Lili Damita
Encyclopedia
Lili Damita was a French actress who appeared in 33 movies between 1922 and 1937.
, France, she was educated in convents and ballet schools in several Europe
an countries, including France, Spain
and Portugal
. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opera de Paris.
By the age of 16, she was performing in popular music hall
s, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris
. She also worked as a photographic model. Offered a role in film as a prize for winning a magazine beauty competition in 1921, she appeared in several silent films before being offered her first leading role in Das Spielzeug von Paris
(1925) by Hungarian
-born director Michael Curtiz
, whom she married in 1925 (they divorced a year later). She was an instant success, and Curtiz directed her in two more films: Fiaker Nr 13 (1926) and Der Goldene Schmetterling (1926). Damita continued appearing in German
productions directed by Robert Wiene
(Die Grosse Abenteuerin; 1927), G.W. Pabst (Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe; 1926), and British director
Graham Cutts
(The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927).
she went to Hollywood, making her American debut in a film titled The Rescue
. Leased out to various studios, she appeared with stars such as Gary Cooper
, Maurice Chevalier
, Laurence Olivier
, Cary Grant
, and James Cagney
. Her films included the box office
successes The Cock-Eyed World
(1929), the semi-silent The Bridge of San Luis Rey
(1929), and This Is the Night
(1932).
In 1935, she married her second husband, a virtual unknown who would become Hollywood's biggest box office attraction, Errol Flynn
, with whom she had a son, Sean Leslie Flynn
(born 1941). Following the marriage, she retired from the screen. The couple divorced in 1942. (Barbara Hershey
portrayed her in the TV film My Wicked, Wicked Ways
[1985] based on Errol Flynn
's autobiography.)
While living in Palm Beach, Florida
, Damita married Allen Loomis, a retired Fort Dodge, Iowa
dairy owner, and spent part of each year living there.
During the Vietnam War
, her son Sean Flynn
was working as a freelance photo journalist under contract to Time
magazine when he and fellow journalist Dana Stone
went missing on the road south of Phnom Penh
, Cambodia
, on April 6, 1970. Although Damita spent an enormous amount of money searching for her son, he was never found, and in 1984 Sean Leslie Flynn was declared legally dead. DNA testing was conducted on remains found in Cambodia and turned over to the U.S. embassy in March 2010. However, the results, released June 30, 2010 by JPAC, showed the remains were not of those of Sean Flynn.
in Palm Beach, Florida
, aged 89, and was interred in the Oakland Cemetery in Fort Dodge, Iowa
, her third husband's hometown.
Early life and education
Born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré in BlayeBlaye
Blaye is a commune and subprefecture in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:Its inhabitants are called Blayais or the Blayaises.-Geography:...
, France, she was educated in convents and ballet schools in several Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries, including France, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opera de Paris.
By the age of 16, she was performing in popular music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
s, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris
Casino de Paris
The Casino de Paris, located at 16, rue de Clichy, in the 9th arrondissement is one of the well known music halls of Paris, with a history dating back to the 18th century. Contrary to what the name might suggest, it is a performance venue, not a gambling house...
. She also worked as a photographic model. Offered a role in film as a prize for winning a magazine beauty competition in 1921, she appeared in several silent films before being offered her first leading role in Das Spielzeug von Paris
Das Spielzeug von Paris
Das Spielzeug von Paris is an Austrian silent film released in 1925 and directed by Michael Curtiz. It was the first film to feature French actress Lili Damita in the leading role.-Plot:...
(1925) by Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
-born director Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
, whom she married in 1925 (they divorced a year later). She was an instant success, and Curtiz directed her in two more films: Fiaker Nr 13 (1926) and Der Goldene Schmetterling (1926). Damita continued appearing in German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
productions directed by Robert Wiene
Robert Wiene
Robert Wiene was an important film director of the German silent cinema.Robert Wiene was born in Breslau, as the elder son of the successful theatre actor Carl Wiene. His younger brother Conrad also became an actor, but Robert Wiene at first studied law at the University of Berlin. In 1908 he also...
(Die Grosse Abenteuerin; 1927), G.W. Pabst (Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe; 1926), and British director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Graham Cutts
Graham Cutts
Graham Cutts was a British film director who was one of the leading British directors in the 1920s. His fellow director A. V. Bramble believed that Gainsborough Pictures had been built on the back of his work. His daughter was actress Patricia Cutts...
