Julia Faye
Encyclopedia
Julia Faye was a motion picture actress from Richmond, Virginia
.
prior to coming to Hollywood in 1916, to visit friends. She visited one of the film studios and was introduced to Christy Cabanne
. The two reminisced about St. Louis and discovered that they had lived next door to one another there. Cabanne persuaded Faye's reluctant mother to allow her to be in motion pictures.
She appeared in more Cecil B. DeMille
movies than any other actress. She appeared in many of his silents and in every one of his movies from 1939's Union Pacific on. She was DeMille's mistress off-screen for quite some time and DeMille kept her employed in bit parts long after her career (and their relationship) was over, including his most famous film, The Ten Commandments
(1956).
, Niles Welch
, and Gertrude Clair, Faye was complimented by a critic for playing her
role with "class". It Pays To Advertise (1919) is a Paramount Pictures
release adapted by Elmer Harris
from the play of the same name by Rol Cooper Megrue and Walter Hackett. It was directed by Donald Crisp
. Faye is among the actors with Lois Wilson depicting the leading lady
. Changing Husbands (1924) is a Leatrice Joy
comedy adapted from a magazine story entitled Roles. Faye joined Raymond Griffith
and Zasu Pitts
in the screen feature. Faye was listed as a member of the Paramount Stock Company School in July 1922. Its noteworthy personalities included Rudolph Valentino
, Gloria Swanson
, Betty Compson
, Wallace Reid
, Bebe Daniels
, and Pola Negri
.
When DeMille resigned as director general of Famous Players-Lasky
, in January 1925, he became the production head of Cinema Corporation of America. He planned to direct two or three films per year and supervise the making of between ten and twenty more. Faye came along with him as did Joy, Rod La Roque, Florence Vidor
, Mary Astor
, and Vera Reynolds
.
The Volga Boatman (1926) is directed by DeMille and named for the noted Russian song. William Boyd
, Elinor Fair
, and Faye have primary roles in a production DeMille called his greatest achievement in picture making. Faye's depiction of a tiger woman is esteemed as the most captivating of her career, to this point. Before this role she had been known for "silken siren roles". Theodore Kosloff
played opposite her as a stupid blacksmith.
Faye played "Martha" in The King of Kings (1926). Christ, portrayed by H.B. Warner, is introduced with great majesty in the DeMille photodrama. A blind child searches for the Lord and the producer/director turns the camera gradually down to the child's eyes. The viewer sees Christ initially like the blind child whose sight is restored. Faye traveled to New York City
for personal appearances in association with The King of Kings and to address a sales convention in Chicago, Illinois.
She was entombed in Hollywood Forever Cemetery
.
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
.
Career overview
Faye had resided in St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
prior to coming to Hollywood in 1916, to visit friends. She visited one of the film studios and was introduced to Christy Cabanne
Christy Cabanne
Christy Cabanne , born William Christy Cabanne, was an American film director, screenwriter and silent film actor. Christy Cabanne was, along with Sam Newfield and William Beaudine, one of the most prolific directors in the history of American film.-Biography:Cabanne graduated from the U.S...
. The two reminisced about St. Louis and discovered that they had lived next door to one another there. Cabanne persuaded Faye's reluctant mother to allow her to be in motion pictures.
She appeared in more Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
movies than any other actress. She appeared in many of his silents and in every one of his movies from 1939's Union Pacific on. She was DeMille's mistress off-screen for quite some time and DeMille kept her employed in bit parts long after her career (and their relationship) was over, including his most famous film, The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (1956 film)
The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American epic film that dramatized the biblical story of the Exodus, in which the Hebrew-born Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince, becomes the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. The film, released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956, was directed by...
(1956).
Movie actress
In 1919 Faye played the stenographer in Stepping Out. Cast with Enid BennettEnid Bennett
-Career:Born in York, Western Australia, Bennett started her film acting career in 1916, first starring in Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, with two other films that same year...
