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Ouida Bergère

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This article is about the American screenwriter and actress. For the English novelist, see Ouida.
Ouida Bergère
Who's Who on the Silver Screen, 1920
Born
Eunie Branch

(1886-12-14)December 14, 1886
Madrid, Spain
DiedNovember 29, 1974(1974-11-29) (aged 87)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, screenwriter
Spouses
ChildrenCynthia Rathbone

Ouida Bergère (born Eunie Branch; December 14, 1886 – November 29, 1974) was an American screenwriter and actress.

Biography

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Eunie Branch was born in Madrid, Spain, the daughter of Stephen W. and Ida Branch, both natives of Tennessee. Her early years were spent in Madrid, Paris and England. She came to the U.S. at eight years of age. Her father was a merchant who later worked as a railroad timekeeper. By the time of the taking of the 1900 Federal Census she was living with her brother's family in Searcy, Arkansas as Eunie Branch.[1]

A decade later she is listed in the census with her parents in Little Rock, Arkansas as Eula Burgess. Her marital status then was recorded as divorced and occupation, actress.[2][3][4] In January of that year she appeared as Ouida Bergère playing the stenographer in the play Via Wireless and was one of few cast members to receive positive reviews in the production.[5]

Career

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Bergère began her career as an actress. Playwright Winchell Smith gave her her first role, but she eventually abandoned her stage career and turned her attention to writing. She wrote for the New York Herald and for various magazines, and wrote the stories for silent film productions. [6]

Bergère, 1920

She wrote most of the stories for the films of Elsie Ferguson, and many for Mae Murray, including On With the Dance. She also wrote for Pola Negri, Corinne Griffith, Bert Lytell, and Betty Compson, many of which were directed by her second husband George Fitzmaurice. In 1920, she wrote the screen version of Peter Ibbetson, starring Elsie Ferguson and Wallace Reid. During this time, she met Basil Rathbone, who was playing the lead role in the stage production of the play, and they eventually married in 1926.[7]

As well as the United States, Bergère worked on films in England, France and Italy. While in Rome, she wrote a screenplay titled The Eternal City (1923), based on the Hall Caine novel, directed by her husband George Fitzmaurice, and released by the Samuel Goldwyn Company. The film enlisted the assistance of the Fascists, and of Mussolini, with the help of the American ambassador in Rome. The film included a scene in which Mussolini appeared writing a letter and summoning a man to post it. 10,000 Blackshirts appeared in the Coliseum scenes for the film.[8][9]

Family

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After her marriage to actor Basil Rathbone on April 18, 1926,[10] Bergère gave up her film work to assist him in his work and in the management of his business affairs. Their first child died in infancy in 1928. They adopted a daughter named Cynthia Rathbone (1939–1969), and raised Ouida's niece, Ouida Branch, who married David Bruce Huxley, brother of Julian Huxley, Aldous Huxley, and Andrew Huxley.[11]

Death

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Bergere died about two weeks shy of her 88th birthday at Roosevelt Hospital in New York from complications after falling and breaking her hip. She was survived by her younger brother Bernice C. Branch.[12] She is buried next to Rathbone at Ferncliff Cemetery in New York.

Filmography

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Writer

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Year Films Credit Notes
1915 The Esterbrook Case Short
Lost film
1915 Saints and Sinners Short[citation needed]
1915 At Bay Scenario Lost film
1915 Via Wireless Scenario
1915 Wasted Lives Short
1916 New York Scenario Lost film
1916 Virtue Triumphant Lost film
1916 Big Jim Garrity Scenario
1916 Arms and the Woman Scenario Lost film
1916 The Romantic Journey Scenario Lost film
1917 Kick In Scenario
1917 The Iron Heart Story Lost film
1917 The On-the-Square Girl Scenario
1918 The Hillcrest Mystery Scenario Lost film
1918 Innocent Scenario Lost film
1918 More Trouble Scenario Lost film
1918 A Japanese Nightingale Scenario
1918 The Narrow Path Scenario Lost film
1919 Common Clay Scenario Lost film
1919 The Cry of the Weak Story Lost film
1919 The Profiteers Scenario Lost film
1919 The Avalanche Scenario Lost film
1919 Our Better Selves Scenario Lost film
1919 A Society Exile Scenario Lost film
1919 The Witness for the Defense Scenario
1919 Counterfeit Scenario Lost film
1919 The Broken Melody Story Lost film
1920 On With the Dance Scenario Lost film
1920 The Right to Love Scenario
1920 Idols of Clay Story
1921 Paying the Piper Scenario Lost film
1921 Peter Ibbetson Scenario Lost film
1922 Peacock Alley Story Lost film
1922 To Have and to Hold Scenario Lost film
1922 Three Live Ghosts Scenario
1922 The Man from Home Scenario
1923 Kick In Adaptation
1923 Bella Donna Scenario
1923 The Rustle of Silk Scenario Lost film
1923 The Cheat Adaptation Lost film
1923 Six Days Adaptation
1923 The Eternal City Scenario Lost film

Casting director

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  • At Bay (1915)

Actress

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  • Getting Even (1912)
  • Mates and Mis-Mates (1912)

References

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  1. ^ 1900 US Census
  2. ^ 1910 US Census Records
  3. ^ New York Times, December 1, 1974 (surviving brother B.C. Branch), pg. 83
  4. ^ SS Europa Passenger Manifest October 23, 1933 (listed place of birth as Little Rock)
  5. ^ The Indianapolis Star, January 25, 1910, p. 10
  6. ^ California and Californians, Vol. Three. Hunt, Rockwell D., ed. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1932.
  7. ^ The New York Times, December 1, 1974.
  8. ^ California and Californians, Vol. Three. Hunt, Rockwell D., ed. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1932.
  9. ^ The New York Times, December 1, 1974.
  10. ^ The New York Times, April 19, 1926.
  11. ^ The New York Times, September 23, 1992.
  12. ^ The New York Times obituary, December 1, 1974.
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