MAE MARSH
INFORMATION FROM IMDB
Date of birth
9 November 1895
Madrid, New Mexico Territory [now state of New Mexico], USA
Date of death
13 February 1968
Hermosa Beach, California, USA. (heart attack)
Birth name
Mary Wayne Marsh
Height
5' 3" (1.60 m)
Spouse
Lee Arms (Goldwyn publicity agent) (? - ?) two daughters, one son
Trivia
Sister of editor Frances Marsh, actresses Marguerite Marsh and Mildred Marsh, and cinematographer Oliver T. Marsh.
Silent film actress.
In the Spring of 1918, the 18-year-old Ernest Hemingway claimed in letters to friends and family that he was engaged to Marsh. Hemingway was in New York at the time, preparing to go to Italy as an ambulance driver with the Red Cross, and he said he met Marsh at a party. Hemingway soon said that Marsh had broken the engagement. When asked about this incident 48 years later, in 1966, Marsh said she'd wished she'd known Hemingway. (See letter and footnote in "Ernest Hemingway--Selected Letters, " page 8.)
Her grandfather, Edward Warne, was the man who invented barbed wire.
Salary
The Cinderella Man (1917) $2,500/week
Polly of the Circus (1917) $2,500/week
The Birth of a Nation (1915) $35/week
Man's Genesis (1912) $5/day
Mini biography
Mae Marsh's father was an auditor for the railroad who died when she was four. Her family moved to San Francisco, where her stepfather was killed in the 1906 earthquake. Her great-aunt then took Mae and her sister to Los Angeles. With her show business background, Mae's aunt took them to the various movie studios for work as extras. Mae was a little freckle-faced girl, who came to work one day as an extra at Biograph to substitute for her sick sister. She had blue eyes and her hair color was indeterminate, but she had definite screen presence. She began her film career working for Mack Sennett and D.W. Griffith. Her first leading role was as the bare-legged prehistoric girl in Man's Genesis (1912). By 1913 Mae was being groomed as the successor to Mary Pickford. Most of her film roles were dramatic or tragic, or a combination of both. She appeared in Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages (1916). After that film, Samuel Goldwyn signed her to a contract at $2500 per week - far exceeding the $35 per week she got in 1915. Goldwyn was at his best when it came to publicity. It was he who gave Mae the title "The Whim Girl". Other than the publicity, her film career with Goldwyn was a disappointment and she retired on the eve of her marriage in 1918. During the 1920s Mae did a few movies in Hollywood and England, but stayed retired for the most part. It was not until the Wall Street "crash" in 1929 that began the Great Depression that she returned full-time to the screen, as she, like many others, was wiped out financially. After her financial situation improved, she returned to films sporadically, usually out of boredom. She worked in a dozen movies during the 1930s and took a number of roles in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a favorite of director John Ford and appeared in many of his films, such as The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), My Darling Clementine (1946) and The Quiet Man (1952), and she had a role in A Star Is Born (1954).
Like much of early Hollywood history, much of Mae Marsh's biography is shrouded in mystery and the creation of studio publicity people.
The story of the Marsh children being taken to Hollywood by their aunt is often told, but according to the 1910 U.S. Census,
the Marsh children were all living with their parents in Los Angeles, near downtown.
Registered on the census form is mother May and a step-father named William Hall. Oliver T. was 17, Mae (registered as May) was 15, Francis was 12 and Mildred was 11. All of the children are listed as "step-children." Her older sister Marguerite (registered as Margaret) was 20, and was sharing the apartment with the family along with her husband Donald Loveridge and their daughter, 2 year-old Leslie. The children - all of whom would end up in the movies somehow - were not shopped around the studios by an aunt, but by their mother and step-father.
