American postcard. Photo: Edison.

American actress Mary Fuller (1988-1973) started her film career at Vitagraph and had her breakthrough at Edison. At Universal, Fuller became a major early film star who rivaled Mary Pickford in popularity. In 1917, she left the film industry and ended her life in a mental hospital.

Mary Claire Fuller was born in 1888 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. Her parents were Nora Swing and attorney Miles Fuller. Mary spent her childhood on a farm. As a child, she was interested in music, writing, and art. Her father died in 1902, and by 1906, she was working in the theatre under the name Claire Fuller. She worked briefly with the Lyceum Stock Company in Toledo, Ohio. Fuller's entrance into the cinema was quite accidental. In 1908, her theatrical troupe was on its way to tour the South when, during a short stopover in New York City, the company broke up. Stranded, Mary made her way to the Vitagraph film studio in Brooklyn, NY, looking for a job. With her experience and attractiveness, she was put to work in action and comedy one-reelers. She also made a one-reel adaptation of Elektra (1910) and appeared in Jean the Match-Maker (Laurence Trimble, 1910) starring Jean, the Vitagraph Dog, and the Vitagraph Girl Florence Turner. In 1910, Fuller joined the Edison Film Company in the Bronx, where she appeared in the first film version of Frankenstein (J. Searle Dawley, 1910), based on the Mary Shelley novel. The unbilled cast included Augustus Phillips as Dr. Frankenstein, Charles Ogle as Frankenstein's monster, and Mary Fuller as the doctor's fiancée. The production was deliberately designed to de-emphasize the horrific aspects of the story and focus on the story's mystical and psychological elements. In 1912, Fuller was the star of the first serial, What Happened to Mary (Charles Brabin, 1912). The forerunner of all serials, What Happened to Mary was a series of twelve monthly one-reel episodes, each a complete entity in itself, revolving its immediate dramatic and melodramatic problems within the framework of a single episode and designed more for story and suspense situations than action. The scripts were written by Horace G. Plympton. What Happened to Mary was performed as a stage play and published as a single-volume print novel. Therefore, it is an early example of a multiple-media marketing campaign. She also appeared in the sequel, the action serial Who Will Marry Mary? (1913). Fuller also authored a number of screenplays, eight of which were made into films between 1913 and 1915.

By 1914 Mary Fuller was noticed by Universal Pictures, and she headed west. Fuller became a major early film star who rivaled Mary Pickford in popularity. She appeared in a wide variety of roles and starred in such melodramas as the serial Dolly of the Dailies (1914), and Under Southern Skies (Lucius Henderson, 1915), her first feature-length production. However, two years later Mary Fuller just packed up and walked away from Hollywood. She made the films The Long Trail (Howell Hansel, 1917) with Lou Tellegen, and Public Be Damned (Stanner E.V. Taylor, 1917), and then disappeared. A magazine writer found her in 1924, living in Washington, DC, with her mother. She said that she had tired of the hard work involved in making pictures, that she had invested her money and was living comfortably. She mentioned that she was thinking of going back to making films, but soon after the interview was published, she disappeared again. Nothing was ever heard from her until 1973, when it was discovered that she had died, of natural causes, in a Washington, DC, mental hospital. IMDb and Wikipedia write that Fuller suffered a nervous breakdown due to a broken heart after a failed affair with a married opera singer. The death of her mother in 1946 brought a second nervous breakdown. After being cared for by her sister, Fuller was admitted in 1947 to Washington's St. Elizabeths Hospital, where she remained for 26 years. The hospital was unable to locate any relatives, and she was buried in an unmarked grave in Congressional Cemetery. In the 2010s, a memorial bench was installed on the site of her grave, bearing a "Hollywood Star of Fame" and the inscription "A Personality of Eloquent Silence."

Sources: Find A Grave, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

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American postcard by Art Creation for the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan. Caption: Henry Ford and Thomas Edison in conversation at Greenfield Village, in 1928. Their friendship had begun in 1896 when Edison encouraged the then young and unknown Ford's automobile experiments. The deafness, which had afflicted the inventor since childhood, is evident in this pose, as Henry Ford speaks loudly in his ear.

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) was the inventor of the phonograph, power stations, and the carbon switch microphone. With his pioneering film studio, he produced and directed such silent films as The Trick Cyclist (1901), Bicycle Trick Riding, No. 2 (1899) and the first American film version of Frankenstein (1910).

Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio, USA. His father, Samuel Edison, was of Dutch ancestry and his mother, Nancy Elliot, was of English descent. Thomas was home-schooled. He used a primitive cylinder and foil device to create the first known recording of a human voice (his own, reciting the poem "Mary Had A Little Lamb"). Although he invented the cylinder recorder (phonograph), it was Emile Berliner who created the flat disc. Edison licensed the patent(s) from him. Other inventions to his credit include cellophane tape, waxed paper, an improved version of the typewriter keyboard, and 'the electric pencil', a forerunner to the fax machine. He is often credited with the invention of the incandescent light bulb, but that is untrue; he only perfected it. Similar bulbs were already in existence but they were expensive, did not last long, and gave off a bad smell. By developing a low-cost, long-lasting, carbonized cotton filament, Edison made electrical light cheap enough to be financially practical.

Thomas Edison is also credited with the invention of sprocketed cinema film. He also invented the Kinetograph camera and the peephole kinetoscope viewer. The Edison Manufacturing Company's earliest films were produced solely to demonstrate the use of the peephole viewer. The studio made several experimental short films, some lasting only several seconds, mostly to test his equipment. One film, Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894), features a man sneezing, runs for 1-1/2 seconds. Many of Edison's experimental films were made in a small wooden building dubbed 'The Black Maria' because it resembled a police wagon of the same name. Edison's Black Maria was built on a lot next to his lab and office. The building, essentially a large wooden shed covered with tar paper, was small enough that it was mounted on circular tracks so it could be turned to accommodate sunlight through an opening in the roof. The original has long since burned down, but a reproduction of the structure is located at the Edison National Historic Site, a museum with a preserved laboratory facility in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison himself played virtually no role in the production of individual films by his company which produced the first American film version of Frankenstein (1910). This film paved the way for modern-day horror as we now know it. Edison formed the Motion Picture Patent Company (MPPC), and teamed up with a few other prominent figures in film production, giving them a sort of monopoly on filmmaking. They wouldn't let other filmmakers use their technology, and they controlled the different steps of production. Supposedly, they even hired goons to enforce their monopoly. His attempts to force independent filmmakers to use his patented movie equipment resulted in an exodus of the film industry from the East Coast, where almost all films were produced, to California and a little town called Hollywoodland, now known as Hollywood. The last years of his life were plagued by financial failures, including plans to make houses out of poured formed concrete (it never caught on with the public) and making rubber from goldenrod (it decomposed too quickly). In 1928, he was awarded a Congressional Gold Meda. Thomas Edison was married to Mina Miller and Mary Stilwell. He died in 1931 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA. When he lay dying at his home in New Jersey, newspaper reporters were anxiously awaiting a sign from his wife of Edison's death. She signaled Edison's passing by turning a light ON, not off, in his bedroom. Edison's son allegedly captured his last breath in a glass jar. The jar is on display at the reconstructed Menlo Park at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

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French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 342. Photo: Walter Scott Shinn, New York.

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) was the inventor of the phonograph, power stations, and the carbon switch microphone. With his pioneering film studio, he produced and directed such silent films as The Trick Cyclist (1901), Bicycle Trick Riding, No. 2 (1899) and the first American film version of Frankenstein (1910).

Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio, USA. His father, Samuel Edison, was of Dutch ancestry and his mother, Nancy Elliot, was of English descent. Thomas was home-schooled. He used a primitive cylinder and foil device to create the first known recording of a human voice (his own, reciting the poem "Mary Had A Little Lamb"). Although he invented the cylinder recorder (phonograph), it was Emile Berliner who created the flat disc. Edison licensed the patent(s) from him. Other inventions to his credit include cellophane tape, waxed paper, an improved version of the typewriter keyboard, and 'the electric pencil', a forerunner to the fax machine. He is often credited with the invention of the incandescent light bulb, but that is untrue; he only perfected it. Similar bulbs were already in existence but they were expensive, did not last long, and gave off a bad smell. By developing a low-cost, long-lasting, carbonized cotton filament, Edison made electrical light cheap enough to be financially practical.

