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Marguerite Clark

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Marguerite Clark
Clark in Photoplay, 1921
Born
Helen Marguerite Clark

(1883-02-22)February 22, 1883
Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
DiedSeptember 25, 1940(1940-09-25) (aged 57)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting placeMetairie Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
Other namesMarguerite Clarke[1]
OccupationActress
Years active1900–1921
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1918; died 1936)​

Helen Marguerite Clark (February 22, 1883 – September 25, 1940) was an American stage and silent film actress. As a movie actress, at one time Clark was second only to Mary Pickford in popularity.[2][3] With a few exceptions and some fragments, most of Clark's films are considered lost.[4]

Early life

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Hand-tinted postcard of Clark in the play Happyland
Clark in 1912, the year she starred in two Broadway plays: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Affairs of Anatol

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.[5]

Stage career (1899–1914)

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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 Strakosh Opera Company in 1899.[6]

She made her Broadway 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 6-foot-6-inch (1.98 m) Hopper dwarfed the "petite and daintly" Clark who stood four-foot-ten-inches (1.5 meters).[7] 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.[8] In 1910, Clark appeared in The Wishing Ring, a play directed by Cecil 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 the play The Affairs of Anatol, later made into a motion picture by Clark's future movie studio Famous Players–Lasky and directed by Cecil DeMille. That same year, she starred in a retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.[9] 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.[9] Clark expressed her delight in the role, and the play had a successful run into 1913.[9] Clark's popularity led to her signing a contract in 1914 to make motion pictures with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company, and over the next two years she was cast in starring roles in more than a dozen features.[9] She then reprised her stage role in a film that would define the Clark persona—the influential 1916 screen version of Snow White.

After seeing Clark’ 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.[10]

Film career

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Snow White, full 63 minute 1916 film starring Clark
Advertisement for Wildflower in Moving Picture World (1918)
Silks and Satins (1916)
Marguerite Clark by Harrison Fisher, a red conte crayon drawing done for the March 24, 1918 edition of American Weekly

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. She made her first appearance on screen in the short film Wildflower, directed by Allan Dwan.[11]

Clark in Molly Make-Believe (1916)

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."[12] She performed in the feature-length production The Seven Sisters (1915), directed by Sidney Olcott, and she reprised a Broadway role, starring in the first feature-length film version of Snow White (1916).

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).[11]

Promotion in Moving Picture World, 1919

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 yeowoman 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.[11]

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."[13]

Clark and Williams' former mansion on St. Charles Avenue in Uptown New Orleans now houses the Latter branch of the New Orleans Public Library

Pickford and Clark "rivalry"

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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 era. While the two remained personally disengaged, a "definite rivalry" developed over their respective critical and popular successes.[14]

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.[15] 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%).[16][17]

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:

Mary Pickford long outlasted her fair rival. Why was this? Marguerite Clark was beautiful, she was exquisitely graceful, and she brought to the screen a more finished stage technique and a more spacious background than did Miss Pickford. My answer to this question applies not only to Miss Clark, but all other actresses who have flashed, meteor-like, across the screen horizon. First of all, she did not have Mary Pickford's absorbing passion for work. Secondly, she did not possess the other artist's capacity for portraying fundamental human emotion: simple and direct and poignant. Mary goes to the heart, much as does a Stephen Foster melody. Herein is the success of a popularity so phenomenally sustained.[18]

Personal life

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On August 15, 1918, Clark married New Orleans, Louisiana, plantation owner and millionaire businessman—then a US Army Lieutenant—Harry Palmerston Williams,[19][20] a marriage that ended with the death of Williams on May 19, 1936 in an aircraft crash.[21] After his death, Clark owned Wedell-Williams Air Service Corporation, which had built and flown air racers, along with other aviation enterprises, until sold in 1937.

Death

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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.[22] A private funeral was held at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on September 28.[23] She was cremated and buried with her husband in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.[24]

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Marguerite Clark has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6304 Hollywood Boulevard.[25]

Broadway credits

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Date Production Role
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

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes
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

Footnotes

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  1. ^ "Marguerite Clarke In Play: Appears in 'The Wishing Ring'", The New York Times (Manhattan), October 20, 1909, p. 18. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  2. ^ "Foreign news: 'Tough for Has'-beens'." Variety, June 8, 1927, p. 2.
  3. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 146: "Mary Pickford's closest rival was Marguerite Clark..." See section below on "rivalry."
  4. ^ 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."
  5. ^ Nunn 1981, pp. 3–4.
  6. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 147
  7. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 147: "...the four foot ten fairy..." O'Dell quoting Alice Hall, see Bibliography, p. 148 note no. 39.
  8. ^ Blum 1988, p. 109.
  9. ^ a b c d Kaufman, J. B. (2019). "Snow White". Silentfilm.org. San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  10. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 147
  11. ^ a b c Ballard. Mike. "Marguerite Clark, Film Fantasy Queen." greatlivesinhistory, February 22, 2010. Retrieved: January 9, 2012.
  12. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 147
  13. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 147
  14. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 149: "...the stars themselves showed little interest in each other..."
  15. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 149
  16. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 149
  17. ^ Basinger, 1999 p. 35: Similar statistics provided here on popularity poll.
  18. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 149–150: See footnote source p. 159, footnote no. 42
  19. ^ "Noted actress taken by death." The Spokesman-Review, September 26, 1940, p. 3. Retrieved: May 19, 2013.
  20. ^ O'Dell, 1970 p. 149: Married "August 15, 1918" to "Lieutenant" Williams.
  21. ^ "Marguerite Clark, ex-actress, dies." The New York Times, September 26, 1940, p. 21. Retrieved: May 19, 2013.
  22. ^ "Marguerite Clark, ex-actress, dies."[permanent dead link] The Milwaukee Journal, September 25, 1940, p. 10. Retrieved: May 19, 2013.
  23. ^ "Marguerite Clark honored at funeral; Associates pay tribute to the former actress at rites here." The New York Times, September 29, 1940.
  24. ^ "Star of silent films given simple funeral."[permanent dead link] The Palm Beach Post, September 29, 1940, p. 12. Retrieved: May 19, 2013.
  25. ^ "Hollywood Star Walk: Marguerite Clark." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved: May 19, 2013.

Sources

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  • Basinger, Jeanine. 1999. Silent Stars. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. ISBN 0-679-43840-8
  • Blum, Daniel. Pictorial History of the American Theater. New York: Random House Value Publishing, First edition 1950. ISBN 0-517-53022-8.
  • Nunn, Curtis. Marguerite Clark: America's Darling of Broadway and the Silent Screen. Fort Worth, Texas: The Texas Christian University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-912646-69-1.
  • O'Dell, Paul (1970). Griffith and the Rise of Hollywood (1970 ed.). New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. p. 163. ISBN 0-498-07718-7.

Further reading

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  • Wilson, H.W. Current Biography Yearbook. H.W Wilson.
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