Jean Acker (actress)

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Jean Acker, photographed by James Abbe in the 1920s

Jean Acker (born October 23, 1893 in Trenton , New Jersey as Harriett Acker , † August 16, 1978 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actress of the silent and early talkies era.

Life

Ackers father was a Cherokee - Indians , their mother was from Ireland . She grew up on a farm and attended St. Mary's Seminary School in Springfield . In 1910 she left home and joined a vaudeville troupe. In 1913, Acker made her film debut in In a Woman's Power , directed by Herbert Brenon .

In 1918 she moved to California, where she became the protégée and lover of the actress and film producer Alla Nazimova ; Through their contacts, she became one of the highest paid actresses of the time with $ 200 a week. Through Nazimova, Acker also became a member of the Sewing Circle , a circle of hidden lesbian or bisexual actresses. Acker also led a relationship with the Canadian actress Grace Darmond (1893-1963).

In 1919 she met the actor Rudolph Valentino , whom she married on November 6 of the same year in Beverly Hills . The marriage actually lasted only six hours, however, because Acker threw Valentino out of the shared hotel room. Years later, Acker stated that she did so after Valentino confessed that he had gonorrhea . The following divorce dragged on for two years; since Valentino was getting married for the second time, he had to answer for bigamy . In addition to the divorce, Acker also litigated Valentino about the right to continue “Mrs. Rudolph Valentino “, only shortly before his death the two reconciled. After Valentino's death, Acker wrote the then popular love song We Will Meet at the End of the Trail for him .

In 1923 Acker met the former Ziegfeld Follies revue dancer Chloe Carter († 1973), with whom she lived until her death. Acker died on August 16, 1978 at the age of 85 at her Los Angeles home; she was buried next to her partner in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City .

Filmography

  • 1913: The Man Outside
  • 1913: In a Woman's Power
  • 1913: Bob's baby
  • 1913: The Daredevil Mountaineer
  • 1914: The $ 5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot
  • 1915: Are You a Mason?
  • 1919: Never Say Quit
  • 1920: The Round-Up
  • 1921: Brewster's Millions
  • 1922: Her Own Money
  • 1923: The Woman in Chains
  • 1925: Braveheart
  • 1927: The Nest
  • 1933: No Marriage Ties
  • 1934: Where is Madeleine F.'s child? (Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen)
  • 1935: No More Ladies
  • 1936: San Francisco
  • 1937: For you, Madame ... ( Vogues of 1938 )
  • 1939: Good Girls Go to Paris
  • 1940: My Favorite Wife ( My Favorite Wife )
  • 1942: Obliging Young Lady
  • 1944: The Thin Man Goes Home ( The Thin Man Goes Home )
  • 1945: I fight for you ( Spellbound )
  • 1946: isn't life beautiful? ( It's a Wonderful Life )
  • 1947: Pauline, stop kissing (The Perils of Pauline)
  • 1948: Isn't It Romantic?
  • 1951: The Mating Season
  • 1952: Something to Live For
  • 1955: How to Be Very, Very Popular

literature

  • Emily W. Unfortunately: Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino . New York City, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003, ISBN 0-3742-8239-0 .

Web links

Commons : Jean Acker  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Acker, Jean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Acker, Harriet; Valentino, Harriet; Valentino, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actress of the silent and early talkies era
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Trenton , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH August 16, 1978
Place of death Los Angeles , California