Mildred Harris (November 29, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American stage, film, and vaudeville actress[1] during the early part of the 20th century.[2] Harris began her career in the film industry as a child actress when she was age 10. She was also the first wife of Charlie Chaplin.
Mildred Harris | |
|---|---|
 Harris, c. 1919 | |
| Born | November 29, 1901 Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S. |
| Died | July 20, 1944 (aged 42) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1912–1944 |
| Spouses | Everett Terrence McGovern
(m. 1924; div. 1929) |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
editHarris was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming,[1] on November 29, 1901.[3][4] Her parents were telegraph operator Harry Harris and Anna Parsons Foote. Harris made her first screen appearance at age 10 in the 1912 Francis Ford- and Thomas H. Ince-directed Western short The Post Telegrapher. She followed the film with various juvenile roles, often appearing opposite child actor Paul Willis. In 1914, she was hired by The Oz Film Manufacturing Company to portray Fluff in The Magic Cloak of Oz and Button-Bright in His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. In 1916, at age 15, she appeared as a harem girl in Griffith's film Intolerance.
Career
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In the 1920s, Harris transitioned from child actress to leading roles with Conrad Nagel, Charley Chase, Milton Sills, Lionel Barrymore, Rod La Rocque and the Moore brothers, Owen and Tom. She appeared in Frank Capra's 1928 silent drama The Power of the Press with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Jobyna Ralston, and the same year, she starred in Universal Pictures first sound film Melody of Love with Walter Pidgeon.[5]
She found the transition to sound films difficult, and her career slowed dramatically. She performed in vaudeville and burlesque, and at one point, she toured with comedian Phil Silvers. She was critically praised for her performance in the 1930 film adaptation of the Broadway musical No, No Nanette. In the 1936 Three Stooges comedy Movie Maniacs, she portrayed a film starlet who is startled by Curly Howard when he strikes a match on the sole of her foot.
Harris continued to work in film in the early 1940s, largely through the kindness of Cecil B. DeMille, who cast her in bit parts in 1942's Reap the Wild Wind (starring Paulette Goddard, who like Harris, was once married to Charlie Chaplin), and 1944's The Story of Dr. Wassell. Her last film appearance was in the posthumously released 1945 film Having a Wonderful Crime.
Personal life
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At age 16, Harris met actor Charlie Chaplin in mid-1918, dated, and she thought she was pregnant by him, but the pregnancy was found to be a false alarm. They married privately on October 23, 1918, in Los Angeles. She later became pregnant.[6] The couple quarreled about her contract with Louis B. Mayer and her career. Chaplin felt she was not his intellectual equal. Their child, Norman Spencer, died in July 1919, at age 3 days,[7][8] and the couple separated in Autumn 1919.
Chaplin moved to the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Harris believed a happy marriage was possible, but in 1920, she filed for divorce based on mental cruelty. Chaplin accused her of infidelity, and although he would not name her lover publicly, actress Alla Nazimova was suspected.[9] The divorce was granted in November 1920, with Harris receiving $100,000 [a] in settlement and some community property.[10]
In 1924, Harris married Everett Terrence McGovern. The union lasted until November 26, 1929, when Harris filed for divorce in Los Angeles on the grounds of desertion. The couple had one son, Everett Terrence McGovern, Jr., in 1925. Their son, Everett, died in 2014. In 1934, she married former football player William P. Fleckenstein in Asheville, North Carolina.[11] Fleckenstein owned a musical show in which he and Harris were performing at the time of their marriage.[1]
Death
editHarris and Fleckenstein remained married until Harris's death on July 20, 1944, of pneumonia, following a major abdominal operation. She had been ill for three weeks.[2] She is interred in the Abbey of the Psalms Mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.[3]
Legacy
