Rita Carewe (born Violette Fox, September 9, 1909 – October 22, 1955) was an American actress.

Family

Violette Fox was born on September 9, 1909, to

Edwin Carewe Edwin Carewe ( Chickasaw Nation, March 3, 1883 – January 22, 1940) was a Native American motion picture director, actor, producer, and screenwriter. Early life and education Jay John Fox was born on March 3, 1883, in Gainesville, Texas. H ...

(born Jay Fox) and Mary Jane Croft. She had a sister, Mary Jane. Fox's father, Edwin, was a film director/producer for

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

. In 1914, he came to

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) * Hollywood ...

as a director for

Lubin Studios The Lubin Manufacturing Company was an American motion picture production company that produced silent films from 1896 to 1916. Lubin films were distributed with a Liberty Bell trademark. * * History The Lubin Manufacturing Company was forme ...

. Later he worked for Rolf-Metro,

Selig Polyscope Company The Selig Polyscope Company was an American motion picture company that was founded in 1896 by William Selig in Chicago, Illinois. The company produced hundreds of early, widely distributed commercial moving pictures, including the first films ...

, and

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 ...

. He was married three times, twice to the actress Mary Akin.

Film career

Edwin signed Rita to a five-year contract with First National Pictures, in reward for her work in ''

Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from . Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, Jean, and Jeanne. The earliest recorded occurrence of th ...

'' (1925), which he directed. Her first assignment under her new contract was in '' High Steppers'' (1926). The movie featured

Dolores del Río María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...

Mary Astor Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in '' The Maltese ...

, and Lloyd Hughes. Carewe was selected as one of 13 actresses selected as one of the

WAMPAS Baby Stars The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored 13 (15 in 1932) young actresses each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. ...

in 1927. The 100 members of WAMPAS chose her, along with

Natalie Kingston Natalie Kingston (born Natalia Ringstrom; May 19, 1905 – February 2, 1991) was an American actress. Background Kingston was born as Natalia Ringstrom in Vallejo, California. She had Spanish, Hungarian and Swedish ancestry and was a desc ...

Sally Phipps Sally Phipps (born Byrnece Beutler; May 25, 1911 – March 17, 1978) was an American actress. Early life and career The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Edward Bogdon, Sally Phipps was born Nellie Bernice Bogdon in Oakland, California on May 2 ...

, Adamae Vaughn, Iris Stuart, and eight more as the actresses as most likely to succeed in the film world. A committee of 25 important people in the industry promoted Carewe for the role of Lorelei Lee in '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1928). The part was eventually won by Ruth Taylor. Carewe played the girl of the streets in ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

'' (1927). This was followed by a more important role, as ''Tina'', in ''

Revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

'' (1928). The film was based on a story written by

gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

author,

Konrad Bercovici Konrad Bercovici (June 22, 1882 Together, they emigrated to North America. After some time in Montréal, Canada, the family settled on the Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City. To make ends meet Bercovici worked in sweatshops, gave piano les ...

. Her first motion picture in the sound medium was ''Prince Gabby'' (1929). She acted opposite

Edward Everett Horton Edward Everett Horton, Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor and comedian. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons. Early life Horton was born March 18 ...

in a screen adaptation of an

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was ...

novel. Her final film appearance was in ''Radio Kisses'' (1930).

Marriage

Carewe eloped to

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 ...

, with actor

LeRoy Mason LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota, on July 2, 1903. Career 1920s Mason's fi ...

in July 1928. Mason had been discovered by Carewe's father at a sandwich counter. Carewe and Mason separated in December 1934, and she filed for divorce in November 1935. Rita Carewe died at age 45 in

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

. She is interred in

Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery is a cemetery, located at 1831 West Washington Boulevard in the West Adams, Los Angeles, West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, southwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. History Located in the West Adams, Los Angeles ...

in Los Angeles.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1925) * '' High Steppers'' (1926) * ''

'' (1927) * '' The Stronger Will'' (1928) * ''

Ramona ''Ramona'' is an 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War and annexation of the territory by the United States, ''Ramona'' explores the life of a mixed-race Scottish– Native ...

'' (1928) * ''

'' (1928) * ''Prince Gabby'' (1929) * ''Radio Kisses'' (1930)

References

* Galveston Daily News, ''Born at Gainesville as Plain Jay Fox, Dies of Heart Attack'', January 23, 1940, Page 7. *

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 ...

, ''Pair Given Long-Term Contracts'', October 28, 1925, Page A15. * Los Angeles Times, ''Carewe Obtains Mary Astor For Heirs Apparent'', December 20, 1925, Page C39. * Los Angeles Times, ''New Baby Stars Stud Film Firmament'', January 7, 1927, Page A1. * Los Angeles Times, ''Rita Carewe In It'', April 12, 1928, Page A10. * Los Angeles Times, ''Delay Again Marks Trial Of Actress'', January 18, 1929, Page A1. * Los Angeles Times, ''Film Romance Upset Told'', November 23, 1935, Page A3. * Los Angeles Times, ''Suspect In Burglaries Arraigned'', March 29, 1929, Page A1. *

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, ''Brains and Blondes'', June 26, 1927, Page X3. * New York Times, ''Film Players Elope'', July 14, 1928, Page 12. * New York Times, ''Leroy Mason'', October 15, 1947, Page 27. * Syracuse Herald, ''Directors Come From Many Fields'', August 12, 1929, Page 7.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carewe, Rita American film actresses American silent film actresses 1909 births 1955 deaths Actresses from New York City Burials at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery 20th-century American actresses