De Sacia Mooers (November 19, 1888 – January 11, 1960) was a film actress, disputably from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. She appeared in over one hundred movies in the

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) ...

era. She was perhaps best known as the "Blonde Vamp" for her role in ''The Blonde Vampire'' in 1922. Her career ended with talking films.

Early life

Newspaper accounts of the era differ as to her birthplace. At the time, it was common for the various studios to exaggerate or fabricate an actor's biography to make them seem more exotic and interesting to the general public. One report contends that she was a Los Angeles native and a member of the

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Saville family. This is borne out by the fact that she was billed as De Sacia Saville in the serial ''

The Son of Tarzan ''The Son of Tarzan'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fourth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was written between January 21 and May 11, 1915, and first published in the magazine ' ...

'' (1920). The Savilles were among California's pioneer settlers. Another article says that Mooers was from New York. Yet another source has her birthplace as

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. A 1927 movie review described her ancestry as French-

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Movie career

She began her career with

Samuel Goldwyn Productions Samuel Goldwyn Productions was an American film production company founded by Samuel Goldwyn in 1923, and active through 1959. Personally controlled by Goldwyn and focused on production rather than distribution, the company developed into the m ...

. At first she was known as De Sacia Saville. In the comedy ''

Potash and Perlmutter ''Potash and Perlmutter'' is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger. The film is based on an ethnic Jewish comedy with characters created by Montague Glass and Charles Klein for a 1913 Broadway play of the same name ...

'' (1923), she was cast with

Martha Mansfield Martha Mansfield (born Martha Ehrlich; July 14, 1899 – November 30, 1923) was an American actress in silent films and vaudeville stage plays. Early life She was born in New York City to Maurice and Harriett Gibson Ehrlich. She had a younger sis ...

and

Ben Lyon Ben Lyon (February 6, 1901 – March 22, 1979) was an American film actor and a studio executive at 20th Century-Fox who later acted in British radio, films and TV. Early life and career Lyon was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Alvine ...

. Mooers began working on a series of

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

roles starting with '' The Blonde Vampire'' in 1922. Mooers was writing a book at the time. It was due to be published when the vamp film was released. A natural blond, Mooers defied the stereotype of a vamp having to have dark hair. Mooers appeared in over one hundred movies in the

era. Among her co-stars were

Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He w ...

and

Warner Baxter Warner Leroy Baxter (March 29, 1889 – May 7, 1951) was an American film actor from the 1910s to the 1940s. Baxter is known for his role as the Cisco Kid in the 1928 film ''In Old Arizona'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at ...

. Mooers made ''Lonesome Ladies'' (1927), a First National Pictures comedy-drama about romance and marital strife. The screenplay was written by

Lenore Coffee Lenore Jackson Coffee (July 13, 1896 – July 2, 1984) was an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. Biography Lenore was born in San Francisco in 1896 to Andrew Jackson Coffee Jr. and Ella Muffley. She attended Dominican College ...

and the film featured

Lewis Stone Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular ''Andy H ...

and

Anna Q. Nilsson Anna Quirentia Nilsson (March 30, 1888 – February 11, 1974) was a Swedish-American actress who achieved success in American silent movies. Early life Nilsson was born in Ystad, Sweden in 1888. Her middle name Quirentia is derived from her ...

. Her final movie was a western, '' The Arizona Kid'' (1930). It stars Baxter, Carole Lombard, and

Mona Maris Mona Maris (born Mona Maria Emita Capdeville or Maria Rosa Amita Capdeville, November 7, 1903 – March 23, 1991) was an Argentine film actress. Early life Mona Maris was born Mona Maria Emita Capdeville. Some sources spell her last name as C ...

. Mooers also performed on stage in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Personal life

In 1917, Mooers became the wife of Edward "Eddie" Demarest Mooers, owner of the Yellow Aster gold mine in

Randsburg, California Randsburg (formerly Rand Camp) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Randsburg is located south of Ridgecrest, at an elevation of . The population was 69 in the 2010 census, down from 77 in the 2000 censu ...