editIn 1960, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame posthumously was dedicated to Harris. It is located at 6307 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.[12] Harris was played by actress Milla Jovovich in the 1992 biographical film Chaplin.[13]
Filmography
edit| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | The Post Telegrapher | ||
| The Triumph of Right | Their Little Daughter | ||
| His Nemesis | |||
| The Frontier Child | A Frontier Child | ||
| His Squaw | |||
| His Sense of Duty | |||
| 1913 | A Shadow of the Past | ||
| The Wheels of Destiny | |||
| The Miser | |||
| The Drummer of the 8th | |||
| A Child of War | |||
| A True Believer | |||
| The Seal of Silence | |||
| Granddad | Mildred | ||
| Borrowed Gold | |||
| 1914 | Romance of Sunshine Alley | ||
| O Mimi San | |||
| The Courtship of O San | |||
| Wolves of the Underworld | |||
| The Colonel's Orderly | |||
| The Social Ghost | Ethel | ||
| Shadows of the Past | |||
| A Frontier Mother | |||
| The Sheriff of Bisbee | |||
| Shorty and the Fortune Teller | |||
| When America Was Young | |||
| Mildred's Doll | Mildred | ||
| The Magic Cloak of Oz | Princess Margaret 'Fluff' of Noland | ||
| His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz | Button-Bright, who is lost and doesn't care | ||
| Jimmy | Mary | ||
| 1915 | The Lone Cowboy | ||
| The Warrens of Virginia | Betty Warren | ||
| Enoch Arden | A Child | uncredited | |
| The Little Matchmaker | Mildred | ||
| The Little Soldier Man | Mildred | ||
| The Absentee | Innocence | Lost | |
| A Rightful Theft | |||
| The Old Batch | First Adopted Daughter | ||
| The Choir Boys | |||
| The Little Lumberjack | |||
| The Indian Trapper's Vindication | Dorothy King - their Daughter | ||
| 1916 | Hoodoo Ann | Goldie | Survives; Library of Congress |
| Intolerance | Favorite of the Harem | uncredited, Survives; many | |
| The Old Folks at Home | Marjorie | Unsure if it exists. LoC online database says 'No'. silentera.com says 'Yes' | |
| The Matrimaniac | uncredited, Survives; Library of Congress, others | ||
| The Americano | Stenographer | Survives; Library of Congress, others | |
| 1917 | The Bad Boy | Mary | Lost |
| A Love Sublime | Eurydice | Lost | |
| An Old Fashioned Young Man | Lost | ||
| Time Locks and Diamonds | Lolita Mendoza | Lost | |
| Golden Rule Kate | Olive - Kate's sister | Survives; Library of Congress, Academy Film Archive | |
| The Cold Deck | Alice Leigh | print Incomplete; Library of Congress, La Cinemathèque française | |
| The Price of a Good Time | Linnie | Lost | |
| 1918 | The Doctor and the Woman | Sidney Page | Lost |
| Cupid by Proxy | Jane Stewart | print Survives; Archives du Film CNC Bois d'Arcy, France[14] | |
| For Husbands Only | Toni Wilde | Lost | |
| Borrowed Clothes | Mary Kirk | Lost | |
| 1919 | When a Girl Loves | Bess | Lost |
| Home | Millicent Rankin | Lost | |
| Forbidden | 'Maddie' Irvin | Lost | |
| 1920 | Old Dad | Daphne Bretton | Lost |
| The Inferior Sex | Allisa Randall | Lost (as Mildred Harris Chaplin) | |
| Polly of the Storm Country | Polly | Lost (as Mildred Harris Chaplin) | |
| The Woman in His House | Hilda | Lost (as Mildred Harris Chaplin) | |
| 1921 | Habit | Irene Fletcher | Lost |
| A Prince There Was | Katherine Woods | Lost | |
| Fool's Paradise | Rosa Duchene | Survives; Library of Congress | |
| 1922 | The First Woman | The Girl | Lost |
| 1923 | The Fog | Madelaine Theddon | Lost |
| The Daring Years | Susie LaMotte | Lost | |
| 1924 | The Shadow of the East | Gillian Locke | Lost |
| By Divine Right | The Girl | Lost | |
| Traffic in Hearts | Alice Hamilton | Lost | |
| One Law for the Woman | Polly Barnes | print Survives; private holding (abridgement) | |
| In Fast Company | Barbara Belden | print Survives; Filmmuseum Amsterdam (EYE Institut) | |
| Unmarried Wives | Princess Sonya | print Survives; Filmoteca Espanola (Madrid) | |
| Stepping Lively | Evelyn Pendroy, the girl | Survives | |
| The Desert Hawk | Marie Nicholls | Lost | |
| 1925 | Easy Money | Blanche Amory | Survives; Library of Congress |
| Flaming Love | Chita | Lost | |
| Beyond the Border | Molly Smith | Survives | |
| The Dressmaker from Paris | Joan McGregor | Lost (per Lost Film Files) | |
| Super Speed | Claire Knight | survives; Library of Congress | |
| Private Affairs | Amy Lufkin | Lost | |
| My Neighbor's Wife | Inventor's Wife | Lost | |
| A Man of Iron | Claire Bowdoin | Lost | |