, Niles Welch
Niles Welch
Niles Welch, also known as Niles Welsh, was an American performer on Broadway, and a leading man in a number of silent and early talking motion pictures from the early 1910s through the 1930s....
, and Gertrude Clair, Faye was complimented by a critic for playing her
role with "class". It Pays To Advertise (1919) is a Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
release adapted by Elmer Harris
Elmer Harris
Elmer Harris may refer to:* Elmer Beseler Harris, Alabama businessman and politician* Elmer Frank Harris, Newfoundland broadcasting personality and philanthropist* Elmer Blaney Harris, American playwright and author...
from the play of the same name by Rol Cooper Megrue and Walter Hackett. It was directed by Donald Crisp
Donald Crisp
Donald Crisp was an English film actor. He was also an early motion picture producer, director and screenwriter...
. Faye is among the actors with Lois Wilson depicting the leading lady
Leading lady
Leading lady is an informal term for the actress who plays a secondary lead or supporting role, usually a love interest, to the leading actor in a film or play. It is not usually applied to the leading actress in the performance if her character is the protagonist.A leading lady can also be an...
. Changing Husbands (1924) is a Leatrice Joy
Leatrice Joy
Leatrice Joy was an American actress most prolific during the early silent film era.-Early life and career:...
comedy adapted from a magazine story entitled Roles. Faye joined Raymond Griffith
Raymond Griffith
Raymond Griffith was one of the great silent movie comedians.Griffith was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He lost his voice at an early age, causing him to speak for the rest of his life in a hoarse whisper...
and Zasu Pitts
ZaSu Pitts
ZaSu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films.-Early life:ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas to Rulandus and Nellie Pitts; she was the third of four children...
in the screen feature. Faye was listed as a member of the Paramount Stock Company School in July 1922. Its noteworthy personalities included Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
, Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
, Betty Compson
Betty Compson
Betty Compson was an American actress. Born Eleanor Luicime Compson in Beaver, Utah, she had an extensive film career. Her father died when she was young, and she was forced to drop out of school and earn a living for herself and her mother...
, Wallace Reid
Wallace Reid
Wallace Reid was an actor in silent film referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover".-Early life:Born William Wallace Reid in St...
, Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent movie era as a child actress, became a star in musicals like 42nd Street, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain...
, and Pola Negri
Pola Negri
Pola Negri was a Polish stage and film actress who achieved worldwide fame for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles from the 1910s through the 1940s during the Golden Era of Hollywood film. She was the first European film star to be invited to Hollywood, and became a great American star. She...
.
When DeMille resigned as director general of Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
, in January 1925, he became the production head of Cinema Corporation of America. He planned to direct two or three films per year and supervise the making of between ten and twenty more. Faye came along with him as did Joy, Rod La Roque, Florence Vidor
Florence Vidor
Florence Vidor was an American actress.Born Florence Arto, her father, J. P. Arto, was an important executive and she started working in silent movies thanks to her husband, film director King Vidor. She signed her first contract with Vitagraph Studios in 1916...
, Mary Astor
Mary Astor
Mary Astor was an American actress. Most remembered for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart, Astor began her long motion picture career as a teenager in the silent movies of the early 1920s.She eventually made a successful transition to talkies, but almost...
, and Vera Reynolds
Vera Reynolds
-Early life and career:Born in Richmond, Virginia in 1899, she started out as a dancer, worked as one of the Sennett Bathing Beauties, and became a leading lady in silent motion pictures. Among her film credits are starring roles in Sam Wood's Prodigal Daughters , and Cecil B...
.
The Volga Boatman (1926) is directed by DeMille and named for the noted Russian song. William Boyd
William Boyd (actor)
William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor best known for portraying Hopalong Cassidy.-Biography:...
, Elinor Fair
Elinor Fair
Elinor Fair was an American motion picture actress born in Richmond, Virginia. She began her career with the name Eleanor Crowe, changed it to Lenore Fair, and finally settled on Elinor Fair...
, and Faye have primary roles in a production DeMille called his greatest achievement in picture making. Faye's depiction of a tiger woman is esteemed as the most captivating of her career, to this point. Before this role she had been known for "silken siren roles". Theodore Kosloff
Theodore Kosloff
Theodore Kosloff was a Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer and film and stage actor. He was occasionally credited as Theodor Kosloff.-Career:...
played opposite her as a stupid blacksmith.
Faye played "Martha" in The King of Kings (1926). Christ, portrayed by H.B. Warner, is introduced with great majesty in the DeMille photodrama. A blind child searches for the Lord and the producer/director turns the camera gradually down to the child's eyes. The viewer sees Christ initially like the blind child whose sight is restored. Faye traveled to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for personal appearances in association with The King of Kings and to address a sales convention in Chicago, Illinois.
She was entombed in Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, originally called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles, California. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood...
.
Selected filmography
- The Woman God ForgotThe Woman God Forgot-Cast:* Wallace Reid - Alvarado* Raymond Hatton - Montezuma* Hobart Bosworth - Cortez* Theodore Kosloff - Guatemoco* Walter Long - Taloc * Julia Faye - Tecza's handmaiden* Olga Grey - Aztec woman* Geraldine Farrar - Tecza...
(1917) - The Whispering ChorusThe Whispering ChorusThe Whispering Chorus is a 1918 drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille.-Cast:* Raymond Hatton - John Tremble* Kathlyn Williams - Jane Tremble* Edythe Chapman - John Tremble's mother* Elliott Dexter - George Coggeswell* Noah Beery - Longshoreman...
(1918) - Old Wives for NewOld Wives for NewOld Wives for New is a 1918 drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Prints of the film survive at the International Museum of Photography and Film at George Eastman House.-Cast:* Elliott Dexter - Charles Murdock* Florence Vidor - Juliet Raeburn...
(1918) - Till I Come Back to YouTill I Come Back to YouTill I Come Back to You is a 1918 drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille.-Cast:* Bryant Washburn - Capt. Jefferson Strong* Florence Vidor - Yvonne* Gustav von Seyffertitz - Karl Von Drutz * Winter Hall - King Albert...
(1918) - The Squaw ManThe Squaw Man (1918 film)The Squaw Man is a 1918 Western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It is a remake of DeMille's 1914 film of the same name. It would be remade again by DeMille in 1931...
(1918) - Don't Change Your HusbandDon't Change Your HusbandDon't Change Your Husband is a 1919 comedy film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. A print of the film survives.-Cast:* Elliott Dexter - James Denby Porter* Gloria Swanson - Leila Porter* Lew Cody - Schuyler Van Sutphen* Sylvia Ashton - Mrs. Huckney...
(1919) - Stepping OutStepping Out (1919 film)Stepping Out is a 1919 silent drama film directed by Fred Niblo.-Cast:* Enid Bennett - The Wife* Niles Welch - The Husband* Julia Faye - The Secretary* Gertrude Claire - The Husband's Mother* William Conklin - Frank Wilson...
(1919) - Something to Think AboutSomething to Think About-Cast:* Elliott Dexter - David Markely* Gloria Swanson - Ruth Anderson* Monte Blue - Jim Dirk* Theodore Roberts - Luke Anderson* Claire McDowell - Housekeeper* Michael D. Moore - Bobby * Julia Faye - Banker's Daughter...
(1920) - Life of the PartyLife of the Party (1920 film)Life of the Party is a 1920 short comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle.-Cast:* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Algernon Leary * Winifred Greenwood - Mrs. Carraway* Roscoe Karns - Sam Perkins* Julia Faye - 'French' Kate...
(1920) - Forbidden FruitForbidden Fruit (1921 film)Forbidden Fruit is a 1921 drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It is a remake of the 1915 film The Golden Chance, which was also directed by DeMille. The film survives in prints at George Eastman House and the Library of Congress.-Cast:...
