Mabel Normand
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Amabel Ethelreid Normand (November 9, 1893<ref name="1900 USA Census Card"/><ref name="1910 USA Census Card" /> – February 23, 1930), better known as Mabel Normand, was an American silent film actress, comedienne, director and screenwriter. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in their Keystone Studios films,Template:Sfn and at the height of her career in the late 1910s and early 1920s had her own film studio and production company,Template:Sfn the Mabel Normand Feature Film Company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On screen, she appeared in twelve successful films with Charlie Chaplin and seventeen with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, sometimes writing and directing (or co-writing and directing) films featuring Chaplin as her leading man.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Normand's name was repeatedly linked with gun violence, including the 1922 murder of her friend, director William Desmond Taylor, and the non-fatal<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 1924 shooting of Courtland S. Dines by Normand's chauffeur, Joe Kelly. After police interrogation, she was ruled out as a suspect in Taylor's murder. Normand was a very heavy smoker who may have suffered lung cancer, and/or a recurrence of tuberculosis in 1923, which led to a decline in her health, an early retirement from films in 1926 and her death in 1930 at age 36.<ref>cite magazine article Films in Review September 1974 Mabel Normand A Grand – Nephew's Memoir Normand, Stephen</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Early life and career
Amabel Ethelreid Normand was born in New Brighton, New York, (before it was incorporated into New York City as part of Staten Island) on November 9, 1893. She took her name from her father's only sibling, who had died before her birth in 1892. Normand's mother, Mary "Minnie" Drury, of Providence, Rhode Island,<ref>Rhode Island State Census, 1875</ref> was of Irish heritage; while her father, Clodman "Claude" George Normand, was French Canadian, with his ancestral lineage dating back to Normandy in France and their surname originally being LeNormand or Le Normand.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
For a short time at the start of her career, Normand worked for Vitagraph Studios in New York City for $25 per week, but Vitagraph founder Albert E. Smith admitted she was one of several actresses about whom he made a mistake in estimating their "potential for future stardom."<ref>Smith, Albert E. in collaboration with Phil A. Koury, "Two Reels And A Crank", Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1952.Template:ISBN?Template:Page needed</ref> Normand's intensely beguiling lead performance in the 1911 dramatic short film Her Awakening, directed by D. W. Griffith, drew her attention and led to her meeting director Mack Sennett while at Griffith's Biograph Company. The two subsequently embarked on a chaotic relationship. Sennett later brought Normand to California when he founded Keystone Studios in 1912.<ref name="Grdn2018">Template:Cite news</ref>
Normand appeared with Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in many short films. With the 1913 film A Noise from the Deep, Normand is credited as being the first film star to receive a pie thrown in the face.<ref name="pie" /> She played a key role in starting Chaplin's film career and acted as his leading lady and mentor in a string of films in 1914, collaborating with him as a director, co-director or co-writer.<ref name="Grdn2018"/> Chaplin had considerable initial difficulty adjusting to the demands of film acting, and his performance suffered for it. After his first film appearance in Making a Living, Sennett felt he had made a costly mistake.<ref name="Chaplin1964"/> However, Normand persuaded Sennett to give Chaplin another chance,Template:Sfn and she and Chaplin appeared together in a dozen subsequent films, almost always as a couple in the lead roles. At the start of 1914, Chaplin first played his Tramp character in Mabel's Strange Predicament,<ref name="Grdn2018"/> although it wound up being the second Tramp film released; Normand directed Chaplin and herself in the film.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Later that year, Normand starred with Chaplin and Marie Dressler in Tillie's Punctured Romance, the first feature-length comedy.
Normand opened her own film company in partnership with Sennett in 1916,<ref name="Grdn2018"/> based in Culver City, California. She lost the company in 1918 when its parent company, Triangle Film Corporation, experienced a massive shakeup which also had Sennett lose Keystone Studios and establish his own independent company. In 1918, as her relationship with Sennett came to an end, Normand signed a $3,500-per-week contract with Samuel Goldwyn. Around that same time, Normand allegedly had a miscarriage (or stillbirth) with Goldwyn's child.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Scandals
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle trials
Arbuckle, Normand's co-star in many films, was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for manslaughter in the 1921 death of actress Virginia Rappe. Although Arbuckle was acquitted, the scandal damaged his career and his films were banned from exhibition for a short time. Since she had made some of her most notable works with him, much of Normand's output was withheld from the public as a result.<ref name="Grdn2018"/> Arbuckle later returned to the screen as a director and actor, but did not attain his previous popularity despite being exonerated in court.
