Lenore Ulric (born Lenore Ulrich; July 21, 1892 – December 30, 1970) was a star of the

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

as well as

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

films of the silent-film and early

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...

era. Discovered in 1913 by theater director David Belasco, who would go on to manage her stage career, she was noted for portraying fiery, hot-blooded women of the typical vamp.

Early life, theater, and silent films

Lenore Ulrich was born on July 21, 1892 to Franz Xavier Ulrich, who was a United States Army hospital steward, and Ida Ulrich (née Engenhart). Both of her parents were first generation German-Americans. Franz reportedly named his daughter Lenore due to his fondness for the

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

poem, "

The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myst ...

". She later dropped the "h" from her surname."Lenore Ulric, Broadway Star of Belasco Era, Is Dead at 78", ''New York Times'', December 31, 1970 She had four sisters, Isabel, Francis, Alma, and Florence, and a brother, Roy Richard. She left school after completing 3rd grade.https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/m-t0627-02656-01032?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=9644274 As a young girl, Lenore obtained a job with a stock company in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

. She played with stock companies in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is th ...

and

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. She worked briefly as a film actress for

Essanay Studios The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushma ...

and joined another stock company in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Yo ...

. She found work in ''The First Man'' (1911), ''A Polished Burglar'' (1911), '' Kilmeny'' (1915), and ''The Better Woman'' (1915). She specialized in playing sultry, impassioned women. In 1915, she went to work for Pallas Pictures starring in several silent pictures, such as ''Frozen Justice'' and ''The Intrigue'', that survive today at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

.Lombardi, Frederic. ''Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios'', McFarland (2013) p. 174Soister, John T. ''American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929'', McFarland (2012) p. 296

Broadway

Ulric was discovered by theatrical producer David Belasco who first saw her in ''The Bird of Paradise'' in 1913, after Ulric wrote to him requesting that he see her on stage. Belasco, who would go on "fishing trips" to find new stage talents, recalled that it was often a long time between "bites," but he enjoyed the sport as he sometimes would "hook a big one." After watching her on stage, he asked her to audition at his playhouse. He watched her perform while he sat incognito in one of the theater's seats. "After twenty minutes," he said, "I knew I was watching a very talented and unusual young woman." He then offered her the leading role in ''The Heart of Wetona''.Bordman, Gerald. ''American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama 1914-1930'', Oxford Univ. Press (1995), p. 43 He recalled: "Among the biggest I have ever landed is, I believe, little Miss Ulric: I think she will grow bigger every season she is before the public."Winter, William. ''The Life of David Belasco'', Univ. of Toronto Libraries (1918) Biographer William Winter called her a "born actress," someone who Belasco hoped would fulfill the theater's need for talent. Winter also notes that no one in her family had ever been involved in acting, adding: "She resorted to the dramatic calling not through mere vanity, the impulse of personal exhibition, or the acquisitive hope of profit, but because her natural vocation is acting." Lenore Ulric- 1919

Under Belasco's management during most of her stage career, Ulric played a variety of female roles. Among them was her portrayal of Rose, a French-Canadian orphan, in ''Tiger Rose'' (1917). Winter says that Ulric's personality traits allowed her to play the role realistically as written: She acted in numerous plays at the Belasco Theater, all under the direction of Belasco. She played in ''The Son-Daughter'' (1919), a play about China by Belasco and George Scarborough, which ran for 223 performances. She played a Parisian street urchin in ''Kiki'' (1921), a seductress in ''The Harem'' (1924), and in one of Ulric's biggest hits for Belasco, the 1926 ''Lulu Belle'', where she played a prostitute, a genre that spawned several Broadway hits in the 1920s. In 1928, she starred in ''Mima''. Other stars who played at the Belasco during that period included

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931 ...

and

Katharine Cornell Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York. Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by critic A ...

.Botto, Louis
''At this Theatre: 100 Years of Broadway Shows, Stories and Stars''
Hal Leonard Corp. (2002) After seeing Ulric in some of her plays, British producer Charles Cochrane cabled David Belasco with an "urgent request" that he be granted the privilege of presenting Ulric at one of his London playhouses.''National Magazine: An illustrated American Monthly'', Volume 49, March 1920 to March 1921, Chapple Publishing (1921), p. 361 During that time, however, Belasco had been writing a new version of ''Camille'' for Ulric to star in. According to one critic, "Miss Ulric's youth fits her peculiarly for the part, while her undisputed genius as an emotional actress justifies the prediction that she would be the greatest Camille who has ever been seen upon the stage." In 1947, after doing seven films in Hollywood, she returned to the Belasco Theater as Charmian in ''

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' ( First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in aroun ...

'', which starred

Godfrey Tearle Sir Godfrey Seymour Tearle (12 October 1884 – 9 June 1953) was a British actor who portrayed the quintessential British gentleman on stage and in both British and US films. Biography Born in New York City and brought up in Britain, he was t ...

and

in the title roles. (Future stars

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Origina ...