IMDb mini-biography by E.J. Fleming
Filmography
Actress
1. Cheyenne Autumn (1964) (uncredited) .... Woman
... aka John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn (USA: complete title)
2. Donovan's Reef (1963) (uncredited) .... Family council member
3. Two Rode Together (1961) (uncredited) .... Hanna Clegg
4. From the Terrace (1960) (uncredited) .... Sandy's Governess
5. Sergeant Rutledge (1960) (uncredited) .... Nellie
6. The Last Hurrah (1958) (uncredited) .... Mourner at Wake
7. Cry Terror! (1958) (scenes deleted) .... Woman in Elevator (replaced by Marjorie Bennett)
8. The Wings of Eagles (1957) (uncredited) .... Nurse Crumley
9. Julie (1956) .... Hysterical passenger
10. Girls in Prison (1956) .... 'Grandma' Edwards
11. While the City Sleeps (1956) .... Mrs. Manners
12. The Searchers (1956) (uncredited) .... Dark Cloaked Woman at Fort Guarding Deranged Woman
13. Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) (uncredited) .... Woman in Bank
14. The Tall Men (1955) (uncredited) .... Emigrant
15. Prince of Players (1955) (uncredited) .... Witch in 'Macbeth'
16. Hell on Frisco Bay (1955) .... Mrs. Cobb, Steve's Landlady
17. A Star Is Born (1954) (uncredited) .... Malibu party guest
18. A Blueprint for Murder (1953) .... Anna Swenson (Lynne's housekeeper)
19. The Robe (1953) (uncredited) .... Jerusalem woman aiding Demetrius
20. The Sun Shines Bright (1953) .... G.A.R. Woman at the Ball
21. Titanic (1953) (uncredited) .... Woman to whom Norman gave his seat
22. Night Without Sleep (1952) .... Maid
23. The Quiet Man (1952) (uncredited) .... Father Paul's mother
24. The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951) (uncredited) .... Talkative patient
25. My Blue Heaven (1950) (uncredited) .... Maid
26. The Gunfighter (1950) (uncredited) .... Mrs. O'Brien
27. When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950) (uncredited) .... Mrs. Fettles
28. The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) .... Sister Hattie
... aka A Strange Caravan
29. It Happens Every Spring (1949) (uncredited) .... Greenleaf's maid
30. Impact (1949) .... Mrs. King
31. A Letter to Three Wives (1949) (uncredited) .... Miss Jenkins
32. 3 Godfathers (1948) .... Mrs. Perley Sweet
33. The Snake Pit (1948) (uncredited) .... Tommy's mother
34. Deep Waters (1948) .... Molly Thatcher
35. Fort Apache (1948) .... Mrs. Gates
... aka War Party
36. Daisy Kenyon (1947) (uncredited) .... Woman Leaving Apartment
37. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) (uncredited) .... Woman in Santa Line
... aka The Big Heart (UK)
38. The Late George Apley (1947) (uncredited) .... Maid
39. My Darling Clementine (1946) (uncredited) .... Simpson's Sister
... aka John Ford's My Darling Clementine (USA: complete title)
40. Leave Her to Heaven (1945) (uncredited) .... Fisherwoman
41. The Dolly Sisters (1945) (uncredited) .... Annie, flower lady
42. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) (uncredited) .... Tynmore Sister
43. In the Meantime, Darling (1944) (uncredited) .... Emma
44. Jane Eyre (1944) (uncredited) .... Leah
45. The Sullivans (1944) (uncredited) .... Woman
... aka The Fighting Sullivans
46. The Song of Bernadette (1943) (uncredited) .... Woman
... aka Franz Werfel's The Song of Bernadette (USA: complete title)
47. The Moon Is Down (1943) (uncredited) .... Villager
48. Dixie Dugan (1943) .... Mrs. Sloan
49. Quiet Please: Murder (1942) .... Miss Hartwig
50. Just Off Broadway (1942) (uncredited) .... Elderly Woman
51. The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942) (uncredited) .... Mrs. Phillips
52. Tales of Manhattan (1942) .... Molly
53. It Happened in Flatbush (1942) (uncredited) .... Aunt Mae, Team Co-Owner
54. Son of Fury (1942) (uncredited) .... Mrs. Purdy
... aka The Story of Benjamin Blake
55. Blue, White and Perfect (1942) .... Mrs. Toby
56. Remember the Day (1941) (uncredited) .... Teacher
57. Swamp Water (1941) (uncredited) .... Mrs. McCord
... aka The Man Who Came Back (UK)
58. How Green Was My Valley (1941) (uncredited) .... Miner's wife