(The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927).
Career
In 1928, at the invitation of Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
she went to Hollywood, making her American debut in a film titled The Rescue
The Rescue (1929 film)
The Rescue is a 1929 romantic adventure film directed by Herbert Brenon, and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. The screenplay was written by Elizabeth Meehan, based on novel by Joseph Conrad. The music score is by Hugo Riesenfeld. The film stars Ronald Colman and Lili Damita.-Cast:*Ronald Colman as Tom...
. Leased out to various studios, she appeared with stars such as Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
, Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...
, Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, and James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
. Her films included the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
successes The Cock-Eyed World
The Cock-Eyed World
The Cock-Eyed World is a musical film made by Fox Film Corporation, directed and written Raoul Walsh, based on the Flagg and Quirt story by Maxwell Anderson, Tom Barry, Wilson Mizner and Laurence Stallings...
(1929), the semi-silent The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929 film)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in both silent and part-talkie versions. The was film directed by Charles Brabin and starred Lili Damita and Don Alvarado...
(1929), and This Is the Night
This Is the Night (film)
This Is the Night is a 1932 comedy film made by Paramount Pictures, and directed by Frank Tuttle.The film stars Lili Damita, Charles Ruggles, Roland Young, Thelma Todd, and Cary Grant....
(1932).
Personal life
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
, with whom she had a son, Sean Leslie Flynn
Sean Flynn
Sean Leslie Flynn was an American actor and freelance photojournalist best known for his coverage of the Vietnam War. He started a news service in Saigon with John Steinbeck IV, son of the American author.Flynn was the only child of the marriage of Errol Flynn and Lili Damita...
(born 1941). Following the marriage, she retired from the screen. The couple divorced in 1942. (Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
portrayed her in the TV film My Wicked, Wicked Ways
My Wicked, Wicked Ways
My Wicked, Wicked Ways is an autobiography written by Australian actor Errol Flynn with the aid of ghostwriter Earl Conrad. It was released posthumously following the sudden death of the actor and became immensely popular for its cynical tone and candid depiction of the world of filmmaking in...
[1985] based on Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
's autobiography.)
While living in Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
, Damita married Allen Loomis, a retired Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge is a city and county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 25,206 in the 2010 census, an increase from 25,136 in the 2000 census. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Central and Northwest Iowa. It is located on U.S...
dairy owner, and spent part of each year living there.
During the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, her son Sean Flynn
Sean Flynn
Sean Leslie Flynn was an American actor and freelance photojournalist best known for his coverage of the Vietnam War. He started a news service in Saigon with John Steinbeck IV, son of the American author.Flynn was the only child of the marriage of Errol Flynn and Lili Damita...
was working as a freelance photo journalist under contract to Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine when he and fellow journalist Dana Stone
Dana Stone
Dana Stone was a U.S. photo-journalist best known for his work for CBS during the Vietnam War....
went missing on the road south of Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, on April 6, 1970. Although Damita spent an enormous amount of money searching for her son, he was never found, and in 1984 Sean Leslie Flynn was declared legally dead. DNA testing was conducted on remains found in Cambodia and turned over to the U.S. embassy in March 2010. However, the results, released June 30, 2010 by JPAC, showed the remains were not of those of Sean Flynn.
Death
Lili Damita died of Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
in Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
, aged 89, and was interred in the Oakland Cemetery in Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge is a city and county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 25,206 in the 2010 census, an increase from 25,136 in the 2000 census. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Central and Northwest Iowa. It is located on U.S...
, her third husband's hometown.
Selected filmography
- L'Empereur des pauvres (1922, serial)
- Corsica (1922)
- La Voyante (1923)
- Das Spielzeug von ParisDas Spielzeug von ParisDas Spielzeug von Paris is an Austrian silent film released in 1925 and directed by Michael Curtiz. It was the first film to feature French actress Lili Damita in the leading role.-Plot:...
(1925) - Fiaker Nr 13 (Cab No. 13Cab No. 13Cab No. 13 Einspanner Nr 13 ) is a 1926 drama film directed by Michael Curtiz.-Cast:* Lili Damita - Lilian* Jack Trevor - François Tapin* Paul Biensfeldt - Jacques Carotin* Walter Rilla - Lucien Rebout* Max Gülstorff - L'antiquaire...
