Betty Compson
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Betty Compson (born Eleanor Luicime Compson; March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974) was an American actress and film producer who got her start during Hollywood's silent era. She is best known for her performances in '' The Docks of New York'' and ''
The Barker ''The Barker'' is a 1928 American part-talkie pre-Code romantic drama film produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., acquired in September 1928. The film was directed by George Fitzmaurice and stars Mil ...
'', the latter of which earned her an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nomination for Best Actress.


Early life

Compson was born on March 19, 1897, the daughter of Virgil and Mary ( Rauscher) Compson, in Beaver, Utah, at a mining camp. Her father was a mining engineer, a gold prospector, and a grocery store proprietor, and her mother was a maid in homes and in a hotel. Compson graduated from Salt Lake High School. Her father died when she was young, and she obtained employment as a violinist at 16 at a theater in Salt Lake City.


Career

Playing in
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
sketches with touring circuits, Compson was noticed by Hollywood producers. While touring, she was discovered by comedic producer
Al Christie Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs. Early life Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, ...
and signed a contract with him. Her first silent film, ''Wanted, a Leading Lady'', was in November 1915. She made 25 films in 1916 alone, although all of them were shorts for Christie with the exception of one feature, ''Almost a Widow''.Muller, Eddie. 2012. San Francisco Silent Film Festival: ''The Docks of New York'' Retrieved April 28, 2018. http://www.silentfilm.org/archive/the-docks-of-new-york She continued this pace of making numerous short films well into the middle of 1918 when after a long apprenticeship with Christie, she started making features exclusively. Compson's star began to rise with the release of the 1919 feature '' The Miracle Man'' (1919) for
George Loane Tucker George Loane Tucker (June 12, 1872 – June 20, 1921) was an Americans, American actor, silent film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer, and Film editor, editor. Career Tucker was born George S. Loane in Chicago to George Loane ...
. Paramount signed Compson to a five-year contract with the help of Tucker. Her popularity allowed her to establish her own production company, which provided her creative control over screenplays and financing. Her first movie as producer was '' Prisoners of Love'' (1921). She played the role of Blanche Davis, a girl born to wealth and cursed by her inheritance of physical beauty. Compson selected Art Rosson to direct the feature. The story was chosen from a work by actress and writer Catherine Henry. After completing '' The Woman With Four Faces'' (1923), Paramount refused to offer her a raise (her salary was $2,500 per week), and she refused to sign without one. Instead, she signed with a motion picture company in London. There she starred in a series of four films directed by
Graham Cutts John Henry Graham Cutts (1884 – 7 February 1958), known as Graham Cutts, was a British film director, one of the leading British directors in the 1920s. His fellow director A. V. Bramble believed that Gainsborough Pictures had been built ...
, a well-known English filmmaker. The first of these was a movie version of an English play called '' Woman to Woman'' (1923), the screenplay for which was co-written by Cutts and
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
. Part of '' The White Shadow'' (in which she played a dual role), another Cutts/Hitchcock collaboration. ''Woman to Woman'' proved to be popular enough for
Jesse Lasky Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 – January 13, 1958) was an American pioneer Film producer, motion picture producer who was a key founder of what was to become Paramount Pictures, and father of screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky Jr. Early life ...
to offer top dollar to return to Paramount. Back in Hollywood, she starred in '' The Enemy Sex'', directed by
James Cruze James Cruze (born Jens Cruz Bosen;Sadoul, Georges (1972). Dictionary of Films'. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 53. . See also: * Parish, James Robert; Pitts, Michael R. (1974). Film Directors: A Guide to Their American Fi ...
, as well as the sound film '' The Great Gabbo'' in 1929, with Eric von Stroheim--his first sound picture. Compson and Cruze were married in 1925; they divorced in 1929. Her contract with Paramount was not renewed, and she decided to freelance, working with lower-budget studios such as Columbia in '' The Belle of Broadway'' and Chadwick in '' The Ladybird''. During this time, she was suggested as a replacement for difficult Greta Garbo in the MGM feature '' Flesh and the Devil'' opposite John Gilbert. She eventually worked for the studio with former ''The Miracle Man'' co-star Lon Chaney in '' The Big City''. In 1928, she appeared in a
First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...
part-talkie, ''
The Barker ''The Barker'' is a 1928 American part-talkie pre-Code romantic drama film produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., acquired in September 1928. The film was directed by George Fitzmaurice and stars Mil ...
''. Her performance as manipulative carnival girl Carrie garnered her a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...
, although she lost to
Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...
in '' Coquette''. In ''Court-Martial'', a 1928 silent film, she became the first actress to portray Old West outlaw Belle Starr on film. In the same year, she appeared in the acclaimed
Josef von Sternberg Josef von Sternberg (; born Jonas Sternberg; May 29, 1894 – December 22, 1969) was an American filmmaker whose career successfully spanned the transition from the Silent film, silent to the Sound film, sound era, during which he worked with mos ...
film '' The Docks of New York'' in a sympathetic portrayal of a suicidal prostitute. These films caused Compson's popularity to re-emerge, and she became a busy actress in the new talking cinema. In fact, Chaney offered her the female lead in his first talkie '' The Unholy Three'', but she was too busy and instead suggested friend Lila Lee. Unlike a number of other female stars of silent film, it was felt that her voice recorded exceptionally well. Although she was not a singer, she appeared in a number of early musicals in which her singing voice was dubbed.


