German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1760/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Freulich / Universal-Matador. Norman Kerry in Merry-Go-Round (Rupert Julian, Erich von Stroheim, 1923).
Norman Kerry (1894–1956) was an American actor of the silent era, who peaked in the Lon Chaney films The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Unknown (1927).
Of German origin, and born Arnold Kaiser in Rochester in New York State on June 16, 1894, Kerry changed his name to Norman Kerry during the First World War. Kerry began working as a clerk in the New York fur trade, but felt that he had no aptitude for this type of work, he left everything and became a theatrical agent. In 1916, he met Rudolph Valentino, and the two soon became friends and it was Kerry who advised the Italian to try his hand at the young film industry. Kerry played his first part in the Douglas Fairbanks film Manhattan Madness (Allan Dwan, 1916), but immediately after he had an important lead in the Mary Pickford film A Little Princess (Marshall Neilan, 1917). A second success followed with the Constance Talmadge film Up the Road with Sallie (William Desmond Taylor, 1918).
Norman Kerry became a matinee idol with his slicked-back hair and thin, waxed mustache. His popularity peaked in 1923, when he acted as the dashing Captain Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), starring Lon Chaney and Patsy Ruth Miller, and as the aristocrat posing as a salesman in Merry-Go-Round (Erich von Stroheim, Rupert Julian, 1923), with Mary Philbin as his love interest. Kerry was again paired with Philbin in another Lon Chaney classic, The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925). The third get-together with Chaney happened with the bizarre horror film The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927), starring Chaney and Joan Crawford. Kerry plays Chaney's rival as a strongman, risking to be ripped apart in a circus act when Chaney's character takes revenge for having needlessly removed his both own arms. Kerry continued to appear in several films and alongside the leading actresses of the moment, including Lillian Gish in Annie Laurie (John S. Robertson, 1927), Bebe Daniels, Irene Rich, Eleanor Boardman, Corinne Griffith, Pauline Starke, Aileen Pringle, and many others.
Norman Kerry was not so lucky in his personal life as he married three times. With the advent of sound cinema, he did not have the desired success, and after 1931 he stopped. Having acted in 1928 in the film Foreign Legion, Kerry drew his conclusions and joined the real French Foreign Legion. He returned to the United States only in 1940, when France was invaded by Hitler's Nazi army and acted in one last film. Norman Kerry died in Los Angeles in 1956, at the age of 61, the victim of liver disease.
Sources: Wikipedia (English and Italian ), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
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French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 401. Photo: Roman Freulich. Norman Kerry in Merry-Go-Round (Rupert Julian, Erich von Stroheim, 1923). Norman Kerry's surname is misspelled on the card as Keery.
Norman Kerry (1894–1956) was an American actor of the silent era, who peaked in the Lon Chaney films The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Unknown (1927).
Of German origin, and born Arnold Kaiser in Rochester in New York State on June 16, 1894, Kerry changed his name to Norman Kerry during the First World War. Kerry began working as a clerk in the New York fur trade, but felt that he had no aptitude for this type of work, he left everything and became a theatrical agent. In 1916, he met Rudolph Valentino, and the two soon became friends and it was Kerry who advised the Italian to try his hand at the young film industry. Kerry played his first part in the Douglas Fairbanks film Manhattan Madness (Allan Dwan, 1916), but immediately after he had an important lead in the Mary Pickford film A Little Princess (Marshall Neilan, 1917). A second success followed with the Constance Talmadge film Up the Road with Sallie (William Desmond Taylor, 1918).
Norman Kerry became a matinee idol with his slicked-back hair and thin, waxed mustache. His popularity peaked in 1923, when he acted as the dashing Captain Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), starring Lon Chaney and Patsy Ruth Miller, and as the aristocrat posing as a salesman in Merry-Go-Round (Erich von Stroheim, Rupert Julian, 1923), with Mary Philbin as his love interest. Kerry was again paired with Philbin in another Lon Chaney classic, The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925). The third get-together with Chaney happened with the bizarre horror film The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927), starring Chaney and Joan Crawford. Kerry plays Chaney's rival as a strongman, risking to be ripped apart in a circus act when Chaney's character takes revenge for having needlessly removed his both own arms. Kerry continued to appear in several films and alongside the leading actresses of the moment, including Lillian Gish in Annie Laurie (John S. Robertson, 1927), Bebe Daniels, Irene Rich, Eleanor Boardman, Corinne Griffith, Pauline Starke, Aileen Pringle, and many others.
Norman Kerry was not so lucky in his personal life as he married three times. With the advent of sound cinema, he did not have the desired success, and after 1931 he stopped. Having acted in 1928 in the film Foreign Legion, Kerry drew his conclusions and joined the real French Foreign Legion. He returned to the United States only in 1940, when France was invaded by Hitler's Nazi army and acted in one last film. Norman Kerry died in Los Angeles in 1956, at the age of 61, the victim of liver disease.