William Desmond Taylor murder
Director William Desmond Taylor formed a close relationship with Normand based on their shared interest in books. Author Robert Giroux claims that Taylor was deeply in love with Normand, who had originally approached him for help in dealing with an alleged cocaine dependency, and that Taylor met with federal prosecutors shortly before his death with an offer to assist them in filing charges against her drug dealers, theorizing that this meeting caused the dealers to hire a contract killer. According to Giroux, Normand suspected the reasons for Taylor's murder but did not know the identity of the man who killed him.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to Kevin Brownlow and John Kobal in their book Hollywood: The Pioneers, the idea that Taylor was murdered by drug dealers was invented by Paramount Studios for publicity purposes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
On the night of his murder, February 1, 1922, Normand left Taylor's bungalow at 7:45 pm in a happy mood, carrying a book he had lent her. They blew kisses to each other as her limousine drove away. Normand was the last person known to have seen Taylor alive. The Los Angeles Police Department subjected Normand to a grueling interrogation but ruled her out as a suspect.<ref name="NYT1922-02-07"/> Most subsequent writers have done the same. However, Normand's career had already slowed, and her reputation was tarnished. According to George Hopkins, who sat next to her at Taylor's funeral, Normand wept inconsolably.<ref>Giroux (1990), p. 236.</ref>
The Dines shooting
In 1924, Normand's chauffeur Joe Kelly shot and wounded millionaire oil broker and amateur golfer Courtland S. Dines with her pistol.<ref name="Grdn2018"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn In response, several theaters pulled Normand's films, which were also banned in Ohio by the state film censorship board.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> However, Dines was not fatally injured; he died of a heart attack in 1945, over two decades after the shooting.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Later career and death
Normand continued making films and was signed by Hal Roach Studios in 1926 after discussions with director/producer F. Richard Jones, who had directed her at Keystone. At Roach, she made the films Raggedy Rose, The Nickel-Hopper, and One Hour Married (her last film), all co-written by Stan Laurel, and was directed by Leo McCarey in Should Men Walk Home? The films were released with extensive publicity support from the Hollywood community, including her friend Mary Pickford.Template:Citation needed
In 1926, she married actor Lew Cody, with whom she had appeared in Mickey in 1918.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They lived separately in nearby houses in Beverly Hills. Normand's health was in decline due to tuberculosis.<ref name="Grdn2018"/> After an extended stay in Pottenger Sanitorium, she died from pulmonary tuberculosis on February 23, 1930, in Monrovia, California, at the age of 36.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She was interred as Mabel Normand-Cody at Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles. The date of birth listed on her crypt is incorrect.<ref name="1900 USA Census Card"/><ref name="1910 USA Census Card"/> Her mother was buried in the crypt above her crypt.
Legacy
Normand has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard.
Her film Mabel's Blunder (1914) was added to the National Film Registry in December 2009.<ref name="yahoo1" />
In June 2010, the New Zealand Film Archive reported the discovery of a print of Normand's film Won in a Closet (exhibited in New Zealand under its alternate title Won in a Cupboard), a short comedy previously believed lost. This film is a significant discovery, as Normand directed the film and starred in the lead role, displaying her talents on both sides of the camera.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2025, Mabel Normand was announced as an inductee in the Visual Effects Society Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Cultural references
- A nod to Normand's celebrity in early Hollywood came through the name of a leading character in the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, "Norma Desmond", which has been cited as a combination of the names Mabel Normand and William Desmond Taylor. The film also frequently mentions Normand by name.<ref name=LitWebTaylor>"Taylorology" (about William D. Taylor & era), (literateweb.com), September 2003, webpage: LitWeb-WDTaylorTemplate:Dead link.</ref><ref>Staggs, Sam: Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond and the Dark Hollywood Dream. St. Martin's Griffin Books, 2002 Template:Isbn</ref>
- Normand is mentioned during series 2 episode 1 of Downton Abbey by ambitious housemaid Ethel Parks. Daisy Mason (née Robinson), the kitchen maid, inquires what she is reading and Ethel responds, "Photoplay about Normand. She was nothing when she started, you know. Her father was a carpenter and they'd no money, and now she's a shining film star."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Better source needed
- Singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks wrote a song about the actress titled "Mabel Normand", which appears on her 2014 album 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault.