Thomas Edison is also credited with the invention of sprocketed cinema film. He also invented the Kinetograph camera and the peephole kinetoscope viewer. The Edison Manufacturing Company's earliest films were produced solely to demonstrate the use of the peephole viewer. The studio made several experimental short films, some lasting only several seconds, mostly to test his equipment. One film, Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894), features a man sneezing, runs for 1-1/2 seconds. Many of Edison's experimental films were made in a small wooden building dubbed 'The Black Maria' because it resembled a police wagon of the same name. Edison's Black Maria was built on a lot next to his lab and office. The building, essentially a large wooden shed covered with tar paper, was small enough that it was mounted on circular tracks so it could be turned to accommodate sunlight through an opening in the roof. The original has long since burned down, but a reproduction of the structure is located at the Edison National Historic Site, a museum with a preserved laboratory facility in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison himself played virtually no role in the production of individual films by his company which produced the first American film version of Frankenstein (1910). This film paved the way for modern-day horror as we now know it. Edison formed the Motion Picture Patent Company (MPPC), and teamed up with a few other prominent figures in film production, giving them a sort of monopoly on filmmaking. They wouldn't let other filmmakers use their technology, and they controlled the different steps of production. Supposedly, they even hired goons to enforce their monopoly. His attempts to force independent filmmakers to use his patented movie equipment resulted in an exodus of the film industry from the East Coast, where almost all films were produced, to California and a little town called Hollywoodland, now known as Hollywood. The last years of his life were plagued by financial failures, including plans to make houses out of poured formed concrete (it never caught on with the public) and making rubber from goldenrod (it decomposed too quickly). In 1928, he was awarded a Congressional Gold Meda. Thomas Edison was married to Mina Miller and Mary Stilwell. He died in 1931 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA. When he lay dying at his home in New Jersey, newspaper reporters were anxiously awaiting a sign from his wife of Edison's death. She signaled Edison's passing by turning a light ON, not off, in his bedroom. Edison's son allegedly captured his last breath in a glass jar. The jar is on display at the reconstructed Menlo Park at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

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Vintage postcard. Photo: Edison.

American actor Augustus Phillips (1874-1944) appeared in 134 films between 1910 and 1921. He played Victor Frankenstein, as a young medical student in Frankenstein (J. Searle Dawley, 1910), the very first adaptation produced by the Edison company.

Augustus Phillips was born in Rensselaer, Indiana, in 1974. Gis parents were Simon Phillips and Nancy V. Irvin. He made his film debut in the short silent horror film Frankenstein (1910) by Edison Studios. It was directed by J. Searle Dawley, who also wrote the one-reeler's screenplay, broadly basing his 'scenario' on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel 'Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'. This short film is generally recognised by film historians as the first screen adaptation of Shelley's work. The small cast, who are not credited in the surviving 1910 print of the film, includes Augustus Phillips as Dr. Frankenstein, Charles Ogle as Frankenstein's monster, and Mary Fuller as the doctor's fiancée. Searle Dawley, working in his third year for Edison Studios, shot the film in three days at the company's Bronx facilities in New York City on 13, 15, and 17 January 1910. For many years, it was believed a lost film. In the early 1950s, a print of this film was purchased by a Wisconsin film collector, Alois F. Dettlaff, from his mother-in-law, who also collected films. Its existence was first revealed in the mid-1970s. Although somewhat deteriorated, the film was in viewable condition, complete with titles and tints as seen in 1910. In 2018, in recognition of Mary Shelly's bicentennial, the Library of Congress completed a full restoration of the short film, having purchased the Dettlaff collection in 2014.

After his debut, Augustus Philips became a leading actor for the Edison Manufacturing Company. He acted in dozens of short Edison films, such as Pigs Is Pigs (N.N., 1910) starring Charles M. Seay and Miriam Nesbitt, A Soldier's Duty (Charles Brabin, 1912), The Shadow on the Blind (N.N., 1912), and The Birth of the Star Spangled Banner (George Lessey, 1914). A few years later he appeared in the drama The Gates of Eden is a lost (John H. Collins, 1916) opposite Viola Dana. It was produced by the Columbia Pictures Corporation, not related to the Hollywood studio, and was released through Metro Pictures. However, the same year he and Viola Dana also co-starred in the Edison production The Innocence of Ruth (John H. Collins, 1916). He also co-starred with Dana, who was the wife of director Hohn H. Collins, in her husband's films Aladdin’s Other Lamp (1917), The Mortal Sin (1917), and God's Law and Man's (1917). He also appeared in the comedy-drama Miss Robinson Crusoe (Christy Cabanne, 1917), starring Emmy Wehlen, Daybreak (Albert Capellani, 1918) with Julian L'Estrange, and The Brass Check (Will S. Davis, 1918) starring Francis X. Bushman. He then had a role in the Harry Houdini vehicle The Grim Game (Irvin Willat, 1919) which showcases Houdini's talent as an escapologist, stunt performer, and aviator. Among his final films were the silent mystery One Hour Before Dawn (Henry King, 1920 starring H. B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson, and The Crimson Cross (George Everett, 1921). According to Wikipedia, Augustus Phillips died in London, England, in 1944, at the age of 70. However, IMDb writes he died in 1952 at the age of 78 in Milford, Pennsylvania, USA. Our gut feeling says IMDb is right. He was married to actress Mildred Manning in 1914 and the couple had one child. They later divorced.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

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American postcard by the Commercial Colortype Co., Chicago. Photo: The Thos. A. Edison Co.