(1921) - Fool's Paradise (1921)
- Saturday Night (1922)
- ManslaughterManslaughter (1922 film)Manslaughter is a 1922 silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Thomas Meighan, Leatrice Joy and Lois Wilson.-Plot summary:...
(1922) - Nice PeopleNice People (1922 film)Nice People is a 1922 silent drama directed by William C. deMille and starring Wallace Reid and Bebe Daniels. The movie is based on the 1921 Broadway play of the same name by Rachel Crothers that had starred Tallulah Bankhead, Francine Larrimore and Katharine Cornell. Vincent Coleman played Reid's...
(1922) - Adam's RibAdam's Rib (1923 film)Adam's Rib is a 1923 drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. This film is considered lost. The story has nothing to do with the 1948 George Cukor film starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.-Cast:* Milton Sills - Michael Ramsay...
(1923) - The Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments (1923 film)The Ten Commandments is a 1923 American epic silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Theodore Roberts as Moses, Charles de Rochefort as Pharaoh Ramesses, Estelle Taylor as Miriam the sister of Moses, and James Neill as Aaron, the brother of Moses...
(1923) - The Pharaoh's Wife - TriumphTriumph (1924 film)Triumph is a 1924 silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille.-Cast:* Leatrice Joy - Ann Land* Rod La Rocque - King Garnet* Victor Varconi - William Silver* Charles Ogle - James Martin* Theodore Kosloff - Varinoff* Robert Edeson - Smauel Overton...
(1924) - Changing HusbandsChanging HusbandsChanging Husbands is a 1924 American silent comedy starring Leatrice Joy, and Victor Varconi, directed by Frank Urson and written by Sada Cowan and Howard Higgin. The runtime is 70 minutes.-Cast:*Leatrice Joy as Gwynne Evans/Ava Graham...
(1924) - Feet of ClayFeet of Clay (film)Feet of Clay is a drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Vera Reynolds and Rod La Rocque, and with set design by Norman Bel Geddes. The film is now considered to be a lost film.-Cast:* Vera Reynolds - Amy Loring...
(1924) - The Golden BedThe Golden BedThe Golden Bed is a 1925 drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Prints of the film survive in the film archive at George Eastman House.-Cast:* Lillian Rich - Flora Lee Peake* Henry B...
(1925) - The Road to YesterdayThe Road to YesterdayThe Road to Yesterday is a 1925 silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Prints of the film reportedly survive at George Eastman House and in private collections.-Cast:* Joseph Schildkraut - Kenneth Paulton* Jetta Goudal - Malena Paulton...
(1925) - The Volga BoatmanThe Volga BoatmanThe Volga Boatman is a 1926 silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille.-Cast:* William Boyd - Feodor, A Volga Boatman* Elinor Fair - Vera, A Princess* Robert Edeson - Prince Nikita* Victor Varconi - Prince Dimitri* Julia Faye - Mariusha, A Gypsy...
(1926) - The Godless GirlThe Godless GirlThe Godless Girl is a drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shown for years as his last completely silent film.-Production background:...
(1929) - The Squaw ManThe Squaw Man (1931 film)The Squaw Man is a film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It was the third version of the same play that he filmed, and the first in sound. It stars Warner Baxter in the leading role. The film lost $150,000 in its initial release...
(1931) - Northwest Mounted Police (1940)
- The Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments (1956 film)The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American epic film that dramatized the biblical story of the Exodus, in which the Hebrew-born Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince, becomes the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. The film, released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956, was directed by...
(1956) - ElishebaElishevaElisheva or Elisheba was the wife of Aaron "the priest" , the forefather of the Kohanim, the Jewish priests, in the Bible. She is a daughter of Amminadab, and a sister of Nahshon, from the Tribe of Judah. According to later Jewish tradition, she is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias...