Lucille Ricksen

 ( 1910 Births ) 

By the time Lucille was eight, her parents had divorced and her mother reportedly began to view the income from her daughter's acting career as a primary source of stability for her entire family. At the request of Samuel Goldwyn, Ingeborg relocated to Hollywood with her children in 1920. Shortly thereafter, Goldwyn cast the 11-year-old in a comedy serial entitled The Adventures of Edgar Pomeroy, and from this point on, Ricksen's acting and modeling commitments increased greatly, although at least outwardly, Ricksen enjoyed the fame and attention her career attracted. An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930 p. 170 The serial shorts of The Adventures of Edgar Pomeroy ran in approximately 12 installments and were based on the stories of Booth Tarkington, with child actor Edward Peil Jr. taking the leading role of Edgar, and Ricksen the leading female role. Paul Bern: The Life and Famous Death of the MGM Director and Husband of Harlow p. 52 In one review of her performances in this series, Ricksen was described as: "One of the most promising Hollywood actresses" and through this acting role, Ricksen formed close acquaintances with many notable directors, actors and actresses of the 1920s. She would also extensively tour the entire country, appearing in theaters and attending celebrity events, thus becoming one of the best known child actresses of the era.

After leaving the Edgar Pomeroy serials, Ricksen appeared in more than 12 films between 1920 and 1921 alone. Wallace Reid: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Idol p. 233 She was next cast in the 1922 Stuart Paton directed comedy The Married Flapper opposite Marie Prevost and Kenneth Harlan and the 13-year-old's career opportunities began to improve dramatically. In 1922, Ricksen was signed to a contract with actor and director Marshall Neilan, who cast her in the commercially and critically successful Neilan-directed drama The Stranger's Banquet in which she was cast alongside both Claire Windsor and Hobart Bosworth. An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930 p. 464

Throughout the early 1920s, Ricksen appeared in a number of high-profile acting roles, although in many instances, she had to portray a character much older than her years. Her first assigned role as the leading female actress in a major film was in the 1923 movie The Rendezvous; a World War I satire in which she was cast as a Hearing loss Syd Chaplin: A Biography p. 110 Russian peasant girl named Vera. Syd Chaplin: A Biography p. 109 Another notable performance Ricksen undertook in 1923 was her role as Ginger in the John Griffith Wray directed drama Human Wreckage: a drug prevention film produced by and starring actress Dorothy Davenport. (This film was made in reaction to the death of Davenport's husband, actor Wallace Reid, as a result of his Morphine).

Ricksen was bedridden for the last few months of her life, and her distraught mother Ingeborg maintained a bedside vigil over her daughter, insisting that both the press and all contacts Ricksen had made throughout her filming career cease until she had recovered. Nonetheless, Ricksen was visited on a weekly basis by film director and screenwriter Paul Bern, who brought her flowers and would read magazines to her while he held her hand. Paul Bern: The Life and Famous Death of the MGM Director and Husband of Harlow p. 93

In late February 1925, Ingeborg succumbed to a fatal heart attack and collapsed on top of her bedridden daughter. After her mother's death, Ricksen was tended by others in the movie colony, including Paul Bern and actress Lois Wilson. She died just two weeks after her mother, on March 13, 1925, at age 14.