59. Great Guns (1941) .... Aunt Martha
... aka Forward March (USA)
60. Belle Starr (1941) .... Preacher's Wife
... aka Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen
61. Tobacco Road (1941) (uncredited) .... County Clerk's assistant
62. Young People (1940) .... Maria Liggett
63. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) (uncredited) .... Floyd's wife
64. The Man Who Wouldn't Talk (1940) .... Mrs. Stetson
65. Swanee River (1939) (uncredited) .... Mrs. Jonathan Fry
... aka The Life of Stephen Foster
66. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) (uncredited) .... Pioneer woman
67. Hollywood Boulevard (1936) .... Carlotta Blakeford
68. Black Fury (1935) .... Mrs. Mary Novak
69. Bachelor of Arts (1934) .... Mrs. Mary Barth
70. Little Man, What Now? (1934) .... Wife of Karl Goebbler
71. Alice in Wonderland (1933) .... The Sheep
72. That's My Boy (1932) .... Mom Scott
73. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1932) .... Aunt Jane
74. Over the Hill (1931) .... Ma Shelby
75. Racing Through (1928)
76. Tides of Passion (1925) .... Charity
77. The Rat (1925) .... Odile Etrange
78. Arabella (1924)
79. Daddies (1924) .... Ruth Atkins
80. Paddy the Next Best Thing (1923) .... Paddy
81. The White Rose (1923) .... Bessie 'Teazie' Williams
82. Till We Meet Again (1922) .... Marion Bates
83. Flames of Passion (1922) .... Dorothy Hawke
84. Nobody's Kid (1921) .... Mary Cary
85. The Little 'Fraid Lady (1920) .... Cecilia Carne
86. The Mother and the Law (1919) .... The Little Dear One
87. Spotlight Sadie (1919) .... Sadie Sullivan
... aka The Saintly Show Girl
88. The Bondage of Barbara (1919) .... Barbara Grey
89. The Racing Strain (1918) .... Lucille Cameron
90. Hidden Fires (1918) .... Peggy Murray/Louise Parke
91. Money Mad (1918) .... Elsie Dean
92. The Glorious Adventure (1918) .... Carey Wethersbee
93. All Woman (1918) .... Susan Sweeney
94. The Face in the Dark (1918) .... Jane Ridgeway
95. The Beloved Traitor (1918) .... Mary Garland
96. Fields of Honor (1918) .... Marie Messereau
97. Stake Uncle Sam to Play Your Hand (1918)
98. The Cinderella Man (1917) .... Marjorie Caner
99. Sunshine Alley (1917) .... Nell
100. Polly of the Circus (1917) .... Polly
101. The Wharf Rat (1916) .... Polly
102. The Little Liar (1916) .... Maggie
103. Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages (1916) .... The Dear One (Modern Story)
... aka Intolerance (USA: short title)
... aka Intolerance: A Sun-Play of the Ages (USA: copyright title)
104. The Marriage of Molly-O (1916) .... Molly-O
105. A Wild Girl of the Sierras (1916) .... The Wild Girl
... aka A Child of Nature
106. A Child of the Streets (1916)
107. A Child of the Paris Streets (1916) .... Julie/the child-wife
... aka A Child of Paris
108. Hoodoo Ann (1916) .... Hoodoo Ann
109. Big Jim's Heart (1915)
110. Her Shattered Idol (1915) .... Mae Carter
111. The Victim (1915) .... Mary Hastings, Frank's Wife
112. The Outlaw's Revenge (1915) .... The American lover
113. The Outcast (1915) .... The Girl
114. The Birth of a Nation (1915) .... Flora Cameron
... aka In the Clutches of the Ku Klux Klan (USA: shorter version)
... aka The Birth of the Nation; Or The Clansman (second copyright title)
... aka The Clansman (USA: Los Angeles première title)
115. The Genius (1914)
116. The Great God Fear (1914)
117. The Avenging Conscience; Thou Shalt Not Kill (1914) .... The Maid
... aka The Telltale Heart (USA: first title)
... aka Thou Shalt Not Kill
118. The Birthday Present (1914)
119. The Escape (1914) .... Jennie Joyce
120. The Girl in the Shack (1914)
121. Home, Sweet Home (1914) .... Apple Pie Mary
122. The Broken Bottle (1914)
123. The Great Leap: Until Death Do Us Part (1914) .... Mary Gibbs
124. Brute Force (1914) .... Priscilla Mayhew (Prologue)/Lilywhite (The Old Days)
... aka In Prehistoric Days
... aka The Primitive Man (USA)
... aka Wars of the Primal Tribes
125. Apple Pie Mary (1914)
126. Judith of Bethulia (1914) .... Naomi
... aka Her Condoned Sin (USA)
