Elinor Virginia Martin (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Crowe; December 21, 1903 – April 26, 1957), known professionally as Elinor Fair, was an American motion picture actress.

Early years

Elinor Virginia Crowe was born on December 21, 1903, in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, to Harry Joseph Crowe, a salesman, and Helen Snowden Jones. Her older brother Donald died in 1904 just four months short of his third birthday. During her childhood her family relocated multiple times. Fair attended high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, and developed an interest in

interpretive dance Interpretive dance is a family of modern dance styles that began around 1900 with Isadora Duncan. It used classical concert music but marked a departure from traditional concert dance, as a rebellion against the strict rules of classical ballet ...

Career

When Fair was elected a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1924, she had already been in films for a number of years, and 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 ...

before that. She did some of her best work under contract to

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

, appearing in such productions as ''Yankee Clipper'' and ''Let 'er go Gallagher''. She also played in a handful of talkies, (often reduced to minor roles) before disappearing from the big screen in 1934.

Personal life

On January 13, 1926, Fair eloped and married actor William Boyd In Santa Ana, and they remained married until 1929. Boyd's proposal was unique—while filming a scene for the DeMille film '' The Volga Boatman'' (1926), Boyd's character professes his love for Fair's character. However, what audiences were not aware of (due to ''The Volga Boatman'' being a

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

) was that Boyd was actually proposing for real, and that Fair accepted in character and in real life. They did not have any children together. On December 27, 1932, Fair married aviator Thomas W. Daniels in

Yuma, Arizona Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 95,548 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 census population of 93,064. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, Metropolitan ...

. He obtained an annulment on June 20, 1934, although she had already obtained a Mexican decree of divorce. They reconciled and remarried. They divorced, however, in 1935. She next married Jack White in 1941, but this marriage too ended in divorce in 1944.

Death

On April 26, 1957, Fair died of acute

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

and

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

in King County Hospital in Seattle, aged 53. Her body was cremated.

Selected filmography

* '' The Fires of Conscience'' (1916) *lost film * '' The Road Through the Dark'' (1918) * '' The Turn of a Card'' (1918) * '' The End of the Game'' (1919) * '' Married in Haste'' (1919) * '' The Miracle Man'' (1919) *lost film, only two fragments survive * '' The Girl in Number 29'' (1920) *lost film * '' Broadway and Home'' (1920) * '' Kismet'' (1920) *lost film, but the soundtrack survives * '' Through the Back Door'' (1921) * ''

Cold Steel Cold Steel may refer to: * Cold-formed steel (CFS), the common term for products made by rolling or pressing thin gauges of sheet steel into goods * Cold Steel (company), marketer of knives, swords and other edged weapons and tools Media Fil ...

'' (1921) * ''The Policeman and the Baby'' (1921) with

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' (1 ...

* '' Big Stakes'' (1922) * '' Dangerous Pastime'' (1922) * '' Driven'' (1923) *lost film * '' Has the World Gone Mad!'' (1923) *lost film * '' The Eagle's Feather'' (1923) * '' One Million in Jewels'' (1923) *'' The Mysterious Witness'' (1923) * '' The Law Forbids'' (1924) * '' The Timber Wolf'' (1925) * '' Gold and the Girl'' (1925) * '' Bachelor Brides'' (1926) * '' The Volga Boatman'' (1926) * '' Jim, the Conqueror'' (1926) * '' The Yankee Clipper'' (1927) * '' My Friend from India'' (1927) * '' Sin Town'' (1929) * '' The Night Rider'' (1932) * '' 45 Calibre Echo'' (1932)

References

External links

* *
website
about Elinor Fair {{DEFAULTSORT:Fair, Elinor American film actresses American silent film actresses American child actresses Actresses from Richmond, Virginia 1903 births 1957 deaths American vaudeville performers 20th-century American actresses Western (genre) film actresses