Tweet Douglas Fairbanks and a mysterious lady

I am a member of Facebook film group, and there has been a discussion about who the lady on the picture is. Several actresses have been suggested. I will not list their names here, because I don't want to influence your judgement. Thank you very much!


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Lets see Mr. Fairbanks was 5'7" tall and this person next to him appears to be @ 5'5" tall based on that comparison.

She has dark features, perhaps German descent? She wears her hair just above the shoulder and is black in color.

My guess= Mary Astor circa 1925?? I know it was a wild guess. I tried.

Thanks for the post,

Dana

She's only about 5'2" - if he's 5'7". But I think he was actually 5'9". Almost looks like a sloppy Garbo without plucked eyebrows. She made a picture with Jr. She was 5'7"... Mary Astor never had eyebrows that looked like that. Garbo never appears like this photo, either, except - when she was out on the street in New York. But she never looked like this in Hollywood - SO-O-O, neither...

Thank you! Mary Astor has been suggested by members of the Facebook group too.

Has anyone suggested Letitia Fairbanks, Doug's niece?

She's only about 5'2" - if he's 5'7". But I think he was actually 5'9". Almost looks like a sloppy Garbo without plucked eyebrows. She made a picture with Jr. She was 5'7"... Mary Astor never had eyebrows that looked like that. Garbo never appears like this photo, either, except - when she was out on the street in New York. But she never looked like this in Hollywood - SO-O-O, neither...

Really. I always thought he was 5-6 or 5-7 and probably wore those Florsheims with thick heels.

My first reaction was Mary Astor but for the boobs.

Nobody has suggested Letitia Fairbanks. Thank you!

this is Doug in his Triangle days, my guess is Olive Thomas or Colleen Moore, both were at Triangle in the 1910s.

She's only about 5'2" - if he's 5'7". But I think he was actually 5'9". Almost looks like a sloppy Garbo without plucked eyebrows. She made a picture with Jr. She was 5'7"... Mary Astor never had eyebrows that looked like that. Garbo never appears like this photo, either, except - when she was out on the street in New York. But she never looked like this in Hollywood - SO-O-O, neither...

Really. I always thought he was 5-6 or 5-7 and probably wore those Florsheims with thick heels.

My first reaction was Mary Astor but for the boobs.

Dead giveaway, huh?

And yes, Doug was short. (And sensitive about it.) I believe Jeffrey Vance put him at 5'6" and he wore shoes with one and a half inch heel-buildups. Doug, that is, not Jeff.

Jim

Olive Thomas, Mary Astor and Marjorie Daw are among the actresses suggested by members of the Facebook group. There is some doubt, however, that the mysterious lady was Olive Thomas, because she had no cleft in her chin (which Olive had). Since the photo probably was taken during Doug's Triangle days Mary Astor was too young. I don't think the lady is Marjorie Daw.

I don't have a lot of experience with Hollywood photos but a guess would be Katherine MacDonald. She looks a bit older than the youngish ingenues that Fairbanks usually used in his films. MacDonald was in HEADIN" SOUTH and MR> FIX-IT, both Artcraft films from 1918. This actress also has a smile a bit like MacDonald's sister, Mary McLaren, but I'll leave the final judgment for people with greater experience in these pictures.

[silentfilm]

Here is Katherine McDonald in White Shoulders (1922)

Nobody has suggested Letitia Fairbanks. Thank you!

Nope, definitely not Letitia, who was born in 1913 and was probably about 6 years old when this photo was taken.

Olive Thomas

Without a snipe and identifying information about who, when, what, where, and why from a studio or newspaper, it's all speculation about who it is. Without definitive proof, it could be anyone.

Perhaps too simple an answer but could it be Sylvia Ashley, former wife of Clark Gable? She seems to look somewhat similar to the photo shown.

She married Fairbanks in 1936, the same year that he and Mary Pickford were divorced. His womanizing with Chaplin in England was one of the reasons for their divorce.

Perhaps too simple an answer but could it be Sylvia Ashley, former wife of Clark Gable? She seems to look somewhat similar to the photo shown.

