Mary Philbin
Encyclopedia
Mary Philbin was a notable film actress of the silent film
era. Philbin is probably best remembered for playing the roles of Christine Daaé
in the 1925 film The Phantom of the Opera
opposite screen legend Lon Chaney
and Dea in The Man Who Laughs
. Both of these roles cast her as the beauty in a Beauty and the Beast
-type story.
Catholic
family, she began her acting career after winning a beauty contest sponsored by Universal Pictures
.
Mary Philbin made her screen debut in 1921 and during the 1920s she became a highly successful film actress and starred in a number of high profile films, most notably in D. W. Griffith
's 1928 film Drums of Love
.
In 1922 Philbin was awarded at the first annual WAMPAS Baby Stars
awards, a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States
, which honored thirteen young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom.
Like so many publicly acclaimed silent film actors and actresses however, Philbin was unable to continue a successful acting career during the talkie era of the early 1930s.
Philbin played a few parts during the early talkie era and most notably dubbed her own voice when The Phantom of the Opera was given sound and rereleased.
Philbin retired from the screen in the early 1930s and devoted her life to caring for her aging parents. She was engaged in 1927 to Universal Studio
executive, Paul Kohner
; but due to her parents dissuasion from the union (as she was Catholic and he was a staunch Czech Jew), she called off the engagement.
She never married and rarely made public appearances. One rare public appearance by Philbin occurred in her later years at the Los Angeles opening of the Andrew Lloyd Webber
musical The Phantom of the Opera
.
Mary Philbin died of pneumonia
, aged 89, in Huntington Beach, California
in 1993 and was buried at the Calvary Cemetery
in Los Angeles, California
.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era. Philbin is probably best remembered for playing the roles of Christine Daaé
Christine Daaé
Christine Daaé is the main female character in Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera , the young singer with whom the main character Erik, the Phantom of the Opera falls in love.- Character history :...
in the 1925 film The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force...
opposite screen legend Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
and Dea in The Man Who Laughs
The Man Who Laughs (1928 film)
The Man Who Laughs is an American silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name and stars Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin as the blind Dea...
. Both of these roles cast her as the beauty in a Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
-type story.
Career
Born in Chicago, Illinois into a middle-class Irish AmericanIrish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
family, she began her acting career after winning a beauty contest sponsored by 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...
.
Mary Philbin made her screen debut in 1921 and during the 1920s she became a highly successful film actress and starred in a number of high profile films, most notably in D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
's 1928 film Drums of Love
Drums of Love
Drums of Love is a silent romance film directed by D. W. Griffith.-Plot:After finding out her father and his estate is in danger, Princess Emanuella saves his life by marrying Duke Cathos de Alvia, a grotesque hunchback. She actually is in love with Leonardo, his attractive younger brother...
.
In 1922 Philbin was awarded at the first annual WAMPAS Baby Stars
WAMPAS Baby Stars
The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States which honored thirteen young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. They were selected from 1922 to 1934, and annual...
awards, a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which honored thirteen young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom.
Like so many publicly acclaimed silent film actors and actresses however, Philbin was unable to continue a successful acting career during the talkie era of the early 1930s.
Philbin played a few parts during the early talkie era and most notably dubbed her own voice when The Phantom of the Opera was given sound and rereleased.
Philbin retired from the screen in the early 1930s and devoted her life to caring for her aging parents. She was engaged in 1927 to Universal Studio
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
executive, Paul Kohner
Paul Kohner
Paul Kohner . The native of Bohemia in Austria-Hungary came to Hollywood in 1920 after having been a news reporter in Prague...
; but due to her parents dissuasion from the union (as she was Catholic and he was a staunch Czech Jew), she called off the engagement.
She never married and rarely made public appearances. One rare public appearance by Philbin occurred in her later years at the Los Angeles opening of the Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
musical The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
.
Mary Philbin died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, aged 89, in Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...
in 1993 and was buried at the Calvary Cemetery
Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles
The Calvary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery operated by the Los Angeles Archdiocese, located at 4201 Whittier Boulevard in Los Angeles, California...
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...