, Maureen Stapleton, and

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten ...

had small roles in the production.) She told a critic, "I certainly never really left the theater." Belasco had managed her stage career until shortly before his death. In a tribute to Belasco, she said: During the height of her stage career, Ulric was considered one of the American theater's "great stars." She was noted for portraying fiery, hot-blooded women of the typical "

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype o ...

." According to the ''New York Times'', theater-goers would go to her plays just to see ''her'', while the play in which she appeared was secondary. Ulric's "name in white lights blazing on the playhouse marquee was always more compelling" than the play itself.

Hollywood and return to theater

Lenore came to Hollywood in 1929 and appeared in ''

Frozen Justice ''Frozen Justice'' is a 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by Allan Dwan. The picture starred Lenore Ulric in her first sound film and is based on the 1920 novel, ''Norden For Lov og Ret'', by Ejnar Mikkelsen. A shorter, silent versio ...

'' and ''

South Sea Rose ''South Sea Rose'' is a 1929 American comedy-drama film distributed by the Fox Film Corporation and produced and directed by Allan Dwan. This picture was Dwan's second collaboration with star Lenore Ulric, their first being ''Frozen Justice''. ...

''. She signed with

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...

to make several films with an approximate salary of $650,000. ''Frozen Justice'' was directed by

Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, wa ...

. Some of the scenes were filmed in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

. She was successful in a supporting role in '' Camille'', starring

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

. Ulric returned to Broadway in 1940, acting in ''The Fifth Column'' by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

and again in 1947, in a revival of ''

''.

Personal life

Ulric had been married only once, to actor

Sidney Blackmer Sidney Alderman Blackmer (July 13, 1895 – October 6, 1973) was an American Broadway and film actor active between 1914 and 1971, usually in major supporting roles. Biography Blackmer was born and raised in Salisbury, North Carolina, t ...

from 1929 to 1939. She accepted some of the blame for their divorce: She died of heart failure in Rockland State Hospital,

Orangeburg, New York Orangeburg is a hamlet and census-designated place, in the town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Tappan, south of Blauvelt, east of Pearl River and west of Piermont. The population was 4,568 at the ...

on December 30, 1970, aged 78.

Filmography

(''LoC'' = Library of Congress) *'' The First Man'' (1911, Short) - Miriam Chetwood *''A Polished Burglar'' (1911, Short) - Louise *''For Memory's Sake'' (1911, Short) *''There's Many a Slip'' (1912, Short) - The Young Lady *'' Kilmeny'' (1915, Short, Extant, LoC) - Doris Calhoun - aka Kilmeny *''

Capital Punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

'' (1915, Short) - Olive Baxley *''

The Better Woman ''The Better Woman'' is a lost 1915 American silent film drama directed by Joseph A. Golden, and starring Lenore Ulric and Lowell Sherman. Cast * Lenore Ulric – Kate Tripler * Edith Thornton – Aline Webster * Lowell Sherman – Frank Bar ...

'' (1915) - Kate Tripler *''

The Heart of Paula ''The Heart of Paula'' is a 1916 American silent film directed by Julia Crawford Ivers and William Desmond Taylor, starring Lenore Ulric. This film survives at the Library of Congress.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection ...

'' (1916, Extant, LoC) - Paula Figueroa *''

The Intrigue ''The Intrigue'' is a surviving 1916 silent film drama produced by Pallas Pictures and released through Paramount Pictures. Frank Lloyd directed the film which was written by Julia Crawford Ivers and photographed by her son James Van Trees. The ...

'' (1916, Extant, LoC) - Countess Sonia Varnli *'' The Road to Love'' (1916, Extant, LoC) - Hafsa *'' Her Own People'' (1917) - Alona *'' Tiger Rose'' (1923, Extant) - Rose Bocion - Tiger Rose *''

'' (1929, Lost) - Talu *''

'' (1929, Lost) - Rosalie Dumay *'' Camille'' (1936) - Olympe *''

Two Smart People ''Two Smart People'' is a 1946 American drama film directed by Jules Dassin and starring Lucille Ball and John Hodiak, Lloyd Nolan and Hugo Haas. Plot Ace Connors (John Hodiak) is a con man who has half a million dollars in bonds hidden in a co ...

'' (1946) - Maria Ynez - Inn of the 4 Winds *'' Notorious'' (1946) - Horsewoman with Sebastian (uncredited) *''

Temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

'' (1946) - Marie * '' Northwest Outpost'' (1947) - Baroness Kruposny (final film role)

References

External links

* *
Lenore Ulric
NY Public Library, Billy Rose collection
Lenore Ulric
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulric Lenore 1892 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American silent film actresses American people of German descent Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery Actresses from Minnesota People from New Ulm, Minnesota