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Marie Prevost (born Mary Bickford Dunn; November 8, 1896Family Search. Marie Vicford (sic) Dunn. Ontario Births, 1869-1911. Retrieved on October 28, 2016. – January 21, 1937) was a Canadian film actress. During her 20-year career, she made 121 Silent film and .
Prevost began her career during the silent film era. She was discovered by Mack Sennett who signed her to contract and made her one of his "Bathing Beauties" in the late 1910s. Prevost appeared in dozens of Sennett's short comedy films before moving on to feature-length films for Universal. In 1922, she signed with Warner Bros. where her career flourished as a leading lady. She was a favorite of director Ernst Lubitsch who cast her in three of his comedy films: The Marriage Circle (1924), Three Women (1924) and Kiss Me Again (1925).
After being let go by Warner Bros in early 1926, Prevost's career began to decline and she was relegated to secondary roles. She was also beset with personal problems, including the death of her mother in 1926 and the breakdown of her marriage to actor Kenneth Harlan in 1927, which fueled her depression. She began to abuse alcohol and binge eat, resulting in a weight gain that made it difficult for her to secure acting jobs. By 1935, Prevost was only able to secure bit parts in films. She made her last onscreen appearance in 1936.
After years of drinking, Prevost died of acute alcoholism at the age of 40 in January 1937. Prevost's estate was valued at $300. Her death prompted the Hollywood community to create the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.
While living in Los Angeles, Prevost attended Manual Arts High School. By 1915, Prevost landed a job as a secretary at a law firm which represented the Keystone Film Company. While running an office errand at the Keystone Studios, Prevost was asked to appear in a bit part for the film His Father's Footsteps. Mack Sennett, Keystone's owner, was impressed by Prevost's performance and sent word that he wanted to see Prevost in his office. Prevost later recalled the day to Motion Picture World magazine: "I asked for Mr. Sennett and was ushered in right away. He looked very stern as I walked into his office. I was ready to cry. Suddenly, he smiled. 'I want your signature today. Sign right here.' I suddenly realized the paper he pushed in front of me was a contract. I was to be one of his Sennett Bathing Beauties. Best of all I was to be paid $15 a week. I signed without reading a word. Fifteen dollars was a lot of money."
As her career was beginning to rise, Prevost married socialite Henry Charles "Sonny" Gerke in June 1918. The couple soon separated, and Prevost kept news of the marriage a secret.
At Universal, Irving Thalberg took an interest in Prevost and became determined to make her a star. Thalberg ensured that she received a great deal of publicity and staged numerous events which put her in the public spotlight. After announcing that he had selected two films in which Prevost would star, The Moonlight Follies (1921) and Kissed (1922), Thalberg sent Prevost to Coney Island where she burned her bathing suit to symbolize the end of her bathing beauty days.
In spite of the bad publicity, Prevost's performance in The Beautiful and Damned brought good reviews. Director Ernst Lubitsch chose her for a major role opposite Adolphe Menjou in 1924's The Marriage Circle. Of her performance as the beautiful seductress, Lubitsch said that she was one of the few actresses in Hollywood who knew how to underplay comedy to achieve the maximum effect. This performance, praised by The New York Times, resulted in Lubitsch casting her in Three Women in 1924 and in Kiss Me Again the following year.
In early 1926, Warner Bros. decided to not renew Prevost and Harlan's contracts (the two quietly married in 1924 after Prevost's divorce was finalized). Shortly after she was dismissed by Warner Bros., Prevost's mother Hughina died in an automobile accident in Lordsburg, New Mexico, on February 5, 1926. Hughina had been traveling to Palm Beach, Florida, with actress Vera Steadman and Hollywood studio owner Al Christie when their vehicle overturned. Hughina was crushed by the vehicle and died at the scene. Steadman and Christie sustained serious injuries, but survived.
Actress Phyllis Haver, who had been friends with Prevost since her bathing beauty days, later stated in an interview that she believed the loss of Prevost's and Harlan's contracts with Warner Bros. caused problems in the marriage and was one of the causes of Prevost's alcoholism.
After seeing Prevost in The Beautiful and Damned, Howard Hughes cast her as the lead in The Racket (1928). Hughes and Prevost later had a brief affair, which left her heartbroken and further depressed. Her role in The Racket proved to be Prevost's last leading role.
Prevost's depression led to binge eating, resulting in significant weight gain. Her career continued but she was relegated to secondary roles. In 1929, Cecil B. DeMille offered her a co-starring role in his final silent film The Godless Girl, starring Lina Basquette. In her 1990 autobiography, Basquette recalled that Prevost was not outwardly bitter about losing her leading lady status, stating "Aw, hell, that's the way it is." Prevost received generally good reviews for her role in the film. The following year, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
While at MGM, Prevost worked steadily but was offered only secondary parts. In 1930, she appeared in Paid, starring Joan Crawford, garnering good reviews. In 1931, she played Academy Award winner Helen Hayes' loyal friend in The Sin of Madelon Claudet. In 1932, she was one of the three leads in the film Three Wise Girls, starring Jean Harlow. By 1934, she had no work at all, and her financial situation deteriorated dramatically. The downward spiral became aggravated when her weight problems forced her into repeated crash dieting to even get bit parts. Prevost made her last on-screen appearance as a waitress in Ten Laps to Go (1936).
In October 1924, Prevost married actor Kenneth Harlan. The two starred in several films together, including The Beautiful and the Damned and Bobbed Hair. Prevost and Harlan separated in May 1927, and Prevost filed for divorce. Later that year, she was granted an interlocutory divorce. However, the couple reconciled in June 1928. The reconciliation proved to be brief and their divorce was finalized in January 1929.
