Mabel Normand

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Mabel Normand, 1918

Mabel Normand (born November 9, 1892 in Staten Island , New York , † February 23, 1930 in Monrovia , California ) was an American silent film actress and director . Even before her future film partners Fatty Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin , she was an established comedy star and the first woman in the genre in the early 1910s.

Her career is closely tied to the film producer and founder of Keystone Studios Mack Sennett , to whom she was also engaged. At a young age she became sickly, her life was unsteady. Like several other stars of the early Hollywood era, Mabel Normand cemented the reputation for immorality that clung to the film industry. Mabel Normand lived excessively, drank, smoked and took drugs; she made lovers and was involved in scandals. She was only 37 when she died.

youth

Mabel Ethelreid Normand, so the full name, was the youngest of three siblings. Her parents were the French pianist Claude Normand and his Irish wife Mary Drury. The family moved frequently. Mabel Normand began to model for artists at the age of 14, including the cartoonist Charles Dana Gibson - the "inventor" of the Gibson Girls, popular ideal images of young beauties - and James Montgomery Flagg . In 1909 she first appeared in a film produced by the Kalem Film Studios. Shortly thereafter, she found a permanent position at Biograph Studios and worked with David Wark Griffith . It was there that she met the actor and film director Mack Sennett and began an affair with him.

Start of a career

She made her first film appearances for the film company Vitagraph , where she was able to fully exploit her comedic talent as "Vitagraph Betty". 1911 a. a. the film The Troublesome Secretaries with John Bunny . In the same year she moved to David Wark Griffiths biographer, for whom she also held dramatic roles, but again succeeded above all as a comedy star. Under the direction of Mack Sennett she shot there a. a. Oh, Those Eyes , Tomboy Bessie, and A Dash Through the Clouds (all 1912).

In 1912, Mack Sennett founded Keystone Studios . Co-founders were Mabel Normand, Fred Mace and Ford Sterling . You were also the cast of the first Keystone comedies. In the studios in Edendale , near Los Angeles , new actor faces soon appeared, especially Fatty Arbuckle (1913) and Charlie Chaplin (1914). Together with Normand, the two soon formed the permanent cast in the Keystone slapstick films, some of which Normand also wrote and directed the script for . With Chaplin and Marie Dressler she made the feature film Tillie's Troubled Romance in 1914 . After Chaplin's departure, she was systematically built into a duo with Fatty Arbuckle in films such as Fatty and Mabel's Simple Life (1915) and Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916), although she had previously worked as a team with the comedian.

Sennett made millions in his films, but the actors saw little of the revenue. They left Keystone, and the relationship between Normand and Sennett also ended. Although they had been engaged for some time, the two were more occupied with setting up the studio and filming than with wedding preparations. Sennett helped Mabel Normand to set up his own studio, but the only film that Mabel Normand Productions made was Mickey . During the shooting, Normand first developed severe bronchitis. In addition, there were disputes over the film exploitation rights with the sponsor Sennett. Mickey did not come to the cinemas at first, but Mabel Normand had matured into an independent star at Keystone and from 1917 she went her own way.

Mabel Normand, Mickey

Career high point

Mabel Normand's next stop was Samuel Goldwyn's studios in Culver City . The contract was signed in 1918. The first film role Normand got at Goldwyn was Joan of Plattsburg that same year . However, problems quickly developed between Normand and Goldwyn: The famous film producer is said to have fallen for the diva, but she was not interested in him. Instead, she became unreliable, went through nights at parties, got into the studio late, and was often sick. Her antics and the consequences of her alcohol consumption became dear to Goldwyn. Although Mickey and Joan of Plattsburg were now successful in theaters, he agreed when Mack Sennett showed interest in Normand again and the five-year contract was canceled 18 months before it expired. Normand returned to Keystone Studios in Edendale.

Sennett had planned a new film project, Molly O ' , for which he had originally intended Mary Pickford , but she did not accept the offer. So he put Mabel Normand as the star of the film, directed by F. Richard Jones (Dick Jones). Filming was slow, Normand was playing a role she was too old to play, and she was often sick. But Sennett provided a film crew that responded to Mabel Normand's capricious whims and their acting was exceptional. The critics and the audience were enthusiastic, the film was a great commercial success for Sennett and a successful comeback for Mabel Normand. But success was meanwhile on feet of clay: Excessive alcohol consumption and drug abuse increasingly ruined their appearance and health.

In 1921, the Arbuckle scandal rocked the country. The climate became more conservative, moralists all over the USA blew up a storm against the “Hollywood Sin Babylon”. Mabel Normand was also criticized because of her lifestyle.

In 1922 filming began on the next film project, Suzanna . Jones was directing again, and most of the rest of the Molly O ' crew was available again. Normand was again playing a role she was actually too old for. At the same time, however, her health stabilized somewhat. She began to be interested in literature, read books and attended the theater.