The Australian-born actor Marc McDermott (1881-1929) was one of the most popular leading men of the Edison company. From 1909 through the summer of 1916, he starred in over 140 films for Edison. In 1914, Marc appeared in the first-ever 'chapter' series, The Man Who Disappeared (1914).

Marc McDermott was born Marcus McDermott in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia in 1881. His father Patrick McDermott and mother Annie Massey McDermott were born in Ireland, and Marc later became an English citizen when he moved to London. He received his early education at a Jesuit school in Sydney. When Marc was 15, his father died suddenly. His older brother was living in Ireland, so to support his mother and little sister, Marc joined a small local theatre company. A year later, he was discovered by the Shakespearean actor George Rignold and made his first appearance on the stage in Sydney. He stayed with the company for several years, learning his craft. When Rignold's company departed for London, Marc quickly caught the eye of Charles Frohman, a New York agent and producer, whose clients included Mrs. Patrick Campbell, the first lady of the London stage. Tall with thick auburn hair and dark brown eyes, Marc cut an impressive figure. Mrs. Pat, as she was called, chose the 20-year-old to be her leading man. The company sailed to the US and landed in New York, where he played opposite her as Sir George Orreyed in 'The Second Mrs. Tanqeray'. The company returned to London, where he was hired by Frohman to play 'Sherlock Holmes' in London for two years. For the next years, Marc became a celebrated West End actor. In 1906, he accepted Frohman's offer to sail to New York and join the company of the great classical actor Richard Mansfield. He toured the US for several years, and in 1909 was approached by Charles Brabin, a fellow stage actor (and soon to be a director) who was working at Thomas Edison's film studio in the Bronx.

Marc MacDermott was quickly hired to appear as a featured player, replacing Maurice Costello, who had moved to Vitagraph. His first film was Les Misérables (J. Stuart Blackton, 1909), followed by Lochinvar (J. Searle Dawley, 1909) based on the story by Sir Walter Scott. Lochinvar was released first but he filmed Les Miserables prior to it. From 1909 through the summer of 1916, he starred in over 140 films for Edison. In A Christmas Carol (J. Searle Dawley, 1910), he featured as Ebenezer Scrooge opposite Charles S. Ogle as Bob Cratchit. Appearing frequently in popular early film magazines like Photoplay, Motion Picture, and Moving Picture World, he was voted as one of the most popular leading men during these years. In 1911, Marc costarred with Mary Fuller in Edison's first popular series What Ever Happened to Mary? (Ashley Miller, Charles Brabin, 1912). Twelve one-reel episodes were released monthly beginning July 1912, coinciding with the literary serial of the same name published in McClure's The Ladies' World magazine. In addition to the films and regular magazine installments, What Happened to Mary was also adapted as a stage play, followed by a novelisation, making it an early precursor of the multimedia franchise. Another favourite leading lady of Marc's was Miriam Nesbitt, who was eight years his senior. Their on-screen romance soon grew into a real-life love affair. In 1914, Marc played with her in the first-ever 'chapter' series; each chapter was a complete story in and of itself. The 10-chapter series was titled The Man Who Disappeared (Charles Brabin, 1914) and was filmed on location in New York and New Jersey. Each printed chapter story was featured in Popular Magazine as each filmed chapter simultaneously appeared on the screen. As Marc told Motion Picture writer Gladys Roosevelt, he did all his own stunts, including driving an automobile into the icy East River, fighting a villain on top of a New York skyscraper that was actually being built at the time, and being handcuffed to the railroad tracks. In 1916, Marc and Miriam Nesbitt married in Leonia, New Jersey. By this time, he had made more than 140 films. Later that year, Marc left the Edison Studio to join his best friends Charles Brabin and Ashley Miller at the Vitagraph Studio, where he starred in a number of films. In 1918, Marc moved to Fox Films in New York to star with Theda Bara in Kathleen Mavourneen, (Charles Brabin, 1918).