Later career

Now divorced from Cruze, Compson's career continued to flourish, starring in nine films in 1930 alone. However, her last hit proved to be in '' The Spoilers'', alongside
Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...
. At a time when silent-era stars with faltering careers chose to retire from the screen rather than face defeat, Betty Compson kept working. She was content to play character parts in major-studio films, as well as leads in lower-budgeted, independent productions. One major film that might have scored a decisive comeback was ''
Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...
'' (1939); she shot a
Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...
screen test for the role of Belle Watling, but lost the role to Ona Munson. Compson played a small role in an
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
film, '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith''. That same year Compson took the lead in her least prestigious credit, '' Escort Girl'', a very-low-budget
exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...
about sordid partners (Compson and fellow silent-screen veteran
Wheeler Oakman Wheeler Oakman (born Vivian Eichelberger; February 21, 1890 – March 19, 1949) was an American film actor. Early years Oakman was born as Vivian Eichelberger in Washington, D.C., and educated in that city's schools—specifically Henry School ...
) operating a shady escort agency. She played the role in grand, soap-opera-queen manner, and may have accepted the role for some fast cash, reasoning that mainstream audiences would never see the picture. Only one trade paper deigned to review it: ''The Exhibitor'' rated it a "sexer for houses which can play this type of show. This one is plenty lurid. However, all the cast work hard and earnestly in their roles." As it happened, ''Escort Girl'' actually helped both Compson and Oakman by letting the film community know they were still active, and extending their careers into the late 1940s. She became a familiar face at
Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...
, where she worked with
Bela Lugosi Blaskó Béla Ferenc Dezső (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi ( ; ), was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (19 ...
, Jean Parker, Grace Hayes, and
The Bowery Boys The Bowery Boys are fictional New York City characters, portrayed by a company of New York actors, who were the subject of 48 feature films released by Monogram Pictures and its successor Allied Artists Pictures Corporation from 1946 through 1 ...
. Compson's last film was the 1948
Hal Roach Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...
comedy '' Here Comes Trouble'', filmed in
Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel an ...
. After retiring from the screen, she began a cosmetic line and helped her husband run a business called Ashtrays Unlimited.


Personal life

After her marriage with Cruze ended, Compson married two more times. Her marriage to agent/producer Irving Weinberg ended in divorce, and her marriage to Silvius Gall ended with Gall's death in 1962. She had no children.


Death

Compson died April 18, 1974, of a heart attack at her home in Glendale, California, aged 77. She was interred in
San Fernando Mission Cemetery The San Fernando Mission Cemetery, a significant part of the Mission Hills community in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, is steeped in history. It stands adjacent to the iconic San Fernando Mission, also known as Mission San Fernando Rey d ...
in San Fernando, California. For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Compson has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
at 1751 Vine Street.Hollywood Walk of Fame
Retrieved January 19, 2017


Filmography

For main film selections see '' Betty Compson filmography''.


See also

* List of actors with Academy Award nominations


References


Sources

*
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
, ''Betty Compson Has Film Unit'', February 15, 1920, Page III1. * Los Angeles Times, ''Betty Compson Star'', January 2, 1921, Page III20. * Los Angeles Times, ''Flashes; Star To Travel Betty Compson Signs For London Films'', April 5, 1923, Page II7. * Los Angeles Times, ''Ex-Film Star Betty Compson'', April 23, 1974, Page A4. *
Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...
Standard-Examiner, ''Closeup and Comedy'', Monday Evening, May 25, 1934, Page 7.


External links

*
Photographs of Betty Compson

1923 passport photo
flickr.com)
Compson
as she appeared in 1947's ''Hard Boiled Mahoney'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Compson, Betty Actresses from Utah American silent film actresses American film actresses People from Beaver, Utah 1897 births 1974 deaths Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery 20th-century American actresses