Carol Dempster


Carol Dempster was an American film actress of the silent film era.

Early years

Born in Duluth, Minnesota, Dempster was the daughter of a captain on the Great Lakes and the youngest of four children. The family moved to California when her father decided to change careers. While dancing in a school program, Dempster was noticed by Ruth St. Denis and went on to become the youngest graduate in the first class of St. Denis's school of dance.

Career

Dempster got her start in films as a protégé of legendary film director D.W. Griffith alongside other Griffith actresses of the mid-1910s Lillian and Dorothy Gish and Mae Marsh. Griffith gave Dempster her first role at age 15 in his 1916 film Intolerance playing one of the Babylonian harem girls alongside another teenaged newcomer, Mildred Harris. Dempster eventually became one of Griffith's "favorites"; he cast her in nearly every one of his films throughout the 1920s, allegedly to the irritation of Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish. Dempster became romantically involved with the much older Griffith during the early 1920s while Griffith was estranged from his wife, Linda Arvidson.
Dempster's first feature role came in 1919 in the Griffith directed The Girl Who Stayed at Home opposite Robert "Bobby" Harron. Dempster followed this with Griffith's The Love Flower, Dream Street, One Exciting Night and Isn't Life Wonderful, America, Sally of the Sawdust, and That Royle Girl. Dempster appeared opposite such notable actors as John Barrymore, Richard Barthelmess, William Powell, Ivor Novello, and W.C. Fields.
In 1926 Dempster acted in her final film, a Griffith vehicle entitled The Sorrows of Satan, co-starring Adolphe Menjou, Ricardo Cortez, and the Hungarian vamp Lya De Putti. Dempster then retired from the screen to marry wealthy banker Edwin S. Larson in 1926.
Dempster's critical stock was never very high, in part because she was unable to live up to the performances of Lillian Gish, whom she replaced as Griffith's leading lady. Her somewhat "ordinary" appearance and animated acting style were frequently criticized. Also, with a few exceptions, the films she appeared in were not among Griffith's more popular works. In recent years, however, viewers and critics alike have slowly begun to appreciate her performances, particularly in two later films, Isn't Life Wonderful and The Sorrows of Satan.

Death

Dempster died in La Jolla, California, in 1991 at the age of 89 from heart failure and was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in Glendale, California. Upon her death, Dempster left $1.6 million to the San Diego Museum of Art, which was used to expand the museum's collections of prints and drawings.

Filmography

All features were directed by D. W. Griffith except Sherlock Holmes, which was directed by Albert Parker. The Hope Chest, a product of the New Art Film Company from 1918, was produced by Griffith but directed by Elmer Clifton.
YearTitleRoleNotes
1916IntoleranceDancerUncredited
1918Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan AppealLillian's SisterShort
Lost
1918The Greatest Thing in LifeDancerUncredited
Lost
1918The Hope ChestEthel HoytUndetermined / presumably lost
1919A Romance of Happy ValleyGirl John Logan meets in New YorkUncredited
1919The Girl Who Stayed at HomeAcoline France
1919True Heart SusieBettina's friend
1919Scarlet DaysLady Fair
1920The Love FlowerStella Bevan
1920Way Down EastBarn dancerUncredited
1921Dream StreetGypsy Fair
1922Sherlock HolmesAlice Faulkner
1922One Exciting NightAgnes Harrington
1923The White RoseMarie Carrington
1924AmericaMiss Nancy Montague
1924Isn't Life WonderfulInga
1925Sally of the SawdustSally
1925That Royle GirlJoan Daisy RoyleLost
1926The Sorrows of SatanMavis Claire