| The Fighting Cub | Incomplete; print held at UCLA, one reel missing | ||
| The Unknown Lover | Gale Norman | Lost | |
| Soiled | Pet Darling | Lost | |
| 1926 | Mama Behave | Lolita Chase, Charlie's Wife | Short, Survives |
| The Isle of Retribution | Lenore Hardenworth | Lost | |
| The Self Starter | Ruth Atkin | Lost | |
| Dangerous Traffic | Helen Leonard | Survives | |
| The Wolf Hunters | Helen Ainsworth | Lost | |
| The Mystery Club | Mrs. Kate Vandeerveer | Lost (per Lost Film Files: Universal Pictures) | |
| Cruise of the Jasper B | Agatha Fairhaven | Survives; Library of Congress | |
| 1927 | The Show Girl | Maizie Udell | Survives; Library of Congress, UCLA Film and Television |
| One Hour of Love | Gwen | Survives; National Archives of Canada | |
| Husband Hunters | Cynthia Kane | Survives; BFI London | |
| Wandering Girls | Maxine | Lost (per Lost Film Files: Columbia Pictures) | |
| Wolves of the Air | Marceline Manning | Lost | |
| Burning Gold | Claire Owens | Lost | |
| She's My Baby | Claire Daltour | Lost | |
| Rose of the Bowery | Lost | ||
| The Swell-Head | Kitty | Lost (per Lost Film Files: Columbia Pictures) | |
| The Girl from Rio | Helen Graham | Survives; Library of Congress | |
| Out of the Past | Dora Prentiss | Lost | |
| The Adventurous Soul | Miriam Martin | Survives; Library of Congress | |
| 1928 | The Last Lap | Lost | |
| Hearts of Men | Alice Weston | Lost | |
| The Heart of a Follies Girl | Florine | Lost | |
| Lingerie | Mary | print Survives; BFI London | |
| The Speed Classic | Sheila Van Hauten | Lost | |
| Melody of Love | Madelon | Unsure; LoC says yes...silentera.com says no | |
| The Power of the Press | Marie Weston | Survives | |
| 1929 | Side Street | Bunny | Survives |
| Sea Fury | The Girl | Lost | |
| 1930 | No, No, Nanette | Betty | |
| The Melody Man | Martha | ||
| Ranch House Blues | |||
| 1935 | Lady Tubbs | Society Woman | uncredited |
| The quiero con locura | |||
| Never Too Late | Mary Lloyd Hartley | ||
| 1936 | Movie Maniacs | Leading Lady | |
| Great Guy | bit role | uncredited | |
| 1942 | Reap the Wild Wind | Dancing Lady | uncredited |
| Holiday Inn | Woman | uncredited unconfirmed | |
| 1943 | Sweet Rosie O'Grady | Minor role | uncredited |
| 1944 | The Story of Dr. Wassell | Dutch nurse | uncredited |
| Fun Time | Tillie | uncredited | |
| Hail the Conquering Hero | Wife of Marine Colonel | uncredited | |
| 1945 | Having Wonderful Crime | Guest | uncredited |
Notes
edit- ^ equivalent to $1.15 million in 2023
References
edit- ^ a b c "Mildred Harris, in Silent Movies". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 21, 1944. p. 19. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ a b "Mildred Harris Dies In West". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. July 21, 1944. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
... actress in the silent film days, and first wife of Comedian Charles Spencer Chaplin, died yesterday of pneumonia which followed a major abdominal operation....
- ^ a b "Mildred Harris, 1901–1944". Hollywood Forever. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). Silent Film Necrology. McFarland. p. 221. ISBN 9780786410590. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ "Mildred Harris, First Wife of Chaplin, Succumbs". Los Angeles Examiner. July 21, 1944. p. 3.
- ^ Robinson, David (1986) [1985]. Chaplin: His Life and Art. London: Paladin. ISBN 0-586-08544-0.
- ^ the baby was buried in the Inglewood Park Cemetery under a headstone with the inscription "The Little Mouse", Beneath Los Angeles – Norman Spencer Chaplin
- ^ Charlie Chaplin's Wives at www.ednapurviance.org
- ^ McLellan, Diana. 2000. The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood London: Robson Books. 1-86105-381-9. p. 28.
- ^ Charles J. Maland, 1991, Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image, Princeton University Press, pp. 43-44.
- ^ Mason City Globe Gazette, March 19, 1934, p. 18, Mason City Globe Gazette online on Newspaperarchive.com
- ^ "Mildred Harris". Hollywood Walk of Fame. October 25, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ "Chaplin (1992)". Milla Jovovich - Official Website. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:Cupid by Proxy
External links
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- Mildred Harris at IMDb
- Mildred Harris at AllMovie
- Silent Era People
- Mildred Harris at Virtual history