Marguerite Clark

 ( 1883 Births ) 

Helen Marguerite Clark (February 22, 1883 – September 25, 1940) was an American theatre and silent film actress. As a movie actress, at one time Clark was second only to Mary Pickford in popularity. "Foreign news: 'Tough for Has'-beens'." Variety, June 8, 1927, p. 2.O'Dell, 1970 p. 146: "Mary Pickford's closest rival was Marguerite Clark..." See section below on "rivalry." With a few exceptions and some fragments, most of Clark's films are considered lost films.O'Dell, 1970 p. 146: "...Though it is at least possible to view Mary Pickford's films in private collections at the George Eastman House, none of Miss Clark's productions are known positively to exist."

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Early life Born in Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio on February 22, 1883, she was the third child of Augustus "Gus" James and Helen Elizabeth Clark. She had an older sister, Cora, and an older brother named Clifton. Clark's mother Helen died on January 21, 1893. Her father worked in his self-owned successful haberdashery located in downtown Cincinnati before his death on December 29, 1896. Following his death, Clark's sister Cora was appointed her legal guardian and removed her from public school to further her education at Ursuline Academy.Nunn 1981, pp. 3–4.

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Stage career (1899–1914) Marguerite Clark finished school at age 16, decided to pursue a career in the theatre, making her first stage appearance as a member of the Strakosch Opera Company in 1899.O'Dell, 1970 p. 147

She made her Broadway theatre debut in 1900. The 17-year-old performed at various venues. In 1903, she was seen on Broadway opposite hulking comedian DeWolf Hopper in Mr. Pickwick. The Hopper dwarfed the "petite and daintly" Clark who stood four-foot-ten-inches (1.5 meters).O'Dell, 1970 p. 147: "...the four foot ten fairy..." O'Dell quoting Alice Hall, see Bibliography, p. 148 note no. 39. She starred opposite Hopper again in Happyland in 1905. Several adventure-fantasy roles followed. In 1909, Clark starred in the whimsical costume play The Beauty Spot, establishing the fantasy stories which would soon become her hallmark.Blum 1988, p. 109. In 1910, Clark appeared in The Wishing Ring, a play directed by Cecil B. DeMille which was later made into a motion picture by Maurice Tourneur. That same 1910 season had Clark appearing in Baby Mine, a popular play produced by William A. Brady.

In 1912, Clark performed in a lead role with John Barrymore, Doris Keane and Gail Kane in an English adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's play Anatol, which was later made into the film The Affairs of Anatol by Clark's future movie studio Famous Players–Lasky and directed by DeMille. That same year, she starred in a retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The classic tale was adapted for the stage by Winthrop Ames (writing under the pseudonym Jessie Braham White), who closely oversaw its production at his Little Theatre in New York and personally selected the lead actress. Clark expressed her delight in the role, and the play had a successful run into 1913.

After seeing Clark’s performance in a revival of Merely Mary Ann (1914), film producer Adolph Zukor signed her to make motion pictures with his Famous Players Film Company.

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Film career (1914-1921) At age 31, it was relatively late in life for a film actress to begin a career with starring roles, but the diminutive Clark had a little-girl look, like Mary Pickford, that belied her years. Also, film was not developed or mature enough to showcase Clark at her youthful best at the turn of the century. These were some of the reasons established Broadway stars refused early film offers. Feature films were unheard of when Clark was in her early 20s.

Once signed with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company, she was cast in starring roles in more than a dozen Feature film. Her first appearance on screen was in the short film Wildflower (1914), directed by Allan Dwan.Ballard. Mike. "Marguerite Clark, Film Fantasy Queen." greatlivesinhistory, February 22, 2010. Retrieved: January 9, 2012.

Marguerite Clark's emergence as an outstanding film actor was acknowledged by 1915, when Moving Picture World, in a review of The Goose Girl, based on a 1909 best-selling novel by Harold MacGrath, reported that Clark "conquers her audience in an instant." She performed in the feature-length production The Seven Sisters (1915), directed by Sidney Olcott, and then reprised her stage role in a film that would define the Clark persona—the influential 1916 screen version of Snow White.