She married Fairbanks in 1936, the same year that he and Mary Pickford were divorced. His womanizing with Chaplin in England was one of the reasons for their divorce.

https://ladysilky.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/ladyashley1920s.jpg

Could be. It would be about 20 years earlier than this photo, then:
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/actor-douglas-fairbanks-sr-w-wife-the-former-lady-sylvia-news-photo/50444790#actor-douglas-fairbanks-sr-w-wife-the-former-lady-sylvia-ashley-w-picture-id50444790

There's another suggestion for that mysterious lady, here: https://eastman.org/playing-detective-d ... collection.

There's another suggestion for that mysterious lady, here: https://eastman.org/playing-detective-d ... collection" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank.

from the above link



When I was unable to find an image in an article, which was often the case, I simply had to rely on my knowledge of Douglas, which I supplemented with biographies written by those who know far more than I; Dr. Tracey Goessel's The First King of Hollywood was my trusty go-to, especially when it came to determining dates. For instance, I knew the image above of Douglas with a crate had to be from 1920 or 1921. It was before production began on The Three Musketeers, as he wasn't donning a moustache. The message on the crate was my second clue. I found that “California Ripe Olive Day” was first celebrated on February 21, 1921. I also considered Douglas' bandaged hand. I knew Dr. Goessel's book touched upon some of the injuries he sustained while performing his stunts, and she found that as he was leaping through a window for a scene in The Nut (1921), “he caught his foot on the sill and crashed six feet onto the pavement” fracturing his left hand. Dr. Goessel even mentioned the names of some of Douglas’ dogs, including his Alaskan Malamutes, Ginger and Rex. Her information combined with a 1917 article from The Photo-Play Journal helped me cross another image off my list.

Two negatives of Douglas and Charlie Chaplin posing with a young woman were of particular interest to those who had worked on the collection in the past. These candid shots looked as though they had been taken around 1917, but I couldn’t place their guest. Was she a friend, a relative, or a visitor to the studio? Was she associated more with Chaplin than Douglas? I knew the best way to find out would be to enlist Charlie’s dedicated fan base, so I wrote to Jessica Buxton, a knowledgeable researcher and enthusiast who maintains the blog, Discovering Chaplin. Jessica thought I was correct about the date considering Charlie’s hair was still naturally dark, but she wasn’t sure about the lady in question. She suggested we ask her equally devoted friend, Dominique Dugros. Jessica and Dominique graciously dedicated their time to help me search, and they soon determined that our mystery maiden might have been the stage actress Marie Doro. Chaplin had been quite taken with Doro when they worked together in the London revival of Sherlock Holmes in 1905. According to a Motion Picture News article from 1916, which was around the time Marie started making pictures for the Lasky Company, she held a reception in Hollywood in which Charlie and Douglas were guests. I haven’t been able to find this exact candid in any publications, so, of course I will continue to attempt to confirm the possibility, but there is a noticeable resemblance. Perhaps our mystery has been solved! Either way, I have made two wonderful new acquaintances along the way.

Maire Doro looks like a match to me.

Good work, SE. It looks possible from here -



(I've just been reading of Doro in Margot Peters' HOUSE OF BARRYMORE.)

-Craig

Nice bit of research. I think you're on the right track. The lady appears to be in costume. Note the gypsy hoop earrings and the flamboyant cut of the dress. Also, her hair has that "artfully disheveled" look that you wouldn't typically see if somebody was going out in public or a party. Perhaps a costume drama or taking place in a distant land of some sort. Anyway, great thread!

Martin

Martin, as to the hair, both Doug's and Charlie's seem wind-tousled, too.

Very true, everyone looks a little "weathered" in the photo. I suspect it was a result of either the Santa Anna winds or simply a joy-ride in a motorcar.

Very true, everyone looks a little "weathered" in the photo. I suspect it was a result of either the Santa Anna winds or simply a joy-ride in a motorcar.

Probs joy-ride--If due to Santa Anas, hair would be standing up like they'd all just be electrocuted. Most annoying.