The Taylor murder

Her frequent companion during this time was Paramount director William Desmond Taylor , who shared her interests. A close friendship developed, and Taylor helped Normand get off drugs. The violent death of Taylor on February 1, 1922 shook Hollywood: Mabel Normand visited her friend Taylor to get a book that he had got for her. The director then accompanied her to the car and returned to his house. There he was shot from behind barely 15 minutes later at his desk, where he was busy with his tax return. Mabel Normand was the last to see him alive and was therefore questioned extensively by the police. The press pounced on her too: her closeness to Arbuckle was discussed again, and her drug addiction also came to light.

Taylor's killer was never caught. For a short time, the young, also very well-known Paramount actress Mary Miles Minter was suspected, whose career came to an end, but there were no charges. Mabel Normand fell into crisis and filming of Suzanna had to be suspended.

Although the film eventually ended, the public outrage over Mabel Normand did not calm down. Her friend Fatty Arbuckle was facing his third trial. With Arbuckle's films banned, Normand as his frequent film partner was also affected. The negative publicity continued and also damaged Normand's reputation. In the summer of 1922 she fled on a trip to Europe. She traveled to England again for Christmas and did not return to the USA until February 1923.

She supposedly appeared relaxed and rested when Sennett - after unsuccessful casting of several actresses - offered her the lead role in the film The Extra Girl . She fell off her horse and broke her collarbone while filming, but she recovered quickly and production moved on quickly. The film is now considered Normand's most famous alongside Mickey , although it didn't have nearly the same commercial success.

The Dines incident

At a New Year's party in New York in 1924 another scandal broke out in which Mabel Normand was unhappily involved: Normand's chauffeur shot a pistol at Courtland Dines, the host of the party and lover of the actress. Dines was injured but survived. The pistol belonged to Normand, and the chauffeur, Horace Greer, turned out to be an escaped prisoner under an assumed name in the subsequent investigation . During the trial, the chauffeur testified that he wanted to defend his employer's honor. Dines refused to testify. Horace Greer was not convicted by the court, but Mabel Normand was convicted by the public. She got very bad press and temporarily withdrew from the film business for the following years. Her films have been banned in some areas of the United States.

Slow descent

The wife of Norman Church, whom she met in hospital after her collarbone fracture in 1923, publicly accused her of having an affair with her husband. Normand fought back with a defamation lawsuit and a $ half million claim for damages - she lost.

Since there were no film offers, Mabel Normand tried his hand at the theater in 1925 , but her silent film experience was not enough for a convincing stage presence: her voice was too thin and the presentation too mannered. The comedy The Little Mouse , in which she played the lead role, was unsuccessfully canceled after a few performances.

A turning point came briefly in 1926 when she got a contract with Hal Roach Studios . F. Richard Jones, her former Keystone director, gave her another chance. Hal Roach was never convinced of Mabel Normand's abilities, but he made five films with her in five months, including Raggedy Rose . Although she received widespread support from her Hollywood colleagues, especially from her friend Mary Pickford, the film flopped with the audience. Her health also deteriorated rapidly. After more than 250 films, Mabel Normand's career came to an end.

At a party in 1926 she met the actor Lew Cody , known as the "Butterfly Man". The two married hastily on September 17, 1926 in Ventura , California, before a justice of the peace. After the marriage, one press rumor followed another, in any case the two never lived together. In the following years contradicting reports were made: annulment of the marriage, honeymoon, sale of apartments and purchase of a house together, divorce. In fact, the couple just drifted apart. While Cody made the switch from silent to sound film with success, Normand withdrew from the film business completely.

Health collapse and death

In February 1927, Mabel Normand was hospitalized with a serious lung disease. It took her several months to recover somewhat. In November she traveled with Lew Cody to the east coast, where he completed a vaudeville tour. By March 1929, however, her condition continued to deteriorate and the public officially learned of her tuberculosis . She was quarantined in a sanatorium in Monrovia near Los Angeles. Her condition continued to deteriorate, and by January 1930 both lungs were infected. Flowers and letters from her fans arrived at the hospital every day. A blood transfusion did not help either. Mabel Normand died feverishly and completely exhausted on February 23, 1930. She was buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Mabel Normand's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located at 6821, Hollywood Boulevard.

In 1974 Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman wrote the musical "Mack & Mabel", which was about the Normand-Sennett affair.

Questionable life dates

There are different details about the life data of Mabel Normand. For example, the 9th, 10th, 16th and 19th November is named as her birthday in various sources. The year of birth is also not given uniformly: 1892, 1893, 1894 or, as it is said on the gravestone, 1895. The day of death is usually 23rd, but occasionally also 22nd February.

Quote

Say anything you like, but don't say I love to work. That sounds like Mary Pickford, the prissy bitch.

( Say what you want, but don't say I love to work. That sounds like Mary Pickford, the bitchy babe. Normand and Pickford were close friends)

Filmography (selection)

Aftermath

Stevie Nicks wrote a song "Mabel Normand" in 1985, which was released in 2014 on the album 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault .

Web links

Commons : Mabel Normand  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Huffington Post 01/10/2014
personal data
SURNAME Normand, Mabel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American silent film actress
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Staten Island , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH February 23, 1930
Place of death Monrovia , California , United States