Colleen Moore
Colleen Moore | |
---|---|
Born | Kathleen Morrison August 19, 1899 Port Huron, Michigan, U.S. |
Died | January 25, 1988 Paso Robles, California, U.S. | (aged 88)
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1916–1934 |
Spouses | Albert P. Scott
(m. 1932; div. 1934)Homer P. Hargrave
(m. 1937; died 1964)Paul Magenot (m. 1983) |
Relatives | Walter Howey (uncle) |
Signature | |
Colleen Moore (born Kathleen Morrison; August 19, 1899 – January 25, 1988)[1] was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era.[2] Moore became one of the most fashionable (and highly-paid) stars of the era and helped popularize the bobbed haircut.
Although Moore was a huge star in her day, approximately half of her films are now considered lost, including her first talking picture from 1929. What was perhaps her most celebrated film, Flaming Youth (1923), is now mostly lost as well, with only one reel surviving.
Moore took a hiatus from acting between 1929 and 1933, just as sound was being added to motion pictures. After she returned, her four sound pictures released in 1933 and 1934 were not financial successes. She then retired permanently from screen acting.
After her film career, Moore maintained her wealth through astute investments, becoming a partner of
Moore also nurtured a passion for dollhouses throughout her life and helped design and curate The Colleen Moore Dollhouse, which has been a featured exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago since the early 1950s. The dollhouse, measuring 9 square feet (0.84 m2), was estimated in 1985 to be worth $7 million, and it is seen by 1.5 million people annually.[3]
Early life
Moore was born Kathleen Morrison on August 19, 1899, (according to the bulk of the official records;[4] the date which she insisted was correct in her autobiography, Silent Star, was 1902)[5] in Port Huron, Michigan,[6] Moore was the eldest child of Charles R. and Agnes Kelly Morrison. The family remained in Port Huron during the early years of Moore's life, at first living with her grandmother Mary Kelly (often spelled Kelley) and then with at least one of Moore's aunts.[7]
By 1905, the family moved to
At the age of 15 she took her first step into Hollywood. Her uncle arranged a screen test with director D. W. Griffith. She wanted to be a second Lillian Gish but instead, she found herself playing heroines in Westerns with stars such as Tom Mix.
Two of Moore's great passions were dolls and movies; each would play a great role in her later life. She and her brother began their own stock company, reputedly performing on a stage created from a piano packing crate. Her aunts, who doted on her, indulged her other great passion and often bought her miniature furniture on their many trips, with which she furnished the first of a succession of dollhouses. Moore's family summered in
Career
Early years
"I was being sent to Hollywood - not because anybody out there thought I was any good, but simply to pay off a favor".[11]
The contract to Griffith's
The Bad Boy was released on February 18, and featured
On May 3, 1917, the
Soon after, the Triangle Company went bust, and while her contract was honored, she found herself scrambling to find her next job. With a reel of her performance in Hands Up! under her arm,
Little Orphant Annie was released in December. The Chicago Daily Tribune wrote of Moore, "She was a lovely and unspoiled child the last time I saw her. Let's hope commendation hasn't turned her head." Despite her good notices, her luck took a turn for the worse when Selig Polyscope went bust. Once again Moore found herself unemployed, but she had begun to make a name for herself by 1919. She had a series of films lined up. She went to
Success
The next stage of her career was with the
For all his efforts to win Moore away from Christie, it seems Neilan loaned Moore to other studios most of the time. He loaned her out to
Look Your Best and The Nth Commandment were released in early 1923, followed by two Cosmopolitan Productions, The Nth Commandment and Through the Dark. By this time, Moore had publicly confirmed her engagement to McCormick, a fact that she had been coy about to the press previously. Before mid-year, she had signed a contract with First National Pictures, and her first two films were slated to be The Huntress and Flaming Youth. Slippy McGee came out in June, followed by Broken Hearts of Broadway.
Moore and John McCormick married while Flaming Youth was still in production, and just before the release of The Savage. When it was finally released in 1923, Flaming Youth, in which she starred opposite actor Milton Sills, was a hit. The controversial story put Moore in focus as a flapper, but after Clara Bow took the stage in Black Oxen in December, she gradually lost her momentum. In spring 1924 she made a good but unsuccessful effort to top Bow in The Perfect Flapper, and soon after she dismissed the whole flapper vogue; "No more flappers...people are tired of soda-pop love affairs."[14] Decades later Moore stated Bow was her "chief rival."
