Monday 7 November 2016

LEATRICE HOLLYWOOD SILENT FILM ACTRESS BORN 1893 NOVEMBER 7



LEATRICE HOLLYWOOD 
SILENT FILM ACTRESS 
BORN 1893 NOVEMBER 7



Leatrice Joy (November 7, 1893 – May 13, 1985) was an American actress most prolific during the silent film era.
Leatrice Joy
Leatrice joy.jpg
BornLeatrice Johanna Zeidler
November 7, 1893
New OrleansLouisiana, U.S.
DiedMay 13, 1985 (aged 91)
Riverdale, BronxNew York, U.S.
Cause of deathAcute anemia
Resting placeSaint Savior Episcopal Churchyard
NationalityAmerican
Other namesBeatrice Joy
EducationNew Orleans Convent of the Sacred Heart
OccupationActress
Years active1915–1954
Spouse(s)John Gilbert (m. 1922; div. 1925)
William S. Hook (m. 1931; div. 1944)
Arthur Kem Westermark (m. 1945; div. 1954)
Children1

Early life[edit]

Leatrice Johanna Zeidler[1] was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to dentist Edward Joseph Zeidler,[2] who was of Austrian and French descent, and Mary Joy Crimens Zeidler, who was of German and Irish descent. She had a brother, Billy, who later worked at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

She attended New Orleans Convent of the Sacred Heart but left when her father was diagnosed with tuberculosis and forced to give up his dental practice. She tried out for the New Orleans-based Nola Film Company in 1915 and was hired as an actress. Her mother disapproved of her becoming an actress, but the family needed the money, so her mother accompanied her to California where she began working in plays and films.[3][4]

Career[edit]

Joy began her acting career in stock theater companies and soon made her film debut; between April 1916 and November 1917 she was the star of about 20 one-reel Black Diamond Comedies produced by the United States Motion Picture Corporation in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and released nationally by Paramount Pictures.[5] In many of these, she starred as "Susie," an irrepressibly enthusiastic, impulsive young woman who gets into humorous scrapes.

In late 1917 she relocated to the relatively young film colony in Hollywood, California and began appearing in comedy shorts opposite Billy West and Oliver Hardy. Signed under contract with Samuel Goldwyn Studios, her first role for the studio was in 1917's The Pride of the Clan opposite Mary Pickford. Her career quickly gained momentum, and by 1920 she had become a highly-popular actress with the filmgoing public and was given leading-lady status opposite such performers as Wallace Beery, Conrad Nagel, Nita Naldi, and Irene Rich.

Directors often cast Joy in the "strong-willed independent woman" role, and the liberated atmosphere of the Jazz Age Roaring Twenties solidified her public popularity, especially with female film goers. Her close-cropped hair and somewhat boyish persona (she was often cast as a woman mistaken for a young man) became fashionable during the era. With her increasing popularity, Joy was sought out by Cecil B. DeMille, who signed her to Paramount Pictures in 1922, immediately casting her in that year's successful high-society drama Saturday Night opposite Conrad Nagel. Joy starred in a number of successful releases for Paramount and was heavily promoted as one of DeMille's most prominent protégées.

Transition to sound[edit]

In 1925, against the advice of studio executives, Joy parted ways with Paramount and followed DeMille to his new film company, Producers Distributing Corporation, for which she made a few moderately-successful films, including Lois Weber's last silent film The Angel of Broadway in 1927. A professional dispute ended the DeMille/Joy partnership in 1928 and she was signed with MGM. That year she headlined MGM's second part-talkie effort, The Bellamy Trial opposite Betty Bronson and Margaret Livingston.

Joy's career began to falter with the advent of talkies, possibly because her heavy Southern accent was considered unfashionable in comparison with other actresses' refined "mid-Atlantic" diction. In 1929 she became a freelance actress without a longterm contract.

Retirement and later years[edit]

By the early 1930s, Joy was semi-retired from the motion-picture industry, but she later made several guest appearances in a few modestly-successful films, such as 1951's Love Nest, which featured a young Marilyn Monroe.

In the 1960s, Joy retired to Greenwich, Connecticut, where she lived with her daughter and son-in-law.[6]

Joy appeared as a subject on CBS TV's game show, To Tell the Truth July 1st, 1963.

