The Women
Gladys Thornton - A Broadway and radio actress before going to Hollywood in 1954, Thornton was best known for her role as ‘Aunt Jemima’ on radio, a role she played for years. She was chosen for a number of radio and stage roles because of her Southern and Irish accents. Thornton died following a lengthy illness, her funeral was held at Pierce Brothers Chapel in Hollywood..
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Kathleen Kirkham - Educated at the Cummock School in Michigan, she began her career playing stock in Wisconsin and trained in dramatic schools before acting on the screen. Kirkham often played the vamp in films and also played mother roles to women who were older than she was. She played several "women you loved to hate," roles she could never overcome. As a freelance actress, she appeared in films for Morosco, Metro, Pathe, Clune, Goldwyn, First National and Realart & Arrow, eventually starting her own ‘Kirkham Productions’ company. Kirkham was married to insurance agent William H. Woodruff. At the time of her death, Kirkham was working as a cook in a private residence in Santa Barbara, California.
Natalie Talmadge - Sister of actresses Constance and Norma Talmadge and wife of actor Buster Keaton. Talmadge and Keaton married in 1921 and had two sons. After the birth of the second son, the marriage started to crumble. Talmadge went so far as to have a detective follow Buster to see who he was seeing behind her back. They finally divorced in 1932 and she took Keaton's entire fortune and would not allow him to see his sons, she even had the boys' surname changed to Talmadge. Keaton was reunited with his sons a decade later. Talmadge died of natural causes.
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Lilian Bond - Educated in England, Bond was a beauty contest winner in 1926 and shortly after went to New York and appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies. On Broadway she appeared in a number of shows including: ‘Stepping Out,’ ‘Three and One’ and ‘All Men Are Alike’ with Reginald Denny and Rolfe Sedan. Going to Hollywood in the early 30’s, she appeared in a handful of films before she was cast in "The Old Dark House" with Melvyn Douglas, Boris Karloff and Gloria Stuart, which proved to be the beginning of a very successful film career. Married to New York broker and game hunter Sidney Smith for nine years, Bond was married to novelist and film writer Michael Fessier up to his death in 1989. Bond died from cardiac arrest.
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Julia Faye - Making her film debut in "The Lamb" in 1915, Faye appeared with another actor making his debut ‑ Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Though beautifully photographed, Faye's acting ability was limited and she was taken under the watchful eye of Cecil B. DeMille, later rumored to be his mistress. By the 1940s, her career ended and her money ran out but DeMille put her on permanent payroll and cast her in minor roles in all his films of the 1940s and `50s. She appeared in the last film ever produced by DeMille ‑ "The Buccaneer" in 1958. Faye died following a long battle with cancer.
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Seena Owne - Sister of writer Lillie Hayward, Owen was praised by Hollywood cameramen as one of the most natural beauties to grace the screen. She began her career at the Kalem Studios, later moving to D.W. Griffith's company where she met future husband George Walsh while filming the epic "Intolerance," in 1916. With the advent of sound, her acting career ended due to her listless voice, she retired in 1933. Owen went on with a successful career as a screenwriter, writing two of Dorothy Lamour's best films "Aloma of the South Seas" and "Rainbow Island." Owen died following a brief illness.
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Vera Sisson - Sisson started in films in 1912 and her career skyrocketed while starring opposite J. Warren Kerrigan in a series of outdoor melodramas in 1915 and 1916. That fame was short lived and Sisson went back to playing supporting roles for the remainder of her career ‑ she retired in 1926. She appeared in films for Universal, American Mutoscope & Biograph Company. On May 6, 1939, Sisson and her husband were arrested and held in Germany for photographing military fortifications. They were held without communication to the U.S. until May 24, then released and sent back to America on May 26. Sisson was married to actor and producer Richard Rosson who committed suicide in 1953. Just a year later, Sisson died of an overdose of barbiturates.