Mildred Harris (November 29, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American stage, film, and vaudeville actress
during the early part of the 20th century.
[ She began her career in the film industry as a child actress at age 10. She was also the first wife of ]Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
.
Early life
Harris was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on November 29, 1901. Her parents were telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
operator Harry Harris and Anna Parsons Foote. Harris made her first screen appearance at age 10 in the 1912 Francis Ford- and Thomas H. Ince-directed Western short ''The Post Telegrapher''. She followed the film with various juvenile roles, often appearing opposite child actor Paul Willis. In 1914, she was hired by The Oz Film Manufacturing Company to portray Fluff in '' The Magic Cloak of Oz'' and Button-Bright in '' His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz''. In 1916, at age 15, she appeared as a harem girl in Griffith's film ''Intolerance
Intolerance may refer to:
* Hypersensitivity or intolerance, undesirable reactions produced by the immune system
* ''Intolerance'' (film), a 1916 film by D. W. Griffith
* ''Intolerance'' (album), the first solo album from Grant Hart, formerly ...
''.
Career
In the 1920s, Harris transitioned from child actress to leading roles with Conrad Nagel, Charley Chase, Milton Sills, Lionel Barrymore, Rod La Rocque and the Moore brothers, Owen and Tom. She appeared in Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...
's 1928 silent drama '' The Power of the Press'' with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Jobyna Ralston, and the same year, she starred in Universal Pictures
Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
first sound film '' Melody of Love'' with Walter Pidgeon.
She found the transition to sound films difficult, and her career slowed dramatically. She performed 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 ...
and burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. , and at one point, she toured with comedian Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...
. She was critically praised for her performance in the 1930 film adaptation of the Broadway musical '' No, No Nanette''. In the 1936 Three Stooges comedy '' Movie Maniacs'', she portrayed a film starlet who is startled by Curly Howard when he strikes a match on the sole of her foot.
Harris continued to work in film in the early 1940s, largely through the kindness of Cecil B. DeMille, who cast her in bit parts in 1942's '' Reap the Wild Wind'' (starring Paulette Goddard, who like Harris, was once married to Charlie Chaplin), and 1944's '' The Story of Dr. Wassell''. Her last film appearance was in the posthumously released 1945 film '' Having a Wonderful Crime''.
Personal life
At age 16, Harris met actor Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
in mid-1918, dated, and she thought she was pregnant by him, but the pregnancy was found to be a false alarm. They married privately on October 23, 1918, in Los Angeles. She later became pregnant. The couple quarreled about her contract with Louis B. Mayer and her career. Chaplin felt she was not his intellectual equal. Their child, Norman Spencer, died in July 1919, at age 3 days, and the couple separated in Autumn 1919.
Chaplin moved to the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Harris believed a happy marriage was possible, but in 1920, she filed for divorce based on mental cruelty. Chaplin accused her of infidelity, and although he would not name her lover publicly, actress Alla Nazimova was suspected. The divorce was granted in November 1920, with Harris receiving $100,000 in settlement and some community property.[Charles J. Maland, 1991, ''Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image'', Princeton University Press, pp. 43-44.]
In 1924, Harris married Everett Terrence McGovern. The union lasted until November 26, 1929, when Harris filed for divorce in Los Angeles on the grounds of desertion. The couple had one son, Everett Terrence McGovern, Jr., in 1925. Their son, Everett, died in 2014. In 1934, she married former football player William P. Fleckenstein in Asheville, North Carolina. Fleckenstein owned a musical show in which he and Harris were performing at the time of their marriage.
Death
Harris and Fleckenstein remained married until Harris's death on July 20, 1944, of pneumonia, following a major abdominal operation. She had been ill for three weeks. She is interred in the Abbey of the Psalms Mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematorium, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries ...
in Los Angeles.
Legacy
In 1960, 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 ...
posthumously was dedicated to Harris. It is located at 6307 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Harris was played by actress Milla Jovovich
Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; ; ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich (), is an American actress and former fashion model. Her starring roles in numerous science fiction film, science-fiction and action films led th ...
in the 1992 biographical film ''Chaplin Chaplin may refer to:
People
* Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director
* Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin
Films
* ''Unknown Chaplin'' (1983)
* Chaplin (film), ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992)
* Chaplin (2011 fi ...
''.
Filmography
Notes
References
External links
*
Silent Era People
Mildred Harris
at Virtual history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Mildred
1901 births
1944 deaths
20th-century American actresses
Actresses from Wyoming
American child actresses
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Chaplin family
Deaths from pneumonia in California
Actors from Cheyenne, Wyoming
American vaudeville performers
Child marriage in the United States
Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery