Norma Talmadge (May 26, 1894 – December 24, 1957) was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most popular idols of the American screen.

A specialist in melodrama, her most famous film was Smilin’ Through (1922), but she also scored artistic triumphs teamed with director Frank Borzage in Secrets (1924) and The Lady (1925). Her younger sister Constance Talmadge was also a movie star. Talmadge married millionaire film producer Joseph Schenck and they successfully created their own production company. After reaching fame in the film studios on the East Coast, she moved to Hollywood in 1922.

Talmadge was one of the most elegant and glamorous film stars of the roaring twenties. However, by the end of the silent film era, her popularity with audiences had waned. After her two talkies proved disappointing at the box office, she retired a very wealthy woman. She is little remembered, yet in her day she was hugely popular and the epitome of stardom.

Early life

According to her birth certificate, Talmadge was born on May 26, 1894 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Although it has been widely believed she was born in Niagara Falls, New York, after achieving stardom, she admitted that she and her mother provided the more scenic setting of Niagara Falls to fan magazines to be more romantic. Talmadge was the eldest daughter of Fred Talmadge, an unemployed chronic alcoholic, and Margaret "Peg" Talmadge, a witty and indomitable woman. She had two younger sisters, Natalie and Constance, both of whom also became actresses.

The girls childhoods were marked by poverty. One Christmas morning, Fred Talmadge left the house to buy food and never came back, leaving his wife to raise their three daughters. Peg took in laundry, sold cosmetics, taught painting classes, and rented out rooms, raising her daughters in Brooklyn, New York.

After telling her mother about a classmate from Erasmus Hall High School who modeled for popular illustrated song slides (which were often shown before the feature in movie theaters so that the audience could sing along), Mrs. Talmadge decided to locate the photographer. She arranged an interview for her daughter, who, after an initial rejection, was hired soon after. When they went to the theater to see her debut, Peg resolved to get her into motion pictures.

Career

Early films

Norma Talmadge, c. early 1920s

Norma Talmadge was the eldest of the three daughters and the first pushed by the mother to look for a career as a film actress. Mother and daughter traveled to the Vitagraph Studios in Flatbush, New York, just a streetcar ride from her home. They managed to get past the studio gates and in to see the casting director, who promptly threw them out. However, scenario editor Breta Breuil, attracted by Talmadge's beauty, arranged a small part for her as a young girl who is kissed under a photographer's cloth in The Household Pest (1909).

Thanks to Breuill's continued patronage, between 1911 and 1912, Talmadge played bit parts in over 100 films. She eventually earned a spot in the stock company at $25 per week and got a steady stream of work. Her first role as a contract actress was 1911's Neighboring Kingdom, with comedian John Bunny. Her first real success came with the first original screen version of A Tale of Two Cities (1911), a three hour epic released in weekly one-reel segments, in which she played the small role of Mimi, a seamstress who accompanies Sidney Carton to the guillotine. With help from the studio's major star, Maurice Costello, the star of A Tale of Two Cities, Talmadge's acting improved and she continued to play everything from leads to extras, gaining experience and public exposure in a variety of characters—from a colored mammy to a clumsy waitress to a reckless young modern, she began attracting both public and critical notice. By 1913, she was Vitagraph's most promising young actress. That same year, she was assigned to Van Dyke Brooke's acting unit, and throughout 1913 and 1914 appeared in more films, frequently with Antonio Moreno as her leading man.

In 1915, Talmadge got her big break, starring in Vitagraph’s prestigious feature film The Battle Cry of Peace, an anti-German propagandist drama. But ambitious Peg saw that her daughter's potential could carry them further, and got a two-year contract with National Pictures Company for eight features and $400 per week. Talmadge's last film for Vitagraph was The Crown Prince's Double. In the summer of 1915, she left Vitagraph. In the five years she had been with Vitagraph, she made over 250 films.