Her funeral (which was paid for by Joan Crawford) at the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery was attended by Crawford, Clark Gable, Wallace Beery, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Mack Sennett, and Barbara Stanwyck. Prevost's sister had her remains cremated and combined them with those of their mother, who had died in 1926.
In February 1937, it was discovered that Prevost's estate was valued at $300. Prevost's fate as well as that of others prompted the Hollywood community to create the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital to provide medical care for employees of the television and motion picture industry.
On February 8, 1960, Prevost was honored for her contribution to the motion picture industry with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6211 Hollywood Boulevard. Marie Prevost. HollywoodWalkofFame.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
| 1915 | Those Bitter Sweets | Short subject | |
| His Father's Footsteps | Short subject | ||
| 1916 | Unto Those Who Sin | Celeste | |
| 1918 | His Hidden Purpose | The Girl in the Case | Short subject |
| Her Screen Idol | Short subject | ||
| 1919 | East Lynne with Variations | The Girl | Short subject Lost film |
| Uncle Tom Without a Cabin | Eliza | Short subject Lost film | |
| Yankee Doodle in Berlin | Belgian Girl | ||
| Salome vs. Shenandoah | Ingenue Actress | Lost film | |
| 1920 | Down on the Farm | The Faithful Wife | |
| Love, Honor and Behave | The Newlywed | Lost film | |
| 1921 | A Small Town Idol | Marcelle Mansfield | |
| Moonlight Follies | Nan Rutledge | Lost film | |
| Nobody's Fool | Polly Gordon | Lost film | |
| A Parisian Scandal | Liane-Demarest | Lost film | |
| 1922 | Don't Get Personal | Patricia Parker | Lost film |
| The Dangerous Little Demon | Teddy Harmon | Lost film | |
| Kissed | Constance Keener | ||
| The Married Flapper | Pamela Billings | Lost film | |
| Her Night of Nights | Molly May Mahone | Lost film | |
| The Beautiful and Damned | Gloria | Lost film | |
| Heroes of the Street | Betty Benton | ||
| 1923 | Brass | Marjorie Jones | |
| Red Lights | Ruth Carson | Lost film | |
| The Wanters | Myra Hastings | Lost film | |
| 1924 | The Marriage Circle | Mizzi Stock | |
| Tarnish | Nettie Dark | Lost film | |
| How to Educate a Wife | Mabel Todd | Lost film | |
| Daughters of Pleasure | Marjory Hadley | Alternative title: Beggar on Horseback Incomplete film, with two of its six reels missing | |
| Cornered | Mary Brennan / Margaret Waring | Lost film | |
| Three Women | Harriet | ||
| Being Respectable | Valerie Winship | Lost film | |
| The Dark Swan | Eve Quinn | Lost film | |
| The Lover of Camille | Marie Duplessis | ||
| 1925 | Kiss Me Again | LouLou Fleury | Lost film |
| Bobbed Hair | Connemara Moore | ||
| Seven Sinners | Molly Brian | ||
| Recompense | Julie Gmelyn | Lost film | |
| 1926 | For Wives Only | Laura Rittenhaus | Lost film |
| Other Women's Husbands | Kay Lambert | Lost film | |
| Almost a Lady | Marcia Blake | ||
| His Jazz Bride | Gloria Gregory | Lost film | |
| The Caveman | Myra Gaylord | Incomplete film, with a copy surviving with a reel missing | |
| Nana | Gaga | Uncredited | |
| Up in Mabel's Room | Mabel Ainsworth | ||
| 1927 | Getting Gertie's Garter | Gertie Darling | |
| The Night Bride | Cynthia Stockton | Lost film | |
| Man Bait | Madge Dreyer | Lost film | |
| The Girl in the Pullman | Hazel Burton | ||
| 1928 | On to Reno | Vera | Lost film |
| A Blonde for a Night | Marcia Webster | ||
| The Sideshow | Queenie Parker | ||
| The Racket | Helen Hayes | ||
| The Rush Hour | Margie Dolan | ||
| 1929 | All Faces West | Arleta Vance | Lost film |
| The Godless Girl | Mame - The Other Girl | ||
| The Flying Fool | Pat Riley | ||
| Divorce Made Easy | Mabel Deering | ||
| 1930 | Party Girl | Diana Hoster | |
| Ladies of Leisure | Dot Lamar | ||
| War Nurse | Rosalie | ||
| Sweethearts on Parade | Nita | ||
| Paid | Agnes Lynch | ||
| 1931 | Gentleman's Fate | Mabel | |
| It's a Wise Child | Annie Ostrom | ||
| Sporting Blood | Angela 'Angie' Ludeking | ||
| The Runaround | Margy | ||
| The Good Bad Girl | Trixie Barnes | ||
| The Sin of Madelon Claudet | Rosalie Lebeau | ||
| Hell Divers | Mrs. Lulu Farnsworth | ||
| Reckless Living | Alice | ||
| 1932 | Three Wise Girls | Dot | |
| Slightly Married | Nellie Gordon | ||
| Carnival Boat | Babe | ||
| 1933 | Parole Girl | Jeanie Vance | |
| The Eleventh Commandment | Tessie Florin | ||
| Only Yesterday | Amy | Uncredited | |
| 1935 | Keystone Hotel | Mrs. Clarabelle Sterling | Short subject |
| Hands Across the Table | Nona | ||
| 1936 | 13 Hours by Air | Waitress in Omaha | Producer |
| Tango | Betty Barlow | ||
| Bengal Tiger | Saloon Girl | Uncredited | |
| Cain and Mabel | Sherman's Receptionist | Uncredited | |
| Ten Laps to Go | Elsie, Cafe Waitress | Alternative title: King of the Speedway |
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