Clark was directed in this by J. Searle Dawley, as well as in a number of films, notably when she played the characters of both "Little Eva St. Clair" and "Topsy" in the feature Uncle Tom's Cabin (1918).

Clark starred in Come Out of the Kitchen (1919), which was filmed in Pass Christian, Mississippi, at Ossian Hall. The same year, she enrolled as a in the naval reserves. Clark made all but one of her 40 films with Famous Players–Lasky, her last with them in 1920 titled Easy to Get, in which she starred opposite silent film actor Harrison Ford. Her next film, in 1921, was made by her own production company for First National Pictures distribution. As one of the most popular actresses going into the 1920s, and one of the industry's best paid, her name alone was enough to ensure reasonable box office success. As such, Scrambled Wives was made under her direction, following which she retired at age 38 to be with her husband at their country estate in New Orleans.

Critic Alice Hall, writing in Picturegoer magazine (April 1921), observed that the 34-year-old Clark, near the end of her film career "seems to have discovered the secret of perpetual youth; and with it moreover, to have combined the grace and charm which the wisdom of experience alone can bring."

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Pickford and Clark "rivalry" Mary Pickford and Marguerite Clark were working at the same movie studio, Famous Players–Lasky, as they emerged as major Hollywood stars of the Silent film. While the two remained personally disengaged, a "definite rivalry" developed over their respective critical and popular successes.O'Dell, 1970 p. 149: "...the stars themselves showed little interest in each other..."

According to film historian Paul O'Dell, the competition was evidenced primarily by the apparent hostility between Pickford's mother Charlotte and Clark's mother Helen and older sister, Cora.O'Dell, 1970 p. 149 The rivalry became explicit in 1918 when Motion Picture Magazine conducted a poll among movie fans that garnered Pickford 158,199 votes to Clark's 138,852 (53% to 47%).Basinger, 1999 p. 35: Similar statistics provided here on popularity poll.

As to Pickford's narrow margin of success over Clark in popularity, film producer Samuel Goldwyn, writing in his 1923 memoir Behind the Screen, provides this assessment:

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Personal life On August 15, 1918, Clark married New Orleans, Louisiana, plantation owner and millionaire businessman—then a US Army Lieutenant—Harry Palmerston Williams, "Noted actress taken by death." The Spokesman-Review, September 26, 1940, p. 3. Retrieved: May 19, 2013.O'Dell, 1970 p. 149: Married "August 15, 1918" to "Lieutenant" Williams. a marriage that ended with the death of Williams on May 19, 1936 in an aircraft crash."Marguerite Clark, ex-actress, dies." The New York Times, September 26, 1940, p. 21. Retrieved: May 19, 2013. After his death, Clark owned Jimmy Wedell, which had built and flown air racers, along with other aviation enterprises, until sold in 1937.

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Death After the death of her husband, Clark moved to New York City where she lived with her sister Cora. On September 20, 1940, she entered LeRoy Sanitarium where she died five days later of pneumonia. "Marguerite Clark, ex-actress, dies." The Milwaukee Journal, September 25, 1940, p. 10. Retrieved: May 19, 2013. A private funeral was held at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on September 28."Marguerite Clark honored at funeral; Associates pay tribute to the former actress at rites here." The New York Times, September 29, 1940. She was cremated and buried with her husband in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. "Star of silent films given simple funeral." The Palm Beach Post, September 29, 1940, p. 12. Retrieved: May 19, 2013.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Marguerite Clark has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6304 Hollywood Boulevard. "Hollywood Star Walk: Marguerite Clark." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved: May 19, 2013.