In August, the Talmadges left for California where Norma's first role was in Captivating Mary Carstairs. The whole enterprise was a fiasco; the sets and costumes were cheap and the studio itself lacked adequate backing. The film was a flop, and the small new studio shut down after the release of Mary Carstairs. The demise of National Pictures Company left the family stranded in California after only one picture. Deciding it was smarter to aim high, they went to the Triangle Film Corporation, where D.W. Griffith was supervising productions. On the strength of The Battle Cry, Talmadge got a contract with Griffith's Fine Arts Company. For eight months, she starred in seven features for Triangle, including the comedy The Social Secretary (1916), a comedy written by Anita Loos and directed by John Emerson, that gave her an opportunity to disguise her beauty as a girl trying to avoid the unwelcome attentions of her male employers.

Norma Talmadge Film Corporation

When the contract ran out, the Talmadges returned to New York. At a party, Talmadge met Broadway and film producer Joseph M. Schenck, a wealthy exhibitor who wanted to produce his own films. Immediately taken by Talmadge both personally and professionally, Schenck proposed marriage and a production studio. Two months later, on October 20, 1916, they were married. Talmadge called her much older husband, "Daddy." He supervised, controlled and nurtured her career in alliance with her mother.

In 1917, the couple formed the Norma Talmadge Film Corporation, which became a lucrative enterprise. Schenck vowed he would make his wife the greatest star of all, and one to be remembered always. The best stories, most opulent costumes, grandest sets, talented casts and distinguished directors, along with spectacular publicity, would be hers. Before long, women around the world wanted to be the romantic Norma Talmadge and flocked to her extravagant movies filmed on the East Coast. Schenck soon had a stable of stars operating in his studio in New York, with the Norma Talmadge Film Corporation making dramas on the ground floor, the Constance Talmadge Film Corporation making sophisticated comedies on the second floor, and the Comic unit with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle on the top floor, with Natalie Talmadge acting as secretary and taking occasional small roles in her sisters' films. Arbuckle brought in his nephew Al St. John and vaudeville star Buster Keaton. When Schenck decided it was financially advantageous to rent Arbuckle to Paramount Pictures for feature films, Keaton took over the comedy unit and soon married Natalie, bringing him more thoroughly into the Talmadge family fold, at least for a time.

Talmadge’s first film for her studio, the now lost Panthea, (1917) was directed by Allan Dwan with assistants Erich von Stroheim and Arthur Rossen. The film was a dramatic tour de force for her in a story set in Russia of a woman who sacrifices herself to help her husband. The film was a hit, turning Talmadge into a sensation and established her as a first rate dramatic actress.

Talmadge’s acting ability improved rapidly during this period. She made between four and six films a year in New York between 1917 and 1921. Under Schenck's personal supervision, other films followed, including Poppy (1917) in which, she was paired with Eugene O'Brien. The teaming was such a hit they made ten more films together, including The Moth, and The Secret of the Storm Country, a sequel to Tess of the Storm Country (1914), starring Mary Pickford. In 1918, she reteamed with Sidney Franklin, who directed The Safety Curtain, Her Only Way, Forbidden City, The Heart of Wetona, and 1919's The Probation Wife. These films have an intimate feel, with small-scale settings and familiar actors appearing from one film to the next; even Talmadge's personal jewelry and pets can be recognized. An advantage of the East Coast locale was access to the country's best high fashion designers, such as Madame Francis and Lucile. Eventually, Talmadge began writing a regular monthly fashion advice column for Photoplay magazine.

Hollywood films

Throughout the 1920s, Talmadge continued to triumph in films such as 1920's Yes or No, The Branded Woman, Passion Flower (1921), The Sign on the Door (1921). The next year, she had the most popular film of her entire career, Smilin' Through (1922) directed by Sidney Franklin. One of the greatest screen romances of the silent film era, it was remade twice, in 1932 with Norma Shearer and in 1941 with Jeanette MacDonald.

After Smilin' Through, Schenck closed the New York studios and Norma and Constance moved to Hollywood to join Keaton and Natalie. Talmadge's Hollywood films were different from her New York films. Bigger and glossier, they were fewer but more varied, often with period or exotic settings. She teamed with cinematographer Tony Gaudio and some of Hollywood's finest costume designers for a more glamorous image. She also worked with top-flight directors such as Frank Lloyd, Clarence Brown, and Frank Borzage. Though her films were uneven, she did the finest work of her career during this period. With help from films directed by first husband Joseph M. Schenck, Talmadge became one of the most highly paid actresses of the 1920s.

In 1923, a poll of picture exhibitors named Norma Talmadge the number one box office star. She was earning $10,000 a week, and receiving as many as 3,000 letters weekly from her fans. Her film Secrets (1924), directed by Frank Borzage, marked the pinnacle of her career, with her giving her best performance and receiving the best reviews. In 1924, Schenck had moved over to head United Artists, but Talmadge still had a distribution contract with First National. She continued to make successful films such as The Lady (1925) directed by Frank Borzage and the romantic comedy Kiki (1926) directed by Clarence Brown, remade later by Mary Pickford as a sound film in 1931.

In 1927, Norma Talmadge started a famous Hollywood tradition when she accidentally stepped into wet concrete in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Decline

Talmadge's last film for First National was Camille (1926), an adaptation of an Alexandre Dumas, fils novel later remade by Greta Garbo. During filming, Talmadge fell in love with leading man Gilbert Roland. She asked Schenck for a divorce, but he was not ready to grant it. Despite his personal feelings, he was not going to break up a moneymaking team, however, and continued casting Roland in Talmadge's next three films released by United Artists. Talmadge and Schenck separated, though he continued producing her films. He was now president of the prestigious but theater-poor United Artists Corporation, and the rest of Talmadge's films were released for that company. UA’s distribution problems, however, began to erode her popularity. Her first films for this studio, The Dove (1927) and The Woman Disputed (1928), were box-office failures and ended up being her last silent movies. (The latter film was shown before a highly appreciative audience at the 2010 San Francisco Silent Film Festival.)

By the time Woman Disputed (1928) was released, the talking film revolution had begun, and Talmadge began taking voice lessons in preparation. She worked diligently with voice coaches for over a year so she could make her sound debut. Her first talkie, New York Nights (1929), showed that she could speak and act acceptably in talkies. While her performance was considered to be good, the film was not. Talmadge next took on the role of Madame Du Barry in the 1930 film DuBarry, Woman of Passion. With incompetent direction and Talmadge's inexperience at a role requiring very demanding vocal acting, the film was a failure, in spite of the elaborate sets by William Cameron Menzies.

On March 29, 1929, at the bungalow of Mary Pickford, United Artists brought together Talmadge, Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charles Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, John Barrymore, Dolores del Río and D.W. Griffith to speak on the radio show The Dodge Brothers Hour to prove that Griffith could meet the challenge of talking movies.

Talmadge's sister Constance sent her a telegram with this advice: "Quit pressing your luck, baby. The critics can't knock those trust funds Mama set up for us". As time passed, it became increasingly clear that the public was no longer interested in its old favorites, and Talmadge was seen as an icon of the past. Talmadge had been increasingly bored with filmmaking before the talkie challenge came along, and this setback seems to have discouraged her from further attempts.

She still had two more films left on her United Artists contract. Samuel Goldwyn announced he had bought The Greeks Had a Word for It for her in late 1930, and she reportedly did some stage rehearsals for it in New York, but within a few months, she asked to be released from her contract. She never again appeared on screen.

Retirement

Upon leaving the movie world, Norma Talmadge rid herself of all the duties and responsibilities of stardom. She sweetly told eager fans who were pressing her for an autograph as she left a restaurant, "Get away, dears. I don't need you anymore and you don't need me."