Marc McDermott left Fox in 1920 to freelance, appearing with Norma Talmadge in The New Moon. He then co-starred with Estelle Taylor in While New York Sleeps, with Brabin working as both writer and director. Another director friend from his Vitagraph days, John Robertson, directed him in Footlights (John S. Robertson, 1921) with Elsie Ferguson. In 1922, his marriage began to unravel when Miriam discovered some love letters to actress Helen Gilmore and filed for a separation. The New York Times reported that he was arrested on 11 August 1922 and held in Ludlow Street Jail until he was released after paying $5,000 in bail. Marc left to visit his older brother's family, who had settled in Lowell, Massachusetts. After appearing in a vaudeville skit, he boarded a train in Boston and headed to Hollywood. Marc immediately went to work for Fox Films in Hoodman Blind (1923) directed by John Ford. At Warner Bros., he appeared in Lucretia Lombard (Jack Conway, 1923) with Irene Rich, Monte Blue, and Norma Shearer. Marc next appeared with Florence Lawrence, the Biograph Girl, in The Satin Girl (Arthur Rosson, 1923). When MGM was formed in 1924, Marc was contracted to appear in their very first film, He Who Gets Slapped (Victor Sjöström, 1924). The cast included Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, and John Gilbert. Mary Pickford cast him in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (Marshall Neilan, 1924) as Sir Malcolm Vernon. Mac Dermott was in high demand at different studios for the next two years: In Every Woman's Life (Irving Cummings, 1924) and Siege (Svend Gade, 1925) both with Virginia Valli; This Woman (Phil Rosen, 1924) with Irene Rich, Ricardo Cortez, and Clara Bow in a minor role; and The Sea Hawk (Frank Lloyd, 1924) with Milton Sills, Enid Bennett, and Wallace Beery. At Universal Pictures in 1925, he appeared in The Goose Woman (Clarence Brown, 1925) with Louise Dresser, Jack Pickford, and Constance Bennett. Once again, Norma Talmadge cast him as the villain in Graustark (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1925). In 1926, Marc was busy at MGM playing in both The Temptress (Fred Niblo, 1926) with Greta Garbo and Antonio Moreno and Flesh and the Devil (Clarence Brown, 1926) with Garbo and John Gilbert. One of his favourite costars was Greta Nissen, with whom he appeared in The Love Thief (John McDermott, 1926) for Universal and Lucky Lady (Raoul Walsh, 1926) for Paramount. Norma Talmadge tapped his talent once again for Kiki (Clarence Brown, 1926), a saucy little comedy with Ronald Coleman. During 1927, Marc starred in several MGM films, including California (W.S. Van Dyke, 1927) with Tim McCoy and Dorothy Sebastian, and Man, Woman and Sin (Monta Bell, 1927) with Jeanne Eagels and John Gilbert. Later that year, he appeared in The Road to Romance (John Robertson, 1927) with Ramon Navarro and Marceline Day, Taxi Dancer (Harry F. Millarde, 1927) with Joan Crawford, and Resurrection (Edwin Carewe, 1927) with Rod La Rocque and Dolores Del Rio at United Artists. In 1928, during a vaudeville tour to Chicago, Marc became ill and returned to Hollywood to recuperate. His next film for MGM was Under the Black Eagle (W.S. Van Dyke, 1928). For Glorious Betsy (Alan Crosland, 1928) at Warner Bros., some Vitaphone talking sequences were included. The film starred Dolores Costello, the daughter of Maurice Costello, whom Marc had replaced at Vitagraph back in 1916. First National cast Marc in The Yellow Lily (Alexander Korda, 1928) starring Bessie Dove and Clive Brook. The Mysterious Island (Lucien Hubbard, 1929) was shot in Technicolor with black and white sequences. Vitaphone sound sequences, a musical score, and sound effects were later added. Marc's old friend Charles Brabin directed him in his last film, The Whip (1928), which starred Dorothy Mackaill, Ralph Forbes, and Anna Q. Nilsson. During filming, Variety reported that Marc became very ill from ptomaine poisoning, lapsed into a three-month coma, and died from a gallbladder operation. However, Dr. E.F. Miller wrote on the death certificate that he had attended to Marc at home for eight months and then in the hospital from 5 December 1928 until his death on 5 January 1929. Further, he stated that no operation had preceded his death. The diagnosis of cirrhosis of the liver was confirmed by clinical and laboratory tests. His body was cremated at the Hollywood Crematory, and his ashes were placed in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale. His untimely death coincided with the death of silent films.

Sources: Linda McDermott Walsh (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

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