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
''The Docks of New York'' is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring George Bancroft, Betty Compson, and Olga Baclanova. The movie was adapted by Jules Furthman from the John Monk Saunders story ''The Dock ...
'' and ''
The Barker
''The Barker'' is a 1928 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 Milton Sills, ...
'', the latter of which earned her an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nomination for
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
.
Early life
Compson was born on March 19, 1897, the daughter of Virgil and Mary ( Rauscher) Compson,
in
Beaver, Utah
Beaver is a city in, and county seat of, Beaver County in southwestern Utah, United States. The population was 3,112 at the 2010 census.
History
Indigenous peoples lived in this area for thousands of years, as shown by archeological evidence ...
, 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 sketches with touring circuits, Compson got noticed by Hollywood producers. While touring, she was discovered by comedic producer
Al Christie 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 28 April 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 American actor, silent film director, screenwriter, producer, and editor.
Career
Tucker was born George S. Loane in Chicago to George Loane and stage actress Ethel Tucker. After ...
. Paramount signed Compson to a five-year contract with the help of Tucker.
![Betty Compson 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Betty_Compson_1.JPG)
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
''The Woman With Four Faces'' is a lost 1923 American silent crime melodrama film directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Betty Compson. Famous Players-Lasky produced while Paramount Pictures released. The story is based on a play (possibly unpro ...
'' (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. 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 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
Born in to ...
to offer top dollar to return to Paramount.
![The Barker (SAYRE 14177)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/The_Barker_%28SAYRE_14177%29.jpg)
Back in Hollywood, she starred in ''
The Enemy Sex
''The Enemy Sex'' is a 1924 American silent drama film starring Betty Compson and directed by her husband James Cruze. It was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. It is taken from the 1914 novel ''The Salamande ...
'', directed by
James Cruze
James Cruze (born James Cruze Bosen; March 27, 1884 – August 3, 1942) was a silent film actor and film director.
Early years
Cruze's middle name came from the battle of Vera Cruz. He was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
, as well as the sound film ''
The Great Gabbo
''The Great Gabbo'' is a 1929 American Pre-Code early sound musical drama film directed by James Cruze, based on Ben Hecht's 1928 short story "The Rival Dummy", and starring Erich von Stroheim and Betty Compson. The film features songs by Lynn Co ...
'' 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
''The Belle of Broadway'' is a 1926 American silent romantic drama film produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by Harry O. Hoyt and starred Betty Compson.
This film is preserved in the Library of Congress collection.''Cat ...
'' and Chadwick in ''
The Ladybird
''The Ladybird'' is a long tale or novella by D. H. Lawrence.
It was first drafted in 1915 as a short story entitled ''The Thimble''. Lawrence rewrote and extended it under a new title in December 1921 and sent the final version to his Engli ...
''. During this time, she was suggested as a replacement for difficult Greta Garbo in the MGM feature ''
Flesh and the Devil
''Flesh and the Devil'' is an American silent romantic drama film released in 1927 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and stars Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lars Hanson, and Barbara Kent, directed by Clarence Brown, and based on the novel ''The Undying ...
'' opposite John Gilbert. She eventually worked for the studio with former ''The Miracle Man'' co-star
Lon Chaney
Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...
in ''
The Big City''.
In 1928, she appeared in a
First National Pictures part-talkie, ''
The Barker
''The Barker'' is a 1928 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 Milton Sills, ...
''. 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 is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...
, although she lost to
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
in ''
Coquette
A coquette is a flirtatious woman. It may refer to:
* ''The Coquette'' (film), a 1917 German silent comedy film
* ''Coquette'' (film), an Academy Award-winning 1929 film starring Mary Pickford
* ''Coqueta '' (1949 film), a Mexican musical film
* ' ...
''. In ''Court-Martial'', a 1928 silent film, she became the first actress to portray Old West outlaw
Belle Starr
Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr (February 5, 1848 – February 3, 1889), better known as Belle Starr, was an American outlaw who gained national notoriety after her violent death.
She associated with the James–Younger Gang and other outlaw ...
on film. In the same year, she appeared in the acclaimed
Josef von Sternberg film ''
The Docks of New York
''The Docks of New York'' is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring George Bancroft, Betty Compson, and Olga Baclanova. The movie was adapted by Jules Furthman from the John Monk Saunders story ''The Dock ...
'' 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 The Unholy Three can refer to the following:
* ''The Unholy Three'', a 1917 novel by Tod Robbins
* ''The Unholy Three'' (1925 film), directed by Tod Browning
* ''The Unholy Three'' (1930 film), a remake of the 1925 film directed by Jack Conway
* ...
'', 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 was 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
![Betty Compson on the cover of the 1922 March Motion Picture Classic magazine--Cover artist, Edward Mason Eggleston](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Betty_Compson_on_the_cover_of_the_1922_March_Motion_Picture_Classic_magazine--Cover_artist%2C_Edward_Mason_Eggleston.jpg)
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, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...
. She was unable to score a success and only secured roles in "
poverty row
Poverty Row is a slang term used to refer to Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small (and mostly short-lived) B movie studios. Although many of them were based on (or near) today's Gower Street in Hollywood, the term did ...
" studios.
One major film in which she did not appear was ''
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Wind may also refer to:
Music
* ''Gone with the Wind'' ...
''; although she shot a
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
screen test for the role of Belle Watling, she was not cast in the role. In 1941, Compson appeared in a small role in an Alfred Hitchcock film, ''
Mr. & Mrs. Smith''. Most of her later films were low-budget efforts. Compson's last film was 1948's ''
Here Comes Trouble''; 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 is a Catholic cemetery located in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. The property adjoins the San Fernando Mission and Bishop Alemany Catholic High School.
ThSan Fernando Mi ...
in San Fernando, California. For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Compson has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1751 Vine Street.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Retrieved 2017-01-19
Filmography
For main film selections see Betty Compson filmography
This page includes Betty Compson's (March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974) known film appearances from 1915–48.
Films from 1915 to 1919 are shorts, mostly for Al Christie, unless otherwise stated. A big breakout came in 1919, with '' The Miracle M ...
.
See also
* List of actors with Academy Award nominations
References
*Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
, ''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 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