She was interviewed in the television documentary series Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (1980).[7]

Personal life[edit]

Joy was married three times and had one child. On March 22, 1922, she married actor John Gilbert. They had a daughter, Leatrice Joy Gilbert (later Fountain), in September 1924 who later acted in bit parts.[8] Joy filed for divorce in August 1924, citing Gilbert's infidelity and alcoholism.[9][10] Joy's second marriage was to businessman William Spencer Hook on October 22, 1931;[11] they divorced in 1944. Joy's third and final marriage was to former actor and electrical engineer Arthur Kem Westermark. They married on March 5, 1945 in Mexico City and divorced in October 1954.[12][13]

During her silent film career in the 1920s, she was Hollywood's best known Christian Scientist.[14]

Death[edit]

On May 13, 1985, Joy died from acute anemia at the High Ridge House Christian Science nursing home in Riverdale, Bronx, New York.[15][16] She was interred at the Saint Savior Episcopal Churchyard in Old Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Leatrice Joy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6517 Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood, California.[17]

Filmography[edit]

YearTitleRoleNotes
1915His Turning PointMrs. Carey
1916The Folly of RevengeAntonio's Daughter
1916The Other ManShort film
1916A Troublesome TripUnconfirmed roleShort film
1916Their Counterfeit VacationUnconfirmed roleShort film
1916Auto IntoxicationShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917The Pride of the ClanExtraUncredited
1917A Girl's FollyGirlUncredited
1917Her Scrambled AmbitionShort film
1917The Magic VestShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917SpeedShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917Getting the EvidenceShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917The WishboneShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917Her Iron WillShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917Her Fractured VoiceShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917Susie of the FolliesSusieShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917The Window Dresser's DreamShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917Wits and FitsShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917The RejuvenatorShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917Susie the SleepwalkerSusieShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917Susie's SchemeSusieShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917Susie Slips One OverSusieShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917The Candy KidShort film
1917Nearly a BakerShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917A Society ScrimmageShort film
Credited as Beatrice Joy
1917The SlaveSusie, his daughterShort film
1918The StrangerSusieShort film
1918His Day OutJoyShort film
1918The OrderlyShort film
1918The ScholarShort film
1918The MessengerShort film
1918The Handy ManShort film
1918ShackledUndetermined roleUncredited/Unconfirmed
1918One Dollar BidEmily Dare
1918The City of TearsMaria
1918WedlockJane Hollister
1918Her ManAlternative titles: The Battle Cry
The Woman Eternal
1918Three X GordonFarmer's Daughter
1919The Man HunterFlorence
1919The Water LilyUndetermined Role
1920Just a WifeMary Virginia Lee
1920The Right of WayRosalie Eventurail
1920Blind YouthHope Martin
1920Smiling All the WayAlice Drydan
1920The Invisible DivorcePidgie Ryder
1920Down HomeNance Pelot
1921Bunty Pulls the StringsBunty Biggar
1921A Tale of Two WorldsSui Sen
1921The Ace of HeartsLilith
1921Ladies Must LiveBarbaraLost film
1921The Poverty of the RichesKatherine Colby
1921Voices of the CityGeorgia RodmanLost film
1922Saturday NightIris Van Suydam
1922The Bachelor DaddySally Lockwood
1922A Trip to ParamountownHerselfShort film
1922ManslaughterLydia Thorne
1922The Man Who Saw TomorrowRita Pring
1922MinnieMinnie
1923Java HeadTaou Yuen
1923You Can't Fool Your WifeEdith McBride
1923The Silent PartnerLisa Coburn
1923HollywoodCameo roleLost film
1923The Ten CommandmentsMary Leigh
1924The Marriage CheatHelen Canfield
1924TriumphAnn Land
1924Changing HusbandsGwynne Evans/Eva Graham
1925The Dressmaker from ParisFifiLost film
1925Hells HighroadJudy Nichols
1925The Wedding SongBeatrice Glynn
1926Made for LoveJoan Ainsworth
1926Eve's LeavesEve Corbin
1926The Clinging VineAntoinette B. "A.B." Allen
1926For Alimony OnlyMary Martin Williams
1927Girl in the Rain
1927Nobody's WidowRoxanna Smith
1927VanityBarbara Fiske
1927The Angel of BroadwayBabe ScottLost film
1928The Blue DanubeMarguerite
1928Man-Made WomenNan Payson
1928Show PeopleHerself - at BanquetUncredited
1928Tropic MadnessJuanita
1929The Bellamy TrialSue Ives
1929Strong BoyMary McGregorLost film
1929A Most Immoral LadyLaura Sergeant
1930The Love TraderMartha Adams
1939First LoveGrace Shute ClintonAlternative title: Cinderella
1940The Old Swimmin' HoleMrs. Julie Carter
1949Red Stallion in the RockiesMartha Simpson
1949Air HostessCelia Hansen
1951Love NestEadie Gaynor
1953-1954Westinghouse Studio OneVarious roles2 episodes
1954Robert Montgomery PresentsEpisode: "The Steady Man"

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