Sources: Wikipedia (English and Italian ), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Tags: Norman Kerry Norman Kerry American Actor Hollywood Movie Star USA Film Cinema Cine Kino Picture Screen Movie Movies Filmster Star Vedette Vintage Postcard Postkarte Carte Postale Cartolina Tarjet Postal Briefkarte Briefkaart Postkaart Ansichtskarte Ansichtkaart Sepia Cinémagazine-Edition Cinémagazine Freulich Roman Freulich Uniform Merry-go-round 1923
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Vintage French postcard. Cinémagazine-Edition, No. 401. Photo by Roman Freulich. Norman Kerry's name is misspelled and sexchanged into Norma Keery. Norman Kerry in Merry-Go-Round (Rupert Julian, Erich von Stroheim, 1923).
Norman Kerry (1894–1956) was an American actor of the silent era, who peaked in the Lon Chaney films The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Unknown (1927).
Tags: Norman Kerry AMerican USA Hollywood 1920s Vintage Vedette Postcard Postkarte POstale Postkaart Picture Postal Cinema Carte Cartolina Cine Carte Postale Card Celebrity Costume Film Film Star Movies Movie Star Muet Muto Screen Star Silent Sepia SChauspieler Stummfilm Darsteller Ansichtkaart Ansichtskarte Actor Acteur Attore Cinémagazine Edition Freulich Merry-Go-Round uniform aristocrat underlighting light Norma Keery Roman Freulich
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Spanish minicard in the Escenas selectas de cinematografía series, series A, no. 2, for Chocolate Guillèn. Erich von Stroheim in Foolish Wives (Von Stroheim, 1922). The lady depicted is not Mae Busch but Miss Dupont.
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Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 658. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn, Roma. Mae Murray in The Merry Widow (Erich von Stroheim, 1925).
American actress and dancer Mae Murray (1885-1965) had her breakthrough on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Follies. Her film debut was in To Have and to Hold (1916). Murray became one of the biggest stars of Universal, often directed by her then-husband, Robert Z. Leonard. At the height of her career, she decided to found her own company with director John Stahl. While the films were successful, critics didn’t like them, because of her exaggerated emotions and her costumes. In the early 1920s, Murray started acting at Metro (later MGM). Murray’s most famous role was that in Erich Von Stroheim’s The Merry Widow (1925), co-starring John Gilbert.
Mae Murray always said to be born as Marie Adrienne Koenig in Portsmouth in 1885. The incorrigible Murray however loved to reinvent her past. Michael Ankerich, who wrote a well-documented biography about her, has found in the City of New York birth registers that she was born in New York as Anna Mary Koenig. She was the second-oldest child of Joseph and Mary (née Miller) Koenig, both children of European emigres. In May 1896, Joseph Koenig died from acute gastritis due to his alcoholism. To support the family, Mary Koenig took a job as a housekeeper for businessman Harry Payne Whitney. Ankerich has also made intensive research on the beginnings of Mae’s career, trying to set the record straight. Mae made her Broadway debut in 1904 in the chorus of 'The Sho-Gun'. In 1908 she became a chorus girl at the Ziegfeld Follies. Among her many dance partners was the young Clifton Web in 1914. Murray replaced Irene Castle in Irving Berlin’s 'Watch Your Step' for one week at the end of January 1915. Later in 1915, she became the leading lady at Ziegfeld. Her first number immediately stunned the star-studded opening night audience. People screamed and threw flowers at her feet on the stage. Mae soon became accustomed to her own celebrity, the companionship of high society, and the attention of millionaires anxious to be seen with the latest toast of Manhattan on their arms. In September 1908, in Hoboken, New Jersey, while she was appearing in the Follies of 1908, Murray married William M. Schwenker, Jr., the unemployed son of a brewery-supply dealer, who cut off his son's allowance upon news of the wedding. The pair divorced in 1910. In 1916, she married former dancer and future Olympic bobsled champion Jay O'Brien. They divorced in 1918. Adolph Zukor signed her to a screen contract with Paramount. Her film debut was in the silent adventure drama To Have and to Hold (George Melford, 1916) with Wallace Reid. In the following years, Murray acted in a string of box office hits, including The Dream Girl (Cecil B. DeMille, 1916) with Theodore Roberts, and A Mormon Maid (Robert Z. Leonard, 1917), in which she played alongside then-actor Frank Borzage. Director and producer Robert Z. Leonard became her third husband. With Robert Z. Leonard, she joined Universal to open her own production unit, Bluebird, and Leonard directed most of Murray’s films in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Many of their films, contained dance sequences that were designed especially for her. In 1919, she paired up with friend and former dance partner Rudolph Valentino in The Delicious Little Devil (Robert Z. Leonard, 1919) and Big Little Person (Robert Z. Leonard, 1919). These 'silent musicals' were usually constructed on a framework of light romance or comedy set in exotic locales or historical settings. The elaborate decor and magnificent costumes enriched the visuals. Their success made Mae Murray into one of Universal's biggest stars. Mae became a defining example of silent film excess. She was promoted in all the fanzines flaunting the lifestyle expected of Hollywood royalty, spending her millions on jewelry, motorcars, racehorses, couture. In 1922, 'The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips' started acting at Metro (later MGM). With husband Robert Z. Leonard and M.H. Hoffman, she had founded Tiffany Productions (1921-1933). Murray and Leonard signed with Louis B. Mayer to make films for Metro under the Tiffany label. They made eight films together, showcases for Murray’s extravagant and florid performance style. After Circe the Enchantress (Robert Z. Leonard, 1924), Murray and Leonard parted. They officially divorced in 1925. While her films with Leonard were successful at the box office, the critics didn’t like them, because of her exaggerated emotions and her over-the-top costumes. Her overacting, lifting up her nose and showing her teeth, was parodied by Marion Davies in the delicious comedy The Patsy (King Vidor, 1928). Although Murray’s presence can be considered excessive and baroque, her fans called her 'The Gardenia of the Screen'. She pleasurably perfumed and intensified audience experience of her 'silent musicals', of which the scores were performed by large orchestras in the movie palaces in the cities, while smaller venues used giant Wurlitzer organs. Her many fans revelled thus in her colourful performances. Her most famous role is The Merry Widow (Erich von Stroheim, 1925). John Gilbert plays a prince, who must woo the now wealthy dancer he once abandoned in order to keep her money in the country in order to keep it from crashing economically. The reception for the film was superlative. Critics praised the artistic choices, such as the colours in the wedding sequence at the film’s end. Mordaunt Hall in The New York Times: "The Widow is, of course, impersonated by Mae Murray, who demonstrates true acting ability in this effort. Hitherto she was like a top, and one seldom caught much more than a flash of her face. Here she stands still; she wears her costumes with a full realization of their splendor." The Merry Widow boasted the largest box office for any Hollywood studio in 1925 and would remain the most successful film both Murray and von Stroheim ever made.
Mae Murray's fourth husband was ‘Prince’ David Mdivani, a Georgian man of minor aristocratic roots, whose brothers Serge and Alexis married actress Pola Negri and the heiress Barbara Hutton respectively. The father of the 'marrying Mdivani' trio, later admitted that he was the only Prince to ever inherit a title from his sons. When Mae let her prince take control over her business affairs, he ill-advised her to quit MGM. So, Murray made a scene at the studio, stepped out of her contract, and left Louis B. Mayer in 1927. Later, blacklisted by Mayer, she sorely regretted this. When the sound film came along, Mae Murray’s voice didn’t fit her image. Murray made an insecure sound debut in Peacock Alley (Marcel de Sano, 1930), a remake of her silent hit Peacock Alley (Robert Z. Leonard, 1921). Produced by Tiffany Pictures, the film was lavishly produced with elaborate sets despite its low budget. But the fortunes of Tiffany Pictures had now come to an end. In her next sound film, Bachelor Apartment (Lowell Sherman, 1931), she co-starred with newcomer Irene Dunne, Lowell Sherman, and Norman Kerry. After another RKO production, High Stakes (Lowell Sherman, 1931), she left the film business for good. At Silents Are Golden, J. Stephen Walters writes about her final films: "In these, a capable voice proves equal to sound, but the films otherwise present Mae disastrously - badly photographed low-budget productions, clearly showing her age." Prince Mdivani had spent all of her money and the couple divorced in 1934. Later, there was a nasty custody battle about their son Koran David Mdivani, born in 1927. After two years, when she finally was given custody, she was unable to care for her son due to financial and personal problems. In 1940, he was adopted by his foster family and his name was changed to Daniel Michael Cunning. In 1934, Murray returned to Broadway briefly to perform in The Milky Way. In the 1940s, she performed an act at the Times Square establishment Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe nightclub. Her dancing in the Merry Widow Waltz was well received, but she was criticised for her youthful costumes and heavy makeup application, doing all to mask her age. In 1946, she taught ballroom dancing to young teenagers at a dance studio in Los Angeles. In her later years, Mae Murray suffered from financial problems and lived in poverty. In 1959, she was the subject of an authorised biography, 'Mae Murray - The Self-Enchanted', written by Jane Ardmore. Reportedly it sold poorly. Mae ended her days in the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills in Los Angeles. There she passed away of heart failure in 1965 at the age of 79. She only left a trunk containing clothing and keepsakes. In the early 1990s, the Dutch EYE Film Institute (Nederlands Filmmuseum) found two early Mae Murray films, which she made for Universal: The Delicious Little Devil (Robert Z. Leonard, 1919), with the young Rudolph Valentino, and The ABC of Love (Léonce Perret, 1919). EYE also found and restored Murray’s film The Right to Love (George Fitzmaurice, 1920), a Famous Players-Lasky production.
Sources: Mordaunt Hall (The New York Times), Artemis Willis (Women Film Pioneers Project), J. Stephen Walters (Silent Are Golden), Jimmy Bangley (Classic Images), Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and Dutch), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
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