Just turned 39 on Tuesday, heard of and seen a couple of Pearl Whites. She was cool, sort of an Edwardian Buffy sometimes.
Sylkyn, not only have I heard of poor Olive Thomas but two weeks ago I saw her mausoleum, in Woodlawn Cemetery here in the Bronx! She’s buried under the name Olive Pickford in a tomb built by her ne’er do well husband, Jack Pickford, who’s buried himself with still another wife elsewhere in the cemetery.
Woodlawn is full of early stage, jazz, and screen stars, as well as Irving Berlin and George M. Cohan, but wrong thread to go into that. Eve, you’re in NY, get on the 4 train and check it out, there’s tons of tours.
Oh, I intend to go the Woodlawn someday—they don’t have tours, though, do they? Vernon and Irene Castle are there, and I want to visit them—and poor Ollie, of course. Pearl White is buried in Paris, so the likelihood of my seeing her grave is remote, darnit.
And if you check out the Walking Tours section of Part II of the Weekend section of the Friday times, the Friends of Woodlawn Cemetery gives walking tours at least twice a month. Walk up to the gate and they’ll sell you a nice map and you can walk around, although they’ll quiz you a bit because they get worried about vandals. I was last there on a theatrical personalities tour because of the 100th deathday of producer Clyde Fitch. The place is so big, though, walking tours are the best way to go. Ask for Susan Olsen and see if they plan another theater tour, the first was really popular. </hijack>
I’ve heard of Pearl White and the Perils of Pauline, but I’ve never seen any of her movies. My introduction to the silent movie star galaxy came about in the early eighties (my early teens) with Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon…
:::::waits patiently for the fainting Eve to regain consciousness::::
and I’m always on the lookout for some good Hollywood reading. Sadly, I bet I couldn’t find one person this weekend who would immediately recognize the name Pearl White. Some of my contemporaries give me a blank stare when I mention Jimmy Stewart.
I’ve heard of both Pearl White and “The Perils of Pauline,” although I haven’t seen her/it. That I have heard of her is largely because I’m interested in serials (though I’m certainly more familiar with the sound serials of the 40s and 50s). Having read books about them, I’ve naturally come across her name.
For that reason, I guess I would tend to think of her as somewhat more “esoteric” than Pickford, Valentino, or Chaplin. I only became aware of her because of an interest in a specialized niche of film-making, as opposed to knowing about older films in general, if you see the distinction I’m making. I mentally classify her as something of “genre” star, rather than a star in general. Along the same lines, I’m also a fan of the Universal horror films of the 30s. Thus, I easily recognize the name Lionel Atwill, but I wouldn’t expect anyone who wasn’t a horror buff to know who he was.
I’ll take your word for it that Ms. White was as big a star as Valentino or Chaplin (you certainly know more about that era than I do), but I hadn’t gotten that impression from my own reading. Quite possibly, my own reading has been lacking.
I was once in a play called The Biograph Girl - anyone heard of that? All about Lillian Gish and DW Griffith and Mack Sennet and all that crowd. And Mary Pickford.
Wow…I knew there was a reason for me to head back to New York! I’d love to visit that cemetery. (I like cemeteries, anyway…even for the non-famous. Well, only to visit, of course…)
Very cool, Mehitabel! Thanks for the info! I also read the find-a-grave site sometimes, but obviously missed that one.
And Eve, I too have always felt that Jack Pickford had something to do with her death as well. Glad to know I’m not the only one that loves a good old mystery, even if nobody considers it a mystery.
[sub]I read Hollywood Babylon as a teenager, and figured out even then Kenneth Anger was seriously F. O. S. He not only lied, but lied unconvincingly. Don’t even get me started on the Jayne Mansfield “decapitation” crap. :mad:[/sub]
Just wanted to check in – nearly 23 years old, not particularly a “movie buff”, but I’ve heard of Pearl White and The Perils of Pauline, and not just because there’s a line about her in the Sunset Boulevard musical.
One trouble with knowing Pearl White today is that none of her movies is currently distributed on home video, at least not in the U.S. (I’d be glad to be proven wrong — I’d like to see The Exploits of Elaine). Another is that she never made any talkies, which lessens the chance that her movies will be shown on television today.
Oh, Pearl wasn’t as big a star as Pickford or Chaplin–I just meant that she was as much a “cultural icon,” and a name I thought had lived on–and apparently she has, judging by this thread! Some of her films were available at Grapevine Video, the best source for silent vidoes–but they are going our of business, dammit.
With the success of our Green-Wood trip, we really should arrange another, to the Bronx. Later this summer?