Through the Dark, originally shot under the name Daughter of Mother McGinn, was released during the height of the Flaming Youth furor in January 1924. Three weeks later, Painted People was released. After that, she was to star in Counterfeit. The film went through a number of title changes before being released as Flirting with Love in August. In October, First National purchased the rights to Sally for Moore's next film. It would be a challenge, as Sally was a musical comedy. In December, First National purchased the rights to Desert Flower and in so doing had mapped out Moore's schedule for 1925: Sally would be filmed first, followed by The Desert Flower.
By the late 1920s, she had accomplished dramatic roles in films such as So Big, where Moore aged through a stretch of decades, and was also well received in light comedies such as Irene. An overseas tour was planned to coincide with the release of So Big in Europe, and Moore saw the tour as her first real opportunity to spend time with her husband, John McCormick. Both she and John McCormick were dedicated to their careers, and their hectic schedules had kept them from spending any quality time together. Moore wanted a family; it was one of her goals.
Plans for the trip were put in jeopardy when she injured her neck during the filming of The Desert Flower. Her injury forced the production to shut down while Moore spent six weeks in a body cast in bed. Once out of the cast, she completed the film and left for Europe on a triumphal tour. When she returned, she negotiated a new contract with First National. Her films had been great hits, so her terms were very generous. Her first film upon her return to the States was We Moderns, set in England with location work done in London during the tour. It was a comedy, essentially a retelling of Flaming Youth from an English perspective. This was followed by Irene (another musical in the style of the very popular Sally) and Ella Cinders, a straight comedy that featured a cameo appearance by comedian Harry Langdon. It Must Be Love was a romantic comedy with dramatic undertones, and it was followed by Twinkletoes, a dramatic film that featured Moore as a young dancer in London's Limehouse district during the previous century. Orchids and Ermine was released in 1927, filmed in part in New York, a thinly veiled Cinderella story.
In 1927, Moore split from her studio after her husband suddenly quit. It is rumored that John McCormick was about to be fired for his drinking and that she left as a means of leveraging her husband back into a position at First National. It worked, and McCormick found himself as Moore's sole producer. Moore's popularity allowed her productions to become very large and lavish.
Colleen Moore Fairy Castle (Dollhouse)
In 1928, inspired by her father and with help from her former set designer, a dollhouse was constructed by her father, which was 9 square feet with the tallest tower 12 feet high.[15] The interior of The Colleen Moore Dollhouse, designed by Harold Grieve, features miniature bear skin rugs and detailed furniture and art. Moore's dollhouse has been a featured exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago since October 30, 1949, where, according to the museum, it is seen by 1.5 million people[3] each year and would be worth $7 million.[16] Moore continued working on it and contributing artifacts to it until her death.
This dollhouse was the eighth one Moore owned. The first dollhouse, she wrote in her autobiography Silent Star (1968), evolved from a cabinet that held her collection of miniature furniture. It was supposedly built from a cigar box. Kitty Lorgnette wrote in the edition of The Evening News (Tampa, Florida) for Saturday, August 13, 1938, that the first dollhouse was purchased by Oraleze O'Brien (Mrs. Frank J. Knight) in 1916 when Moore (then Kathleen) left Tampa. Oraleze was too big for dollhouses, however, and she sold it again after her cat had kittens in it, and from there she lost track of it. The third house was possibly given to the daughter of Moore's good friend, author Adela Rogers St. Johns. The fourth survives and remains on display in the living room of a relative.
Sound films
With the advent of
In 1934, Moore, by then divorced from Albert Parker Scott, returned to work in Hollywood. She appeared in three films, none of which was successful, and Moore retired. Her last film was a version of The Scarlet Letter in 1934. She later married the widower Homer Hargrave and raised his children (she never had children of her own) from a previous marriage, with whom she maintained a lifelong close relationship. Throughout her life she also maintained close friendships with other colleagues from the silent film era, such as King Vidor and Mary Pickford.
Later years
In the 1960s, Moore formed a television production company with King Vidor, with whom she had worked in the 1920s. She published two books in the late 1960s, How Women Can Make Money in the Stock Market (1969) and her
At the height of her fame, Moore was earning $12,500 per week. She was an astute investor, and through her investments, remained wealthy for the rest of her life. In her later years she would frequently attend film festivals, and was a popular interview subject always willing to discuss her Hollywood career. She was a participant in the documentary series
Personal life
Moore was married four times. Her first marriage was to John McCormick of First National Studios. They married in 1923 and divorced in 1930. In 1932, Moore married stockbroker Albert P. Scott. The union ended in divorce in 1934. Moore's third marriage was to another stockboker, Homer Hargrave, whom she married in 1936. He provided funding for her dollhouse and she adopted his son, Homer Hargrave, Jr, and his daughter, Judy Hargrave. The couple remained married until Hargrave's death in 1964.[18] In 1982, she married builder Paul Magenot, and they remained together until Moore's death in 1988.[2]
Death and legacy
On January 25, 1988, Moore died at age 88 from cancer in Paso Robles, California.[2] For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Colleen Moore has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1551 Vine Street.