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 1921 in film -Top grossing films :-Films released in 1921:U.S.A. unless stated*$10,000 Under a Pillow, silent film directed by Frank Moser*The Ace of Hearts, silent film directed by Wallace Worsley*Across the Divide, silent film directed by John Holloway... |
The Blazing Trail | Talithy Millicuddy | |
| Danger Ahead | Tressie Harloow | ||
| Twelve Hours to Live | – | Short film | |
| Red Courage Red Courage Red Courage is a 1921 Western film directed by B. Reeves Eason and featuring Hoot Gibson.-Cast:* Hoot Gibson - Pinto Peters* Joel Day - Chuckwalla Bill* Molly Malone - Jane Reedly* Joseph W... |
Eliza Fay | ||
| Sure Fire Sure Fire Sure Fire is a 1921 Western film directed by John Ford and featuring Hoot Gibson. The film is considered to be lost.-Cast:* Hoot Gibson - Jeff Bransford* Molly Malone - Marian Hoffman* B. Reeves Eason Jr... |
– | ||
| False Kisses | Mary | ||
| 1922 1922 in film -Events:* June 11 - United States première of Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North, the first commercially successful feature length documentary film.... |
Foolish Wives Foolish Wives Foolish Wives is an American drama silent film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. Although uncredited, Irving Thalberg, aged 22, was in charge of production and would go on to become one of the most famous studio heads of all time at... |
Crippled girl | uncredited |
| The Trouper | Mary Lee | ||
| Human Hearts Human Hearts Human Hearts is an album from indie pop band Maritime. It is the band's fourth full-length album and was released on April 5, 2011.- Track listing :# "It's Casual"# "Paraphernalia"# "Black Bones"# "Peopling of London"# "Air Arizona"... |
Ruth | ||
| His First Job | – | ||
| Once to Every Boy | – | ||
| 1923 1923 in film -Events:*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1923:U.S.A... |
Penrod and Sam | Margaret Schofield | |
| Merry-Go-Round Merry-Go-Round (1923 film) Merry-Go-Round is a feature film by Erich von Stroheim and his replacement, Rupert Julian, starring Norman Kerry and Mary Philbin,and released by Universal Pictures.-Cast:*Norman Kerry - Count Franz Maxmilian Von Hohenegg... |
Agnes Urban | ||
| Where Is This West? | Sallie Summers | ||
| The Age of Desire | Margy (Age 18) | ||
| The Temple of Venus | Moira | ||
| The Thrill Chaser The Thrill Chaser The Thrill Chaser is a 1923 action film directed by Edward Sedgwick and featuring Hoot Gibson.-Cast:* Hoot Gibson - Omar K. Jenkins* James Neill - Sheik Ussan* Billie Dove - Olala Ussan* W. E. Lawrence - Prince Ahmed The Thrill Chaser is a 1923 action film directed by Edward Sedgwick and featuring... |
Cameo appearance Cameo appearance A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television... |
||
| 1924 1924 in film -Events:* Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer... |
Fools' Highway | Mamie Rose | |
| The Gaiety Girl The Gaiety Girl (film) The Gaiety Girl is a 1924 romantic film directed by King Baggot.-Plot:William Tudor has a huge debt and is forced to give up his family castle. He sells it to war millionaire John Kershaw and goes to London to visit his granddaughter Irene. Meanwhile, Tudor's nephew and Irene's sweetheart Owen... |
Irene Tudor | ||
| The Rose of Paris | Mitsi | ||
| 1925 1925 in film -Events:*November 5: The Big Parade holds its Grand Premier*December 30: premier of Ben-Hur the most expensive silent film ever made costing 4-6 million dollars -Top grossing films :... |
Fifth Avenue Models | Isoel Ludant | |
| The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film) The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force... |
Christine Daae | ||
| Stella Maris Stella Maris (1925 film) Stella Maris is a 1925 silent film directed by Charles Brabin, written by Mary Alice Scully and based on a William J. Locke's novel. The film is a remake of the 1918 version, starring Mary Pickford.-Plot:... |
Stella Maris/Unity Blake | ||
| 1927 1927 in film -Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premiers at the Paris Opéra and would demonstrate techniques and equipment that would not be used for years to... |
Surrender | Lea Lyon | |
| The Last Performance The Last Performance The Last Performance was the last American silent film featuring Conrad Veidt before he returned to Germany. Two versions were made - a silent version and Movietone version complete with music, talking sequences, and sound effects... |
Julie | ||
| Love Me and the World Is Mine Love Me and the World Is Mine Love Me and the World Is Mine is a 1927 romantic film directed by Ewald André Dupont.-Plot:Hannerl is a young woman growing up in Old Vienna. She falls in love with two men: A young army officer who can provide her love and security and an old wealthy man who can provide her a high-class life... |
Hannerl | ||
| 1928 1928 in film -Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film... |
Drums of Love Drums of Love Drums of Love is a silent romance film directed by D. W. Griffith.-Plot:After finding out her father and his estate is in danger, Princess Emanuella saves his life by marrying Duke Cathos de Alvia, a grotesque hunchback. She actually is in love with Leonardo, his attractive younger brother... |
Princess Emanuella | |
| The Man Who Laughs The Man Who Laughs (1928 film) The Man Who Laughs is an American silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name and stars Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin as the blind Dea... |
Dea | ||
| 1929 1929 in film -Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors.... |
Port of Dreams | Joan | |
| The Shannons of Broadway | Tessie Swanzey | ||
| After the Fog | Faith Barker |