Martha Mansfield (born Martha Ehrlich; July 14, 1899 – November 30, 1923) was an American actress in
silent films
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, whe ...
and
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
stage plays.
Early life
She was born in New York City to Maurice and Harriett Gibson Ehrlich. She had a younger sister, Edith, born in 1905.
Although many biographies state that Martha was born in
Mansfield, Ohio
Mansfield is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Ohio, United States. Located midway between Columbus and Cleveland via Interstate 71, it is part of Northeast Ohio region in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau. The ci ...
, her birth record and death certificate both have New York City as her place of birth. Her mother, Harriet, was from Mansfield, Ohio, having emigrated there from Ireland in 1885. Martha later adopted the name of the town as her stage name. By the early 1910s, Mansfield and her mother had moved to the Bronx and were living on 158th Street.
[
]
Career
At the age of 14, she became determined to become an actress. She lobbied for, and won, a role in the Broadway production of '' Little Women'' in 1912. She also began working as an artists' model and dancer. She danced in the musical ''Hop o' My Thumb'' in 1913, still using her birth name. She also acted in ''The Passing Show of 1915'' and ''Robinson Crusoe, Jr.'' before changing her name. As a model, she posed for illustrator Harrison Fisher
Harrison Fisher (July 27, 1875 or 1877 – January 19, 1934) was an American illustrator.
Career
Fisher was born in Brooklyn, New York City and began to draw at an early age. Both his father and his grandfather were artists.Harrison & Carrin ...
and was the subject of more than 300 photographs by Alfred Cheney Johnston.
Using the name Martha Early, she was signed to a six-month contract with Essanay Studios in 1917 where she appeared in three films with French actor Max Linder
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) ...
. In 1918, she appeared in the ''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 ...
''. Later that same year, she made her feature film debut in ''Broadway Bill'', opposite Harold Lockwood
Harold A. Lockwood (April 12, 1887 – October 19, 1918) was an American silent film actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most popular matinee idols of the early film period during the 1910s.
Early life and career
Born in Brookl ...
. In early 1919, Mansfield announced that she had decided to pursue a film career full-time. Before she relocated to the west coast, Mansfield played leads in films produced by Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...
. In October 1919, she appeared in Florenz Ziegfeld's ''The Midnight Frolic''.
Her first Hollywood movie was ''Civilian Clothes
''Civilian Clothes'' is a surviving 1920 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It stars Thomas Meighan and was directed by Hugh Ford. This film is based on the 1919 Broadway play, ''C ...
'' (1920) directed by Hugh Ford. She gained prominence as Millicent Carew (originally offered to Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...
) in the film adaptation of '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'', which starred 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 ...
. She then signed with Selznick Pictures where she was cast with Eugene O'Brien in ''The Perfect Lover'' (1919). In 1921, Mansfield returned to the stage in a vaudeville tour. She appeared in two independent films the following year: ''Queen of the Moulin Rouge'' and ''Till We Meet Again''. She spent the remainder of the year touring the vaudeville circuit.
In 1923, Mansfield completed her contract for Selznick and signed with Fox Film Corporation
The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...
. Her first film for Fox was ''The Silent Command
''The Silent Command'' is a 1923 American silent film, silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards featuring Bela Lugosi as a foreign saboteur in his American film debut. The film, written by Anthony Paul Kelly and Rufus King (writer), Rufu ...
'', starring Edmund Lowe
Edmund Dantes Lowe (March 3, 1890 – April 21, 1971) was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film.
Biography
Lowe was born in San Jose, California. His father was a local judge. His childhood home was a ...
and Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...
. The final completed features in her short film career were ''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 ...
'' and ''The Leavenworth Case'', both from 1923.
Death
On November 29, 1923, while working on location in San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
on the film '' The Warrens of Virginia,'' Mansfield was severely burned when a tossed match ignited her Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
costume of hoop skirt
A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape.
It originated as a modest-sized mechanism for holding long skirts away from one's legs, to stay cooler in hot climat ...
s and flimsy ruffles. Mansfield was playing the role of Agatha Warren and had just finished her scenes and retired to a car when her clothing burst into flames. Her neck and face were saved when leading man Wilfred Lytell threw his heavy overcoat over her. The chauffeur of Mansfield's car was burned badly on his hands while trying to remove the burning clothing from the actress. The fire was put out, but she sustained substantial burns to her body.
She was rushed to a hospital where she died the following day of "burns of all extremities, general toxemia and suppression of urine". Mansfield was 24 years old. Accompanied by actor Phillip Shorey, Mansfield's body was transported back to her home in New York City. She was interred at the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. It was never determined who threw the match that ignited Mansfield's clothing. Some witnesses said they saw a match enter through the window of the car Mansfield was sitting in. Another theory was that a nervous Mansfield decided to smoke a cigarette in the car to calm her nerves and accidentally ignited the dress with a dropped match or a cigarette. Mansfield's mother, Harriett Ehrlich, dismissed this theory as she said smoking made her daughter "uncomfortable".
Aftermath
When the ''Warrens of Virginia'' was finally released in late 1924, Mansfield's role had been edited down, and Rosemary Hill was promoted as the female lead.
Mansfield left an estate valued at $2,473. She bequeathed $22,000 in Liberty bond
A liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financi ...
s to her mother. She also left her mother two life insurance policies worth $25,000 each.
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
1920 passport photo of Martha Mansfield
at flickr
Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and profession ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, Martha
1899 births
1923 deaths
20th-century American actresses
Accidental deaths in Texas
Actresses from New York City
American child actresses
American female dancers
American artists' models
American female models
American musical theatre actresses
American silent film actresses
American stage actresses
Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)
Deaths from fire in the United States
Vaudeville performers
Ziegfeld girls
Dancers from New York (state)
20th-century American women singers
20th-century American singers
20th-century American dancers