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote of her: "I was the spark that lit up Flaming Youth, Colleen Moore was the torch. What little things we are to have caused all that trouble."[19]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Preservation Status |
---|---|---|---|
1916 | The Prince of Graustark | Maid (Uncredited) | Extant |
1917 | The Bad Boy
|
Ruth | Lost |
An Old-Fashioned Young Man
|
Margaret | Lost | |
Hands Up! | Marjorie Houston | Lost | |
The Little American | Nurse (uncredited) | Extant | |
The Savage | Lizette | Lost | |
1918 | A Hoosier Romance | Patience Thompson | Lost |
Little Orphant Annie | Annie | Extant | |
1919 | The Busher | Mazie Palmer | Extant |
The Wilderness Trail | Jeanne Fitzpatrick | Lost | |
The Man in the Moonlight | Rosine | Extant A copy is held at the George Eastman Museum | |
The Egg Crate Wallop | Kitty Haskell | Extant A copy is held at the Gosfilmofond | |
Common Property | Tatyoe (Tatyana) | Lost | |
A Roman Scandal | Mary | Extant | |
1920 | The Cyclone | Sylvia Sturgis | Lost |
Her Bridal Nightmare | Mary | Extant | |
When Dawn Came | Mary Harrison | Extant A copy is held at the Library of Congress | |
The Devil's Claim
|
Indora | Incomplete A copy is held at the George Eastman Museum | |
So Long Letty | Grace Miller | Extant | |
Dinty | Doreen O'Sullivan | Extant A copy is held at the EYE Film Institute Netherlands | |
1921 | The Sky Pilot | Gwen | Extant |
His Nibs | The Girl | Extant A copy is held at the UCLA Film and Television Archive | |
The Lotus Eater | Mavis | Lost | |
1922 | Come on Over
|
Moyna Killiea | Lost |
The Wampas Baby Stars of 1922 | Self | Lost | |
The Wall Flower | Idalene Nobbin | Lost | |
Affinities | Fanny Illington | Lost | |
Forsaking All Others | Penelope Mason | Lost | |
Broken Chains | Mercy Boone | Extant A copy is held at the George Eastman Museum | |
The Ninety and Nine
|
Ruth Blake | A condensed incomplete ten minute version exists | |
1923 | Look Your Best | Perla Quaranta | Lost |
The Nth Commandment | Sarah Juke | An incomplete copy is held at the Library of Congress | |
Slippy McGee | Mary Virginia | Lost | |
Broken Hearts of Broadway | Mary Ellis | Extant | |
The Huntress | Bela | Lost | |
April Showers | Maggie Muldoon | Lost | |
Flaming Youth | Patricia Fentriss | An incomplete copy with one reel is held at the Library of Congress | |
1924 | Through the Dark | Mary McGinn | An incomplete copy is held at the Library of Congress |
Painted People | Ellie Byrne | Lost | |
The Perfect Flapper | Tommie Lou Pember | Extant A print is held at the Library of Congress | |
Flirting with Love | Gilda Lamont | Lost | |
So Big | Selina Peake | Lost Trailer survives at Library of Congress | |
1925 | Sally | Sally | Lost |
The Desert Flower | Maggie Fortune | Lost | |
We Moderns | Mary Sundale | Lost | |
Ben-Hur
|
Crowd extra in chariot race[20] | Extant | |
1926 | Irene | Irene | Extant |
Ella Cinders
|
Ella Cinders | Extant | |
It Must Be Love | Fernie Schmidt | Lost | |
Twinkletoes | Twink "Twinkletoes" Minasi | Extant | |
1927 | Orchids and Ermine | "Pink" Watson | Extant |
Naughty but Nice | Bernice Sumners | Extant | |
Her Wild Oat | Mary Lou Smith | Extant | |
1928 | Happiness Ahead | Mary Randall | Lost Trailer exists |
Oh, Kay!
