Pauline Frederick


Pauline Frederick was an American stage and film actress.

Early life

Frederick was born Pauline Beatrice Libbey in Boston in 1883, the only child of Richard O. and Loretta C. Libbey. Her father worked as a yardmaster for the Old Colony Railroad before becoming a salesman. Her parents separated when she was a toddler and Frederick was raised primarily by her mother to whom she remained close for the remainder of her life. As a girl, she was fascinated with show business, and determined early to place her goals in the direction of the theater. She studied acting, singing and dancing at Miss Blanchard's Finishing School in Boston where she later graduated.
Her father, however, discouraged her ambitions to be an actress and encouraged her to become an elocution teacher. After pursuing a career as an actress, her father disinherited her. Due to her father's attitude towards her acting career, Pauline adopted the surname "Frederick" as her stage name. She legally changed her name to Pauline Frederick in 1908.

Career

She made her stage debut at the age of 17 as a chorus girl in the farce The Rogers Brothers at Harvard, but was fired shortly thereafter. She won other small roles on the stage before being discovered by illustrator Harrison Fisher who called her "the purest American beauty." With Fisher's help, she landed more substantial stage roles. Nicknamed "The Girl with the Topaz Eyes", Fredrick was cast in the lead roles in the touring productions of The Little Gray Lady and The Girl in White in 1906. She briefly retired from acting after her first marriage in 1909, but returned to the stage in January 1913 in Joseph and His Brethren.
A well-known stage star, Frederick was already in her 30s when she made her film debut in 1915 as Donna Roma in The Eternal City. In March 1927, she received some of her better reviews when she appeared in the play Madame X in London. Frederick was able to make a successful transition to "talkies" in 1929, and was cast as Joan Crawford's mother in This Modern Age. Frederick did not like acting in sound films and returned to Broadway in 1932 in When the Bough Breaks. She would continue the remainder of her career appearing in films and also touring in stage productions in the United States, Europe and Australia.

Personal life

Frederick's personal life was beset with marital and financial problems. Despite having reportedly made a million dollars for her work in silent films, Frederick filed for bankruptcy in 1933.
Frederick was married five times. In 1909, she married architect Frank Mills Andrews. Frederick then briefly retired from acting, but returned upon divorcing Andrews in 1913. She married her second husband, playwright Willard Mack, on September 27, 1917. They divorced in August 1920. Her third husband was Dr. Charles A. Rutherford, a physician, whom she married in Santa Ana, California in 1922. Frederick filed for divorce in December 1924. Their divorce was finalized on January 6, 1925.
It was around this time that the then 43-year-old first met the much younger Clark Gable, then a struggling actor, with whom she allegedly had a two-year affair.
Frederick married her fourth husband, millionaire hotel and Interstate News Company owner Hugh Chisholm Leighton on April 20, 1930 in New York City. Leighton had the marriage annulled in December 1930 claiming that he was Frederick's husband "in name only".
Frederick's fifth marriage, in January 1934, was to an ailing United States Army colonel, Joseph A. Marmon, commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment. They remained married until Marmon's death on December 4, 1934.

Death

On January 17, 1936, Frederick underwent emergency surgery on her abdomen. Her health steadily declined, which limited her ability to work. She was dealt a further blow when her mother died in 1937.
On September 16, 1938, Frederick suffered an asthma attack. She suffered a second, fatal asthma attack on September 19, 1938 while she was recuperating at her aunt's home in Beverly Hills. According to her wishes, a private funeral was held on September 23 in Hollywood, after which she was buried at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Pauline Frederick has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1915The Eternal CityDonna RomaLost film
1915SoldHelenLost film
1915ZazaZaZaLost film
1915Bella DonnaBella Donna Lost film
1915Lydia GilmoreLydia GilmoreLost film
1916The SpiderValerie St. Cyr/Joan MarcheLost film
1916AudreyAudreyLost film
1916The Moment BeforeMadgeA 35mm nitrate copy of the film is housed at the Cineteca Nazionale film archive in Rome. The print is missing one sequence described as "the opening scene before the flashback."
1916The World's Great SnareMyraLost film
1916The Woman in the CaseMargaret Rolfe
1916Ashes of EmbersLaura Ward/Agnes WardLost film
1916Nanette of the WildsNanette GauntierLost film
1917The Slave MarketRamonaLost film
1917SaphoSapho, aka Fanny LagrandLost film
1917Sleeping FiresZelma BryceLost film
1917Her Better SelfVivian TylerLost film
1917The Love That LivesMolly McGill
1917Double CrossedEleanor StrattonLost film
1917The Hungry HeartCourtney VaughanLost film
1918Mrs. Dane's DefenseFelicia HindemarshLost film
1918Madame JealousyMadame JealousyLost film
1918La ToscaFloria ToscaLost film
1918ResurrectionKatushaLost film
1918Her Final ReckoningMarsaLost film
1918FedoraPrincess FedoraLost film
1918Stake Uncle Sam to Play Your HandMiss Liberty LoanShort film
1918A Daughter of the Old SouthDolores JardineLost film
1919Out of the ShadowRuth MinchinLost film
1919The Woman on the IndexSylvia MartinLost film
1919Paid in FullEmma BrooksLost film....final Famous Players-Lasky/ Paramount feature
1919One Week of LifeMrs. Sherwood & Marion RocheLost film
1919The Fear WomanHelen WinthropLost film
1919The Peace of Roaring RiverMadge NelsonLost film
1919Bonds of LoveUna SayreLost film
1919The Loves of LettyLetty Shell
1920The Paliser CaseCassy CaraLost film
1920The Woman in Room 13Laura BruceLost film
1920Madame XJacqueline Floriot
1920A Slave of VanityIris BellamyLost film...First Robertson-Cole release
1921The Mistress of ShenstoneLady Myra Inglebyextant; abridged or incomplete
1921Roads of DestinyDolly Jordan LennonLost film...Final Goldwyn Pictures release
1921SalvageBernice Ridgeway/Kate MartinLost film
1921The Sting of the LashDorothy KeithLost film
1921The Lure of JadeSara VincentLost film
1922The Woman Breed
1922Two Kinds of WomenJudith SanfordLost film
1922The Glory of ClementinaClementina WingLost film
1924Let Not Man Put AsunderPetrina FaneuilLost film
1924Married FlirtsNellie WayneLost film
1924Three WomenMrs. Mabel Wilton
1925Smouldering FiresJane Vale
1926Her Honor, the GovernorAdele Fenway
1926Devil's IslandJeannette Picto
1926Josselyn's WifeLillian JosselynLost film
1927MumsieMumsieLost film
1927The NestMrs. Hamilton
1928On TrialJoan TraskLost film
1929EvidenceMyra StanhopeLost film
1929The Sacred FlameMrs. Taylor - the MotherLost film
1930Terra Melophon Magazin Nr. 1Die ZofeEpisode: "Was Ziehe ich an, Bevor ich mich anziehe"
1931This Modern AgeDiane "Di" Winters
1932WaywardMrs. Eleanor Frost
1932The Phantom of CrestwoodFaith Andes
1932Self DefenseKaty Devoux
1934Social RegisterMrs. Breene
1935My MarriageMrs. DeWitt Tyler II
1936RamonaSeñora Moreno
1937Thank You, Mr. MotoMadame Chung