katherine moved to Los Angeles in 1917 and made her film debut the next year in The Spirit of '17, which was directed by William Desmond Taylor. Surprisingly, a print of this film still exists in archives. 

Katherine MacDonald

Katherine's career took off quick! In 1919, she formed her own production company called (appropriately) Katherine MacDonald Pictures and it was here she became one of the highest paid stars. She wasn't seen as a great actress, but hey, she paid her own bills, so who the hell cares? People did think she was beautiful though, and the public nicknamed her the "American Beauty." 

One of her most well known films that she was in was 1918's The Squaw Man. I remember hearing/seeing a lot about this film when I visited the Lasky-DeMille Barn in California. The film is an important one because it was the first film to be produced in Hollywood and Katherine MacDonald, along with Monte Blue, Noah Beery, and Ann Little were a part of that.

Mary MacLaren

Mary meanwhile had been appearing on stage with Al Jolson starting in 1914. She eventually moved out to Hollywood with her sister and made her first credited film debut in 1916's The Shoes. 

Like her sister, Mary was also seen as a beauty on the screen and she was given a slighter edge in the acting category over Katherine. Unlike her sister though, Mary appeared in talkies while her sister did not. 

Katherine made her last film appearance in 1926's Old Loves and New with Lewis Stone and Walter Pidgeon. After retiring from films, she spent her days selling cosmetics. 

 Mary meanwhile kept acting until her final film appearance in the 1941 film, Prairie Pioneers . She didn't want to retire, but she was forced into after getting into a car accident.

So, judging from what I have read and the information I have gathered, it seems like the girls' personal lives were more intriguing than their film careers. 

Katherine and Mary were the silent version of Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine. Their dislike of each other became a source of gossip among the public but it was mostly in their later years after Katherine spoke about the current living conditions of her sister (Oh, just wait. We will get to that!).

Around 1919, the rumor mill was buzzing that Katherine was having an affair with a prominent married man. Who was the man? Oh, just the President of the United States himself, Woodrow Wilson. He really did get around! First Florence La Badie, and now Katherine MacDonald? Sorry, JFK! Looks like you weren't the first President to have an eye for movie stars! Anyway, there is no hard proof of an affair but Wilson did say that Katherine was one of his favorite actresses, and I am sure there is more to the story because just saying that can't imply an affair. If that was the case, then I had an affair with Buster Keaton! The rumor is also kind of shaky because 1919 was the year that Wilson had a stroke and, I mean, the man couldn't even take care of himself let alone carry on a secret torrid affair!

Mary MacLaren

Mary appeared in the headlines again in the 1970s and not for any star studded film gala. Oh no. She was being brought to court so that someone could be given conservatorship over her because she was living in squalor. A St. Petersburg Times article from November 17, 1979 states:

"Now 79 and alone, caught in a web of court appearances for health and fire safety violations, she [Mary] spends her days on the porch of a house she no longer owns, dressed in clothes bought in thrift shops, surrounded by dogs, cats, Kentucky Fried Chicken boxes and a buzzing squadron of flies and pigeons drawn by food scraps and animal waste...To Miss MacLaren, the situation she finds herself in is 'just unbelievable." 

Mary of course thought it all ridiculous and told another newspaper, "I'm not going to leave my house...I'll sleep here till I die." I should note that this quote was said after a fire broke out in her room and she STILL wanted to stay there. She was finally convinced to move to a different building on the property. Wow.

Katherine MacDonald

Katherine MacDonald passed away on June 4, 1956 in Santa Barbara, California. She was buried at the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Mary MacLaren

Mary MacLaren passed away on November 9, 1985 in Hollywood, California. She was buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale. 

When it comes to marriages, the sisters had five between them. Mary's first husband was Colonel George Herbert Young and they were married from 1924 until 1928. She married again to a man named Robert Coleman but I am not sure when they were wed or when they divorced. Neither marriage produced children.

Katherine's first husband was K. Malcolm Struss, an artist she met during her years working as a model in New York. They marriage in 1910 but they were soon living apart. The couple officially divorced in 1919. Her second marriage was to a young playboy named Charles Johnston in 1924. And although they had son together named Britt, they divorced in 1926. 

Katherine MacDonald

Her third and final marriage was to Christian Holmes, one of the heirs to the Fleischmann's yeast company. The couple married in 1928, but divorced three years later after one big divorce trial that cast them both in the spotlight. In the divorce proceedings, Katherine charged that Holmes would burn her with cigarettes, lock her in a cage, and shoot at her! Holmes fired back saying that this was all because she was having affairs and it was embarrassing him. Get this, two years later in 1933, the couple reconciled! Anyway, the marriage did produce a daughter named Ann around 1929. 

The car accident that stopped Mary's film career was the second she had to face. The first accident was in 1917 and she was near death for almost two weeks until she had surgery on her skull that saved her life. 

Mary MacLaren

In 1983 at a memorial service for Rudolph Valentino, Mary revealed that because of her mother's intrusion, she did not have a romantic relationship with Rudy. Apparently her dressing room was next to his and one night he asked her to go dancing with him in downtown Los Angeles. Her mother forbade her to go, and that was the end of that! 

Mary also later told a newspaper that she adored Douglas Fairbanks, but not in the romantic sense. 

Katherine MacDonald

"Whenever I read a review of one of my pictures that roasts me unmercifully, I think of how many worse things I could have said about the same picture. Often, I am not only in entire agreement with the reviewers, but I think they haven't gone far enough. They say I am beautiful, but dumb. That is almost a formula now for reviewing my pictures; it is so much easier to say that than to think up anything new." ~~ Katherine MacDonald, Picture-Play Magazine - April 1923