Some time before late 1932, Talmadge decided against marrying Gilbert Roland, as he was twelve years her junior and she feared he would eventually leave her. Mother Peg fell ill in 1931, and died in September 1933. In late 1932, Talmadge began seeing her ex-husband Joseph Schenck's poker friend, comedian George Jessel. In April 1934, Schenck, from whom she had been separated for seven years, finally granted Talmadge her divorce, and nine days later, she married Jessel. Schenck continued to do what he could for Norma and her sisters, acting as a financial adviser and guiding her business affairs.

Talmadge's last professional works consisted of appearances on Jessel's radio program, which was sagging in the ratings. The program soon ended, and the marriage did not last; the couple divorced in 1939. Schenck's business acumen and her mother's watchful ambition for her daughters had resulted in a huge fortune for Talmadge, and she never wanted for money. Restless since the end of her filmmaking days, Talmadge traveled, often shuttling between her houses, entertaining, and visiting with her sisters. In 1946, she married Dr. Carvel James, a Beverly Hills physician.

Later years and death

In her later years, Talmadge, who had never been comfortable with the burdens of public celebrity, became reclusive. Increasingly crippled by painful arthritis and reported to be dependent on painkilling drugs, she moved to the warm climate of Las Vegas for her final years. In 1956, she was voted by her peers as one of the top five female stars of the pre-1925 era, but was too ill to travel to Rochester, New York to accept her award.

After suffering a series of strokes in 1957, Talmadge died of pneumonia on Christmas Eve of that year. At the time of her death, her estate was valued at more than USD$1,000,000. She is interred, along with Constance and Natalie in their own niche in the Abbey of the Psalms in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Norma Talmadge has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine Street.

In popular culture

A New York Times article from March 14, 2010 says that Talmadge "is misremembered, having inspired two unfair caricatures that have lived on in a pair of popular films. In Singin' in the Rain (1952), she is parodied as Lina Lamont... More malignantly, Billy Wilder used Norma Talmadge as the obvious if unacknowledged source of Norma Desmond, the grotesque, predatory silent movie queen of his 1950 film Sunset Boulevard."

Selected filmography

• 1915 Captivating Mary Carstairs
• 1915 The Battle Cry of Peace
• 1915 The Crown Prince's Double
• 1916 The Missing Links
• 1916 Martha's Vindication
• 1916 The Children in the House
• 1916 Going Straight
• 1916 The Devil's Needle
• 1916 The Social Secretary
• 1916 Fifty-Fifty
• 1917 Panthea
• 1917 The Law of Compensation
• 1917 Poppy
• 1917 The Moth
• 1917 The Secret of the Storm Country
• 1918 The Ghosts of Yesterday
• 1918 By Right of Purchase
• 1918 De Luxe Annie
• 1918 The Safety Curtain
• 1918 Her Only Way
• 1918 The Forbidden City
• 1919 The Heart of Wetona
• 1919 The New Moon
• 1919 The Probation Wife
• 1919 Dust of Desire
• 1919 The Way of a Woman
• 1919 The Isle of Conquest
• 1920 She Loves and Lies
• 1920 A Daughter of Two Worlds
• 1920 The Woman Gives
• 1920 Yes or No
• 1920 The Branded Woman
• 1921 Passion Flower
• 1921 The Sign on the Door
• 1921 The Wonderful Thing
• 1921 Love's Redemption
• 1922 Smilin' Through
• 1922 The Eternal Flame
• 1923 The Voice from the Minaret
• 1923 Within the Law
• 1923 Ashes of Vengeance
• 1923 The Song of Love
• 1924 Secrets
• 1924 The Only Woman
• 1925 The Lady
• 1925 Graustark
• 1926 Kiki
• 1926 Camille
• 1927 The Dove
• 1928 The Woman Disputed
• 1929 New York Nights
• 1930 Du Barry, Woman of Passion