) (1926) - Geheimnisse einer Seele (Secrets of a SoulSecrets of a SoulSecrets of a Soul is a 1926 silent German drama film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst.-Cast:* Werner Krauss - Martin Fellman* Ruth Weyher - Seine Frau* Ilka Grüning - Die Mutter* Jack Trevor - Erich* Pavel Pavlov - Dr...
) (1926) - Der Goldene Schmetterling (The Golden ButterflyThe Golden ButterflyThe Golden Butterfly is a 1926 German film directed by Michael Curtiz.-Cast:* Hermann Leffler - Mac Farland* Lili Damita - Lilian, seine Pflegetochter* Nils Asther - Andy, sein Sohn* Jack Trevor - Aberdeen, Millionär...
) (1926) - Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe (One Does Not Play with LoveOne Does Not Play with LoveOne Does Not Play with Love is a 1926 silent German drama film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. It is an adaptation of the 1834 play by Alfred de Musset, On ne badine pas avec l'amour...
) (1926) - The Queen Was in the ParlourThe Queen Was in the ParlourThe Queen Was in the Parlour: a romance in three acts is a play by the English writer Noel Coward. Belonging to the Ruritanian romance genre, its title is drawn from a line in the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence...
, aka Forbidden Love (1927) - The RescueThe Rescue (1929 film)The Rescue is a 1929 romantic adventure film directed by Herbert Brenon, and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. The screenplay was written by Elizabeth Meehan, based on novel by Joseph Conrad. The music score is by Hugo Riesenfeld. The film stars Ronald Colman and Lili Damita.-Cast:*Ronald Colman as Tom...
(1929) - The Bridge of San Luis ReyThe Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929 film)The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in both silent and part-talkie versions. The was film directed by Charles Brabin and starred Lili Damita and Don Alvarado...
(1929) - The Cock-Eyed WorldThe Cock-Eyed WorldThe Cock-Eyed World is a musical film made by Fox Film Corporation, directed and written Raoul Walsh, based on the Flagg and Quirt story by Maxwell Anderson, Tom Barry, Wilson Mizner and Laurence Stallings...
(1929) - Fighting CaravansFighting CaravansFighting Caravans is a lavish 1931 western film starring Gary Cooper and Lili Damita. The movie was directed by Otto Brower and David Burton. Although the film is billed as being based on the novel of the same name by Zane Grey, the stories have little in common. The film was actually written by...
(1931) - Friends and LoversFriends and Lovers (1931 film)Friends and Lovers is a 1931 American drama film directed by Victor Schertzinger and starring Adolphe Menjou, Lili Damita, Laurence Olivier, Erich von Stroheim and Hugh Herbert...
(1931) - This Is the NightThis Is the Night (film)This Is the Night is a 1932 comedy film made by Paramount Pictures, and directed by Frank Tuttle.The film stars Lili Damita, Charles Ruggles, Roland Young, Thelma Todd, and Cary Grant....
(1932) - Une Heure pres de Toi (1932, French-language version of One Hour With YouOne Hour with YouOne Hour with You is a 1932 American film. It was produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and written by Samson Raphaelson, from the Lothar Schmidt play Only a Dream....
) - The Match KingThe Match KingThe Match King is a 1932 film made by First National Pictures, directed by William Keighley and Howard Bretherton, and starring Warren William and Lili Damita. The film closely follows the rise and fall of Swedish safety match tycoon Ivar Kreuger.-Plot:...
(1932) - Goldie Gets AlongGoldie Gets AlongGoldie Gets Along is a 1933 film directed by Malcolm St. Clair, and starring by Lili Damita and Charles Morton. The screenplay was wtitten by William A...
(1933) - Brewster's MillionsBrewster's Millions (1935 film)Brewster's Millions is a 1935 British musical comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Jack Buchanan, Lili Damita and Nancy O'Neil...
(1935) - Frisco KidFrisco KidFrisco Kid is a 1935 film starring James Cagney and directed by Lloyd Bacon.-Cast:*James Cagney as Bat Morgan*Margaret Lindsay as Jean Barrat*Ricardo Cortez as Paul Morra*Lili Damita as Belle*Donald Woods as Charles Ford...
(1935)
Selected stage musicals
- On Dit Ça, Paris (1923)
- Sons o'Guns, New York (1929/30)
- Here's How, London (1934)