Cecile Arnold (born Cecile Laval Arnoux; July 9, 1893 – June 18, 1931) was an American

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, 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) ...

actress and

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

girl.

Early life

Cecile Laval Arnoux was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 9, 1893, although some sources indicate 1891, 1897, and 1898. She had one sibling, a brother, Given Campbell Arnoux (1895–1966). Her father, Anthony Arnoux (1865–1932), was born in New York City and was a newspaper reporter. Her parents divorced, and Arnold's mother, Susan Campbell (1872–1930), remarried to Albert D. Evans in St. Louis, Missouri in 1902. After having 3 more children there, the family moved to Texas.

Career

Arnold, who was known for playing vamps, was a

girl before moving to

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'. Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...

's Keystone Studios in 1913. She appeared in at least fifty films with notable figures such as Charlie Chaplin,

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...

, Mack Swain and Chaplin's half brother Syd until 1917. Perhaps her most memorable role is as the vamp in '' The Face on the Bar Room Floor''. Arnold had multiple aliases, one of them being Cecele Arno, which she used when she was in the chorus of the 1916

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

show ''Robinson Crusoe, Jr.''

Personal life

Arnold married her first husband, Chauncy Frank Reynolds, who was an actor at Keystone, in 1917. They divorced in 1919, and, while on a trip to China with her newspaper reporting brother, met David Toeg, a stock broker from a wealthy Syrian family. Toeg and Arnold married, and resided in Hong Kong together. According to Brent Walker's book, ''Mack Sennett's Fun Factory'', she left Hong Kong for San Francisco in 1922 so her child could be born in America. She departed from Hong Kong on June 14, 1924, and her son, Robert Raphael Toeg, who was reportedly the result of an affair with Nicolai Nicolaivich Merkuloff (1905–1972), a Russian merchant, was born on March 15, 1925, in San Francisco. Curiously, some sources list Arnold's mother as the mother of Robert. Toeg and Arnold divorced sometime before June 18, 1931, according to Arnold's death certificate.

Death

Cecile died on June 18, 1931, of acute infective myocarditis. She is buried at Happy Valley Roman Catholic Cemetery in Hong Kong.

Selected filmography

* '' The Property Man'' (1914) * '' The Face on the Bar Room Floor'' (1914) * '' His New Profession'' (1914) * '' The Rounders'' (1914) * ''He Loved the Ladies'' (1914) * ''Stout Hearts But Weak Knees'' (1914) * '' The Masquerader'' (1914) * '' Those Love Pangs'' (1914) * ''

Dough and Dynamite ''Dough and Dynamite'' is a 1914 American comedy silent film made by Keystone Studios starring Charlie Chaplin. Plot The story involves Chaplin and Chester Conklin working as waiters at a restaurant. Charlie is especially inept and his comic ...

'' (1914) * '' Gentlemen of Nerve'' (1914) * ''Cursed by His Beauty'' (1914) * '' His Musical Career'' (1914) * ''His Talented Wife'' (1914) * '' Fatty's Wine Party'' (1914) * ''His Taking Ways'' (1914) * '' Leading Lizzie Astray'' (1914) * '' His Prehistoric Past'' (1914)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Cecile American silent film actresses Ziegfeld girls 1893 births 1931 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Louisville, Kentucky