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Broadway credits

September 24 – November 10, 1900	The Belle of Bohemia	Rosie Mulberry
October 7 – November 30, 1901	The New Yorkers	Mary Lamb
May 5 – August 30, 1902	The Wild Rose	Lieutenant Gaston Gardennes
January 19 – May 1903	Mr. Pickwick	Polly
June 22 – July 18, 1903	George W. Lederer's Mid-Summer Night Fancies	Dorothy
October 2, 1905 – June 2, 1906	Happyland	Sylvia
December 3, 1908 – January 16, 1909	The Pied Piper	Elviria
April 10 – August 7, 1909	The Beauty Spot	Nadine, General Samovar's daughter
January 10 – January 22, 1910	The King of Cadonia	Princess Marie
January 20, 1910 – Closing date unknown	The Wishing Ring
May 10 – June 1910	Jim the Penman
August 23, 1910 – Closing date unknown	Baby Mine	Zoie Hardy
October 14 – December 1912	The Affairs of Anatol	Hilda
November 7, 1912 – Closing date unknown	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	Snow White
May 1 – May 1913	Are You a Crook?	Amy Herrick
October 27, 1913 – Closing date unknown	Prunella	Prunella

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Filmography

+ Film
1914	Wildflower	Letty Roberts	Lost film
1914	The Crucible	Jean	Lost film
1915	The Goose Girl	Gretchen	Lost film
1915	Gretna Green	Dolly Erskine	Lost film
1915	The Pretty Sister of Jose	Pepita	Lost film
1915	The Seven Sisters	Mici	Lost film
1915	Heléne of the North	Heléne Dearing	Lost film
1915	Still Waters	Nesta	Lost film
1915	The Prince & the Pauper	Prince Edward/Tom Canty	Lost film
1916	Mice and Men	Peggy	Lost film
1916	Out of the Drifts	Elise	Lost film
1916	Molly Make-Believe	Molly	Lost film
1916	Silks and Satins	Felicite
1916	Little Lady Eileen	Eileen Kavanaugh	Lost film
1916	Miss George Washington	Bernice Somers	Lost film
1916	Snow White	Snow White
1917	The Fortunes of Fifi	Fifi	Lost film
1917	The Valentine Girl	Marion Morgan	Lost film
1917	The Amazons	Lord Tommy	Lost film
1917	Bab's Diary	Bab Archibald	Lost film
1917	Bab's Burglar	Bab Archibald	Lost film
1917	Bab's Matinee Idol	Bab Archibald	Lost film
1917	The Seven Swans	Princess Tweedledee	Lost film
1918	Rich Man, Poor Man	Betty Wynne	Lost film
1918	Prunella	Prunella	Incomplete film
1918	Uncle Tom's Cabin	Little Eva St. Clair/Topsy	Lost film
1918	Out of a Clear Sky	Countess Celeste de Bersek et Krymm	Lost film
1918	The Biggest and the Littlest Lady in the World	The Little Lady	Lost film; a short about war bonds
1918	Little Miss Hoover	Ann Craddock
1919	Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch	Lovey Mary
1919	Three Men and a Girl	Sylvia Weston	Lost film
1919	Let's Elope	Eloise Farrington	Lost film
1919	Come Out of the Kitchen	Claudia Daingerfield	Lost film
1919	Girls	Pamela Gordon	Lost film
1919	Widow by Proxy	Gloria Grey	Lost film
1919	Luck in Pawn	Annabel Lee
1919	A Girl Named Mary	Mary Healey	Lost film
1920	All of a Sudden Peggy	Peggy O'Hara	Lost film
1920	Easy to Get	Molly Morehouse	Lost film
1921	Scrambled Wives	Miss Mary Lucille Smith	Lost film

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Footnotes

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Sources

• Jeanine Basinger. 1999. Silent Stars. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
• Blum, Daniel. Pictorial History of the American Theater. New York: Random House Value Publishing, First edition 1950. .
• Nunn, Curtis. Marguerite Clark: America's Darling of Broadway and the Silent Screen. Fort Worth, Texas: The Texas Christian University Press, 1981. .
• (1970). 9780498077180, A. S. Barnes & Co.. ISBN 9780498077180

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Further reading

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External links

• Contemporary interviews with Marguerite Clark
• Marguerite Clark page at Corbis
• Marguerite Clark gallery NY Public Library
• Marguerite Clark bio & pics
• portrait of Marguerite Clark and DeWolf Hopper on Broadway in Happyland (1905) Univ. of Washington/Sayre Collection

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