oldtimehollywood

[oldtimehollywood]

French actress Musidora (1889-1957) in the French produced serial Les Vampires. Ten episodes of the crime genre serial ran in cinemas from 1915-16. The films were a huge success with the French audiences who were trying to live through the dark days of World War I. The full 7+ hours of the serial can be found on YouTube.

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The bewitching Myrna Loy in 1929's The Black Watch.

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Stage and screen actor Jeanne Eagels (June 26, 1890 – October 3, 1929)

[oldtimehollywood]

The original Goth Queen, Theda Bara.

[oldtimehollywood]

Louise Brooks giving spooky vibes.

[oldtimehollywood]

John Bunny

Born September 21, 1863 in New York City, Bunny began his career on the stage, traveling a quarter of a century with vaudeville and theater companies. In 1910 he began work at the Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn. Often paired with Flora Finch in slapstick comedies, the pair became highly successful in the pre World War I era. The couple's films became known as "Bunnygraphs" and "Bunnyfinches".

John Bunny's film career lasted only 5 years. He died of Bright's disease on April 26, 1915 at his Brooklyn home. At the time of his death, Bunny was one of the cinema's most famous actors. But with Chaplin and Arbuckle soon taking over at the box office, John Bunny is mainly forgotten by everyone except ardent silent film fans.

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Martha Mansfield

Hollywood is no stranger to tragedy. Martha Mansfield's story is one of the oddest and most heartbreaking of tales. Born Martha Ehrlich on July 14, 1899 in New York City, Martha began her career on the stage, even appearing in the Zigfield Follies of 1917. From 1917-1921 Martha appeared in various short films. In 1921 she played opposite John Barrymore in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Her career seemed on an upswing. In late November of 1923, while on location for the film The Warrens of Virginia in San Antonio, the Civil War era dress she was wearing caught fire. Co-star Wilfred Lytell helped extingish the flames, but it was too late. Martha Mansfield died at the age of 24, the following day, November 30th. The cause of the fire was never determined.

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The fabulous Gloria Swanson, ready for a close-up.

[oldtimehollywood]

The gorgeous yet tragic Mabel Normand (1892-1930). Mabel worked with many of Hollywood's pioneers, starting as a Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty and working up to costaring with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in a series of comedy shorts. Plagued by drug use and being inbroiled in the 1922 murder of director William Desmond Taylor, Mabel died of tuberculosis at the age of only 36 at a sanatorium in Monrovia, California on February 23, 1930.

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Rudolph Valentino

[oldtimehollywood]

Clara Bow & Gary Cooper in Children of Divorce. Clara and Coop were the Hollywood It couple for a short time.