, the richest gold mine in the United States. Mr. Mooers' family disapproved of her career from the time she left her home on Alvarado Terrace, barely out of her teens. An agreement was made in which representatives of the wealthy husband's family accompanied him to Mooers' studio once a month. They observed her behavior for signs of changes. The union between actress and mining

scion Scion may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities *Scion, a playable class in the game '' Path of Exile'' (2013) *Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series *Scions, an alien race in the video game ''B ...

became fractured and collapsed after the inquisitors decided Mooers had become less "lovely, charming, and conventional". The couple were divorced in May 1925. Mooers had a relationship with Allan Rock, who produced "The Blonde Vampire." Mooers signed as a witness on the contract that Rock made with "America's First Supermodel", Audrey Munson, that led to Munson's syndicated 1921 newspaper series and its spin-off movie "Heedless Moths" (1921) James Bone, ''The Curse of Beauty: The Scandalous and Tragic Life of Audrey Munson, America's First Supermodel'', ReganArts 2016, pp. 226-227, 241 Mooers later married actor Harry Lewis. She was a member of the Woman's Breakfast Club and director of the McKinley Home For Boys.

Searcher

In October 1920 Mooers was enticed by

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

owner, Warren ''Fuzzy'' Anderson to locate his nephew, Jimmy Anderson. Fuzzy Anderson was once a partner of

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...

. He handled foreign distribution for

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

parts. He had no other close relatives to leave his wealth to aside from Jimmie, who left

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

in 1918. Mooers resided at the Canterbury Inn on Westlake Avenue in Los Angeles while she performed her investigation. She was promised a diamond necklace by the baseball owner if she could find Jimmie. The nephew was rumored to have relocated to Hollywood and become a

stunt man A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

in motion pictures.

Death

In 1960 De Sacia Mooers died following a six-week illness in

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, formerly known as Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, is a private hospital located at 1300 North Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The hospital has 434 beds. It is owned by Sou ...

. She was seventy-two years old. Her residence was at 1523 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles.

Partial filmography

* '' The Challenge'' (1922) * '' The Blonde Vampire'' (1922) *''

'' (1923) *''

Restless Wives ''Restless Wives'' is a lost 1924 American silent melodrama film directed by Gregory La Cava Gregory La Cava (March 10, 1892 – March 1, 1952) was an American film director of Italian descent best known for his films of the 1930s, includi ...

'' (1924) *''

It Is the Law ''It Is the Law'' is a 1924 American silent mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to sol ...

'' (1924) * ''

The Average Woman ''The Average Woman'' is a 1924 American silent melodrama film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Pauline Garon, David Powell, and Harrison Ford. It was released on March 1, 1924. Plot Sally Whipple is the daughter of the local judge, w ...

'' (1924) *''

Any Woman ''Any Woman'' is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Henry King and written by Randolph Bartlett, Jules Furthman, Arthur Somers Roche and Beatrice Van. The film stars Alice Terry, Donald Reed, Margarita Fischer, Lawson Butt, Aggie ...

'' (1925) * '' Forbidden Waters'' (1926) *'' Broadway Nights'' (1927) *''

Lonesome Ladies ''Lonesome Ladies'' is a 1927 American comedy film directed by Joseph Henabery and written by Winifred Dunn. The film stars Lewis Stone, Anna Q. Nilsson, Jane Winton, Doris Lloyd, Edward Martindel and Fritzi Ridgeway. The film was released on ...

'' (1927) * '' Back to Liberty'' (1927) * '' Tongues of Scandal'' (1927) *'' By Whose Hand?'' (1927) * ''

Confessions of a Wife ''Confessions of a Wife'' is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by Albert H. Kelley and starring Helene Chadwick, Walter McGrail and Ethel Grey Terry.Munden p.143 A married woman loses huge amounts of money playing cards. She is blackm ...

'' (1928) * '' Shanghai Rose'' (1929) *''

Just Off Broadway ''Just Off Broadway'' is a 1942 Drama directed by Herbert I. Leeds, starring Lloyd Nolan and Marjorie Weaver. This is the sixth of a series of seven that Lloyd Nolan played Michael Shayne for Twentieth Century Fox films. Hugh Beaumont portrayed ...

'' (1929) *'' The Arizona Kid'' (1930)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mooers, De Sacia American stage actresses American film actresses American silent film actresses Western (genre) film actresses 20th-century American actresses 1888 births 1960 deaths