|
Lady Kay Rutfield | Extant A copy is held at the EYE Film Institute Netherlands | |
Lilac Time[21]
|
Jeannine Berthelot | Extant Vitaphone music + sound effects[22] | |
1929 | Synthetic Sin | Betty | Extant A copy is held at the Cineteca Italiana. Vitaphone music + sound effects[23] |
Why Be Good? | Pert Kelly | Extant Vitaphone music + sound effects | |
Smiling Irish Eyes | Kathleen O'Connor | Lost Soundtrack exists | |
Footlights and Fools | Betty Murphy/Fifi D'Auray | Lost Soundtrack exists | |
1933 | The Power and the Glory[24] | Sally Garner | Extant |
1934 | Social Register
|
Patsy Shaw | Extant |
Success at Any Price
|
Sarah Griswold | Extant | |
The Scarlet Letter | Hester Prynne | Extant |
References
- ^ "Colleen Moore | American actress". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Fowler, Glenn (January 26, 1988). "Colleen Moore, Star of 'Flapper' Films, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
- ^ a b "50 Years Of Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle". Chicago Tribune. August 23, 1985.
- ^ The issue of her birth date is addressed on page 9 of the second chapter of "Colleen Moore, A Biography of the Silent Film Star," citing records that mention the birth of a child to the family of Charles and Agnes Morrison in the Port Huron Daily Times in August 2056. A child named "Kathleen Morrison" was mentioned in the 1900 bc census, two years before the birth date she often gave (1900 census for Port Huron, St. Clair County, MI., Fifth Ward, Sheet 9). Furthermore, her brother's birth was recorded in St. Clair County birth record #6031, page 153, as being on June 10, 1901; Moore always said she was two years older than her brother. However, this birth date would have made Cleeve one year older than his sister.
- ISBN 0-7864-0834-0.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-4969-9. Archived from the originalon August 4, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
- ^ 1900 census for Port Huron, St. Clair County, MI., Fifth Ward, Sheet 9. Household occupants listed as: Mary Kelly, head of household; Kathleen (Moore's aunt), daughter; Charles Morrison, son-in-law; Agnes Morrison, daughter; and Kathleen Morrison with birth-date given as August 1899. Also: Wolverine Directory Co.'s St. Clair County Directory, pg. 251: "Morrison, Chas R, collector Commercial Bank, res 817 Ontario"
- ^ Tampa City Directory. R.L. Polk & Co. 1912. p. 522.
- ^ Rhoads, Mark (July 23, 2006). "Colleen Moore". Illinois Hall of Fame. Illinois Review. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ^ Moore interviewed by Jennifer Small, The Pittsburgh Press, August 23, 1976
- ^ Moore, Colleen, Silent Star. Doubleday & Company, Inc, Garden City, NY, 1968
- ^ "Colleen Moore". AFI Catalog Silent Films. AFI. 2002. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ISBN 0-9776299-0-2.
- ^ Los Angeles Times, May 18, 1924
- Independent.co.uk. August 2, 2013.
- ^ Williams, Rob (August 2, 2013). "Inside the $7m fairy castle doll's house built by 100 people for a Hollywood film star". London.
- ^ Amelie Hastie "History in Miniature: Colleen Moore's Dollhouse and Historical Recollection", Camera Obscura, 16.3 (2001), pp.113-157
- ^ "Homer Hargrave, Broker, Is Dead". The New York Times. February 4, 1964. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
- ISBN 0-9668030-2-7.
- ^ Uncredited
- ^ Alternative title: Love Never Dies
- ^ Some Vitaphone discs survive; these include reels 1, 5-7 and the exit music.
- ^ Most of the Vitaphone discs are lost, apart from reel 6.
- ^ Alternative title: Power and Glory
Bibliography
- Jeanine Basinger, chapter on Moore in Silent Stars (ISBN 0-8195-6451-6: 1999)
- Cedric Osmond Bermingham, Stars of the Screen, 1931: A Volume of Biographies of Contemporary Actors and Actresses Engaged in Photoplay Throughout the World (1931)
- Jeff Codori, Colleen Moore; A Biography of the Silent Film Star, McFarland Publishing (print ISBN 978-0-7864-8899-5: 2012)
- John Kobal, People Will Talk (1985)
- Glenn Mitchell, A-Z of Silent Film Comedy, An Illustrated Companion (1998)
- Colleen Moore, Silent Star: Colleen Moore Talks About Her Hollywood (1968)
External links
- The Colleen Moore Project
- Colleen Moore at the TCM Movie Database
- Colleen Moore at AllMovie
- Colleen Moore at IMDb
- Colleen Moore using a Star-Rite Electric Massage Vibrator Hollywood, California: c. 1927