Silent film star

Born to an army colonel in Sheridan, Illinois

Sheridan, Illinois

Sheridan is a village in LaSalle County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 2,411. It is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, Merriam's film career began in 1919 with a role in The Flip of a Coin. She visited Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

 that year and was offered a part in a comedy series starring Eddie Lyons

Eddie Lyons

Eddie Lyons was an American film actor, director, writer and producer of the silent era. He appeared in 388, directed 153, wrote for 93 and produced 40 films between 1911 and 1926....

 and Leo Moran

Leo Moran

Leo Moran is best known as lead guitarist and sometimes vocalist in the Irish folk rock band The Saw Doctors....

. Merriam accepted. Afterwards she played leads in one and two reel comedies and appeared in important parts in longer features.

She performed with Colleen Moore

Colleen Moore

Colleen Moore was an American film actress, and one of the most fashionable stars of the silent film era.-Early life:...

 in The Nth Commandment (1923) and was the feminine lead in The Brass Bottle (1923), directed by Maurice Tourneur

Maurice Tourneur

Maurice Tourneur was an important international film director and screenwriter.-Life:Born Maurice Thomas in the Belleville district of Paris, France, his father was a jeweler. As a young man, Maurice Thomas first trained as a graphic designer and a magazine illustrator but was soon drawn to the...

.

She signed a long-term contract with the Vitagraph Studios

Vitagraph Studios

American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. By 1907 it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros...

 in June 1924. At the time she was playing the part of Mary Trail in Captain Blood (1924). This was when she was making the transition from comedy to more serious films. Merriam was associated with Warner Brothers Pictures from 1929, when she signed to play the role of Camilla in Dumbbells In Ermie (1930). She was cast with Paul Hurst

Paul Hurst (actor)

Paul Causey Hurst was an American film actor and director.-Career:Born in Traver, California, and raised on a ranch, he appeared in hundreds of films during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. However, he got his start painting scenery as part of the backstage crew during the silent movie era...

 in a orphanage drama produced by the Tiffany Pictures

Tiffany Pictures

Tiffany Pictures was a Hollywood motion picture studio in operation from 1921 until 1932.-History:...

 about children of deceased firefighter. The early sound film is titled The Third Alarm (1930).

Personal life

In December 1923 Merriam was named a correspondent in a divorce suit brought by Mrs. May Morris, the wife of film director Reggie Morris

Reggie Morris

Reggie Morris was an American actor, director and screenwriter of the silent era. He appeared in 46 films between 1913 and 1918...

. Merriam married actor Rex Lease

Rex Lease

Rex Lloyd Lease was an American actor. He appeared in over 300 films, mainly in westerns. Lease was accused in 1930 by Vivian Duncan of the Duncan Sisters for assault...

 in 1925. The two met when he appeared in one of her films two years earlier. The actress filed for divorce in 1929. Merriam was later married to freelance actor, Don Douglas

Don Douglas

Don Douglas was a film actor, born Donald Douglas on 24 August 1905 in Kinleyside, Scotland, UK.He appeared in over 100 films from the late 1920s to the 1940s including The Great Gabbo , Life Begins , Men in White , Madame X , Cheers for Miss Bishop , Now, Voyager , Little Tokyo, U.S.A. , Tall in...

, who died in 1946. Their residence was at 12423 Laurel Terrace, Studio City, California.

Her childhood ambition was to become a concert pianist. She continued her musical education as a screen actress. She studied to be a vocalist with Felix Hughes. In January 1931 Merriam was operated on for an emergency appendicitis

Appendicitis

Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...

 in San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

. She was in the bay area to participate in the entertainment for an automobile show.

Merriam died in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 in 1972.

Selected filmography

• So Big (1924)
• Night Nurse
  Night Nurse (1931 film)
  Night Nurse is a 1931 Pre-Code, Prohibition-era, Warner Bros. crime drama and mystery film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell and Clark Gable. The film was considered risqué at the time of its release, particularly the scene where Stanwyck and...
  
  (1931)
• Damaged Lives
  Damaged Lives
  Damaged Lives is a Canadian / American exploitation film produced by Columbia Pictures and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. The film is based on the French play Les Avariés by Eugène Brieux, about a couple that contracts a venereal disease....
  
  (1933)

External links