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Martha Mansfield

Martha Mansfield

Acting

Biography

From Wikipedia Martha Mansfield (July 14, 1899 – November 30, 1923) was an American actress in silent films and vaudeville stage plays. She was born Martha Ehrlich in New York City to Maurice and Harriett Gibson Ehrlich. She had a younger sister, Edith, born in 1905. Although many biographies state that Martha was born in Mansfield, Ohio, her birth record and death certificate both have New York City as her place of birth. Her mother, Harriet, was from Mansfield, Ohio, having emigrated there from Ireland in 1885. Martha later adopted the name of the town as her stage name. Her first Hollywood movie was Civilian Clothes (1920) directed by Hugh Ford. She gained prominence as Millicent Carew in the film adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which starred John Barrymore. She then signed with Selznick Pictures where she was cast with Eugene O'Brien in The Perfect Lover (1919). In 1921, Mansfield returned to the stage in a vaudeville tour. She appeared in two independent films the following year: Queen of the Moulin Rouge and Till We Meet Again. She spent the remainder of the year touring the vaudeville circuit. In 1923, Mansfield completed her contract for Selznick and signed with Fox Film Corporation. Her first film for Fox was The Silent Command, starring Edmund Lowe and Béla Lugosi. The final completed features in her short film career were Potash and Permutter and The Leavenworth Case, both from 1923. On November 29, 1923, while working on location in San Antonio, Texas on the film The Warrens of Virginia, Mansfield was severely burned when a tossed match ignited her Civil War costume of hoop skirts and flimsy ruffles. Mansfield was playing the role of Agatha Warren and had just finished her scenes and retired to a car when her clothing burst into flames. Her neck and face were saved when leading man Wilfred Lytell threw his heavy overcoat over her. The chauffeur of Mansfield's car was burned badly on his hands while trying to remove the burning clothing from the actress. The fire was put out, but she sustained substantial burns to her body. She was rushed to a hospital where she died less than twenty-four hours later of "burns of all extremities, general toxemia and suppression of urine". Mansfield was 24 years old. Accompanied by actor Phillip Shorey, Mansfield's body was transported back to her home in New York City. She was interred at the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

Known For

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James Montgomery Flagg first draws his sketch of the girl, and then tearing it from its frame reveals the real girl lounging in bed with the pouting expression which is her wont. Then we are treated to an exposé of her various moods and selfish acts. For instance, she allows mother to bring breakfast to her in bed, and doesn't even greet her with a smile nor trouble to thank her. And it is nothing for father and mother to sit up until daylight to open the door for her as she returns from a dance. Finally she demands an automobile so that she will not have to bother with taxis, and in order to grant her wish, some of the household furniture has to be sold. In a tantrum she takes her car and goes to her lover, and the closing scene shows her in a home of her own, making life miserable for a husband.

The Spoiled Girl

1918Movie
Women Men Love

Prosperous architect David Hunter, lives with his wife Evelyn, who loves gambling and admiration, as well as his small daughter Dora, and his sister-in-law Ruth. When Evelyn tells her husband she owes $10,000 in bridge losses, she promises not to gamble or see her lover, Stephen Dabney, again if he will pay the debt. Stephen's friend, Moira Lamson, however, entices her to the country club for one last game. David and Ruth, worried by her prolonged absence, go to the club where they find her in Stephen's arms. Evelyn accuses her sister of spying on her and demands a divorce from her husband. Ruth, weary of her sister's frailties, moves out of the household and takes up nursing. Evelyn's health suffers from the strain, and now with David and Ruth gone, she is ill and alone. David and Ruth take pity on her and return. A smarter Evelyn is reunited with David.

Women Men Love

1921Movie
The Hand Invisible
8.0

Steel magnate Rodney Graham divorces his wife, Alice, after she suffers an injury that renders her unable to give him an heir. He pursues debutante Katherine Dale, whose fiancé, Dick Allen, died on the eve of their wedding. With the help of Katherine's ambitious mother, Rodney persuades her to marry him. Katherine dies after giving birth to Rodney, Jr., and the elder Graham's stepbrother, Arthur Haynes, angrily predicts the magnate's sad demise. Rodney devotes himself to raising his son, who later falls in love with Arthur's' daughter, Ruth. Although he objects to the match, Rodney is persuaded by Alice to allow it. Upon discovering that his son was actually Dick Allen's child, Rodney plans to disinherit the boy, but is paralyzed by a stroke before he can change his will. He attends the wedding in a wheelchair and dies soon after.

The Hand Invisible

1919Movie
Mothers of Men
6.0

Young Austrian girl Marie Helmar, is left penniless by the death of her father and disgraced by Prussian officer Captain Von Pfaffen, she flees to the safety of her French cousins, the De La Mottes. There she falls in love with their eldest son Gerome. On the night before their wedding, Marie sends a letter to Gerome confessing her indiscretion with the Prussian, but the letter is returned unopened. Soon after, she recognizes a new household servant to be Von Pfaffen, who demands that Marie disclose war secrets in return for his silence about her past. Torn, she passes on false information, which disgraces the Prussian. In revenge, he attempts to kill Marie, but she shoots him in self-defense. Shaken by remorse, Marie presents Gerome with her confession, which, he then reveals, he had read the night of their wedding. Their life thus unclouded, Marie announces she is expecting Gerome's child.

Mothers of Men

1920Movie