Carol Dempster (December 9, 1901 – February 1, 1991) was an American film actress of the
silent film
A silent film is a film with no 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, when ...
era.
She appeared in films from 1916 to 1926, working with
D. W. Griffith
David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...
extensively.
Early years
Born in
Duluth, Minnesota
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
, Dempster was the daughter of a captain on the Great Lakes and the youngest of four children. The family moved to California when her father decided to change careers. While dancing in a school program, Dempster was noticed by
Ruth St. Denis
Ruth St. Denis (born Ruth Denis; January 20, 1879 – July 21, 1968) was an American pioneer of modern dance, introducing eastern ideas into the art. She was the co-founder of the American Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts and the teac ...
and went on to become the youngest graduate in the first class of St. Denis's school of dance.
Career
Dempster got her start in films as a protégé of legendary film director
D. W. Griffith
David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...
alongside other Griffith actresses of the mid-1910s,
Lillian and
Dorothy Gish and
Mae Marsh. Griffith gave Dempster her first role at age 15 in his 1916 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 o ...
'' playing one of the Babylonian harem girls alongside another teenaged newcomer,
Mildred Harris. Dempster eventually became one of Griffith's "favorites"; he cast her in nearly every one of his films throughout the 1920s, allegedly to the irritation of Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish. Dempster became romantically involved with the much older Griffith during the early 1920s while Griffith was estranged from his wife,
Linda Arvidson
Linda Arvidson (born Linda Arvidson Johnson, July 12, 1884 – July 26, 1949; sometimes credited as Linda Griffith) was an American stage and film actress who became one of America's early motion picture stars while working at Biograph Studios i ...
.
Dempster's first feature role came in 1919 in the Griffith directed ''The Girl Who Stayed at Home'' opposite
Robert "Bobby" Harron. Dempster followed this with Griffith's ''
The Love Flower'' (1920), ''
Dream Street'' (1921), ''
One Exciting Night'' (1922) and ''
Isn't Life Wonderful
''Isn't Life Wonderful'' is a 1924 American silent romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith for his company D. W. Griffith Productions, and distributed by United Artists. It was based on the short story "Isn’t Life Wonderful?" in the ...
'' (1924), ''
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
'' (1924), ''
Sally of the Sawdust
''Sally of the Sawdust'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring W. C. Fields. It was based on the 1923 stage musical ''Poppy''. Fields would later star in a second film version, ''Poppy'' (1936).
Plot
Be ...
'' (1925), and ''
That Royle Girl
''That Royle Girl'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith and released by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Edwin Balmer, and starred Carol Dempster, W. C. Fields and Harri ...
'' (1925). Dempster appeared opposite such notable actors as
John Barrymore
John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...
,
Richard Barthelmess,
William Powell,
Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century.
He was born into a musical ...
, and
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...
.
In 1926 Dempster acted in her final film, a Griffith vehicle entitled ''
The Sorrows of Satan
''The Sorrows of Satan'' is an 1895 Faustian novel by Marie Corelli. It is widely regarded as one of the world's first best-sellers – partly due to an upheaval in the system British libraries used to purchase their books, and partly due to its ...
'' (1926), co-starring
Adolphe Menjou,
Ricardo Cortez
Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career.
Early years
Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob K ...
, and the Hungarian vamp
Lya De Putti. Dempster then retired from the screen to marry wealthy banker Edwin S. Larson in 1926.
[
Dempster's critical stock was never very high, in part because she was unable to live up to the performances of Lillian Gish, whom she replaced as Griffith's leading lady. Her somewhat "ordinary" appearance and animated acting style were frequently criticized. Also, with a few exceptions, the films she appeared in were not among Griffith's more popular works. In recent years, however, viewers and critics alike have slowly begun to appreciate her performances, particularly in two later films, ''Isn't Life Wonderful'' and ''The Sorrows of Satan.''
]
Death
Dempster died in La Jolla, California
La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781.
La Jolla is surrounded on ...
, in 1991 at the age of 89 from heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
and was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
. Upon her death, Dempster left $1.6 million to the San Diego Museum of Art, which was used to expand the museum's collections of prints and drawings.
Filmography
All features were directed by D. W. Griffith
David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...
except ''Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
'', which was directed by Albert Parker. ''The Hope Chest'', a product of the New Art Film Company from 1918, was produced by Griffith but directed by Elmer Clifton.
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
*Koszarski, Richard. 2008. ''Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff.'' Rutgers University Press.
External links
*
*
Carol Dempster at Golden Silents
Carol Dempster
at Virtual History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempster, Carol
1901 births
1991 deaths
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
Actresses from Duluth, Minnesota
20th-century American actresses
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)