Audrey Munson

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Portrait of Audrey Munson, 1922

Audrey Marie Munson (born June 8, 1891 in Syracuse , New York , † February 20, 1996 in Ogdensburg , New York ) was an American model and actress in the 1910s and 1920s. She has been referred to variously as Miss Manhattan , The Exposition Girl, or American Venus .

Life

Audrey Marie was the daughter of Edgar Munson and his wife Katherine Kittie Mahaney. Her parents divorced in 1896, and her mother moved with her to New York City .

In Daniel Chester French's studio, around 1921

In 1906 Munson was spotted on the street by photographer Ralph Draper. He introduced her to his friend and sculptor Isidore Konti and she became his model. For the next ten years Munson was both muse and model to a multitude of sculptors and painters . Munson moved to Hollywood in 1915 and became the first actress to completely undress on screen. Overall, she starred in four silent films and in all of them. For her last film, Heedless Moths (1921), she was paid $ 27,000 .

In 1919 she moved back to New York City from California and lived with her mother in a boarding house owned by Dr. Walter Wilkins was. He fell in love with the young Audrey Munson and killed his wife Julia in 1921 to be free for her. After finding the body, the police launched a nationwide manhunt for the young actress, she was arrested in Toronto while filming. After a few interrogations it turned out that she did not know anything about the crime. Dr. Walter Wilkins was sentenced to death in the electric chair and previously hanged himself in his cell. Although the police's accusation was unfounded, the press launched a character assassination campaign against Munson and her career was over. Together with her mother she moved to Mexico (New York) , where she worked for a while as a saleswoman for kitchen utensils.

In 1931, Audrey Munson was diagnosed with a potential mental disorder and paranoia and was placed under custody in a mental health facility. She spent the next 65 years in the psychiatry in Ogdensburg. Audrey Munson died on February 20, 1996 at the age of 104 and was buried in the cemetery in Ogdensburg.

Sculptures and their artists (selection)

Karl Bitter

Alexander Stirling Calder

  • Star Maiden , Oakland Museum (1915)
  • Eastern Hemisphere - Fountain of Energy (1915)

Daniel Chester French

  • Melvin Brothers Memorial (1908)
  • Commerce and Jurisprudence (1910)
  • Spirit of Life (1914)

Evelyn Beatrice Longman

  • Fountain of Ceres (1915)
  • Consecration (1915)

Adolph Alexander Weinman

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

  • The Fountain of El Dorado (1915)
Audrey Munson in the film Heedless Moths , 1921

Filmography

  • 1915 inspiration
  • 1916 Purity
  • 1917 Girl O'Dreams
  • 1921 Heedless Moths

Others

literature

  • Diane Rozas and Anita Gottehrer Bourne: American Venus: The Extraordinary Life of Audrey Munson, Model and Muse , Princeton Architectural Press (1999) ISBN 1-890449-04-0

Web links

Commons : Audrey Munson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Munson, Audrey
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Munson, Audrey Marie (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American model and actress
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Syracuse , New York
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 1996
Place of death Ogdensburg , New York