127. Moonshine Molly (1914)
128. The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913) .... Sallly (a waif)
... aka The Battle of Elderbush Gulch
129. By Man's Law (1913) .... Sister Owner
130. The Girl Across the Way (1913) .... The Girl
131. Influence of the Unknown (1913) .... The Young Woman
132. For the Son of the House (1913) .... The Young Woman
133. Two Men of the Desert (1913)
134. The Reformers; or, The Lost Art of Minding One's Business (1913) .... The Daughter
... aka The Lost Art of Minding One's Business
... aka The Reformers (USA: short title)
135. The Sorrowful Shore (1913) .... On Shore
136. Her Mother's Oath (1913) .... In Church
137. The Mothering Heart (1913) (unconfirmed) .... Undetermined Role
138. A Timely Interception (1913)
139. His Mother's Son (1913) .... The Daughter
140. The Wanderer (1913/II) .... The Other Parents' Daughter, as an Adult
141. If We Only Knew (1913) (unconfirmed)
142. The Lady and the Mouse (1913) (unconfirmed) .... Undetermined Role
143. The Little Tease (1913) .... The Little Tease, as an Adult
144. The Perfidy of Mary (1913) .... Mary
145. Fate (1913) .... Mother, Loving Family
146. Near to Earth (1913) .... One of Gato's Sweetheart's Friends
147. A Girl's Stratagem (1913)
148. Broken Ways (1913)
149. Love in an Apartment Hotel (1913) .... Angelina Millingford, a Maid
150. The Tender Hearted Boy (1913) .... The Tender-Hearted Boy's sister
151. An Adventure in the Autumn Woods (1913) .... The Girl
152. The Telephone Girl and the Lady (1913) .... The Telephone Girl
153. Three Friends (1913) .... The Wife's Friend
154. Primitive Man: A Psychological Comedy Founded on Darwin's Theory of the Genesis of Man (1913) .... Lillywhite
... aka Primitive Man (USA: short title)
155. The Indian Uprising at Santa Fe (1912) .... Juan
156. The New York Hat (1912) .... Second Gossip
157. Brutality (1912) .... The Young Woman
158. The Civilian (1912)
159. For the Honor of the Seventh (1912)
160. Two Daughters of Eve (1912)
161. The Parasite (1912)
162. The Kentucky Girl (1912) .... Bob's Sister
163. The Inner Circle (1912)
164. The Sands of Dee (1912) .... Mary
165. Man's Genesis (1912) .... Lillywhite
... aka Man's Genesis: A Psychological Comedy Founded on Darwin's Theory of the Genesis of Man (USA: complete title)
166. An Indian Summer (1912) .... The Widow's Daughter
167. The School Teacher and the Waif (1912) .... Schoolgirl
168. The Spirit Awakened (1912) .... The Renegade Farmhand's Sweetheart
169. Lena and the Geese (1912) .... The 'Adopted' Daughter
170. A Temporary Truce (1912) .... A Murdered Settler
171. Home Folks (1912) .... At Barn Dance
172. A Beast at Bay (1912) .... The Young Woman's Friend
173. When Kings Were the Law (1912) .... At Court
174. His Lesson (1912) .... A Visitor
175. A Lodging for the Night (1912) .... First Mexican Couple, the Woman
176. The Old Actor (1912)
177. The Lesser Evil (1912) .... The Young Woman's Companion
178. One Is Business, the Other Crime (1912)
179. Just Like a Woman (1912) .... In Club
180. Those Hicksville Boys (1912) (unconfirmed) .... At Party
181. A Voice from the Deep (1912) .... On Beach
182. A Siren of Impulse (1912)
183. Fighting Blood (1911)
184. Serious Sixteen (1910)
185. Ramona (1910)
Herself
1. It's Everybody's War (1942) (uncredited) .... Bit Role
2. The Movie Album (1931) .... Herself
3. Life in Hollywood No. 4 (1927) .... Herself
4. United States Fourth Liberty Loan Drive (1918) .... Herself
... aka An Untitled Liberty Loan Film
Archive Footage
1. The Making of 'The Birth of a Nation' (1998) (V) .... Herself/Flora Cameron
2. The Moving Picture Boys in the Great War (1975) .... Herself
3. Black History: Lost Stolen, or Strayed (1968) (TV) (uncredited) .... Herself/Flora Cameron
4. The Love Goddesses (1965) .... Herself
Notable TV Guest Appearances
1. "Wagon Train" playing "Mrs. Jesse Grant" in episode: "The Colter Craven Story" (episode # 4.9) 23 November 1960
2. "Bonanza" playing "Mary" in episode: "The Phillip Diedesheimer Story" (episode # 1.8) 31 October 1959