Fictional portrayals
The 1974 Broadway musical Mack & Mabel (Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman) fictionalized the romance between Normand and Mack Sennett. Normand was played by Bernadette Peters and Robert Preston portrayed Sennett.
Normand is played by actress Marisa Tomei in the 1992 film Chaplin opposite Robert Downey, Jr. as Charles Chaplin; by Penelope Lagos in the first biopic about Normand's life, a 35-minute dramatic short film entitled Madcap Mabel (2010); and by Morganne Picard in the motion picture Return to Babylon (2013).
In 2014, Normand was played on television by Andrea Deck in series 2, episode 8 of Mr Selfridge and by Kristina Thompson in the short film Mabel's Dressing Room.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The character played by Alice Faye in Hollywood Cavalcade (1939) was reputed to have been based partly on Normand.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
Some of her early roles are credited as "Mabel Fortesque".<ref name="Lowe">Template:Cite book</ref>
| Template:Dagger | Denotes a lost or presumed lost film. |
Vitagraph
| Year | Film | Role | Director | Co-Star | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | Indiscretions of Betty Template:Dagger | ||||
| Over the Garden Wall Template:Dagger | |||||
| 1911 | Fate's Turning | A Diner At The Hotel | D. W. Griffith | ||
| The Diamond Star Template:Dagger | Guest At Dinner Party | ||||
| A Tale of Two Cities | Uncredited | William J. Humphrey | |||
| Betty Becomes a Maid Template:Dagger | Betty | ||||
| Troublesome Secretaries | Betty Harding | Ralph Ince | |||
| Picciola; or, The Prison Flower Template:Dagger | Theresa Girhardi | ||||
| His Mother Template:Dagger | Donald's Fiancée | ||||
| When a Man's Married His Trouble Begins Template:Dagger | Mabel - Jack's Wife | James Morrison | |||
| A Dead Man's Honor Template:Dagger | Helen | ||||
| The Changing of Silas Warner Template:Dagger | |||||
| Two Overcoats Template:Dagger | |||||
| The Subduing of Mrs. Nag Template:Dagger | Miss Prue | George D. Baker | |||
| The Strategy of Anne Template:Dagger | |||||
| The Diving Girl Template:Dagger | The Niece | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace | ||
| How Betty Won the School Template:Dagger | Betty's Rival | Edith Storey | |||
| The Baron Template:Dagger | The Heiress | Mack Sennett | Dell Henderson |
Biograph
Keystone
| Year | Film | Role | Director | Co-Star | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | Cohen Collects a Debt | Mack Sennett | Ford Sterling | ||
| The Water Nymph | Diving Venus | Mack Sennett Ford Sterling |
Alternative title: The Beach Flirt First Keystone comedy | ||
| The New Neighbor Template:Dagger | |||||
| Riley and Schultz | |||||
| The Beating He Needed Template:Dagger | Fred Mace Ford Sterling |
||||
| Pedro's Dilemma Template:Dagger | Mack Sennett Fred Mace Ford Sterling |
||||
| Ambitious Butler Template:Dagger | Mack Sennett Fred Mace Ford Sterling |
||||
| The Flirting Husband Template:Dagger | Ford Sterling | ||||
| At Coney Island Template:Dagger | Ford Sterling Fred Mace |
Alternative title: Cohen at Coney Island | |||
| At It Again Template:Dagger | Mrs. Smith | Mack Sennett Fred Mace Ford Sterling |
|||
| Mabel's Lovers Template:Dagger | Mabel | Fred Mace Ford Sterling Alice Davenport |
|||
| The Deacon's Troubles Template:Dagger | Fred Mace Ford Sterling |
||||
| A Temperamental Husband Template:Dagger | Gladys | Fred Mace Ford Sterling |
|||
| Mr. Fix-It | Mabel | ||||
| The Rivals Template:Dagger | |||||
| A Desperate Lover Template:Dagger | Fred Mace | ||||
| Brown's Séance Template:Dagger | Mrs. Brown | Fred Mace | Fred Mace Alice Davenport |
||
| Pat's Day Off Template:Dagger | Bridget, Pat's Wife | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace Alice Davenport Ford Sterling |
||
| A Family Mixup Template:Dagger | A Wife | Mack Sennett Fred Mace |
|||
| A Midnight Elopement Template:Dagger | |||||
| Mabel's Adventures | Mabel | Fred Mace Ford Sterling |
|||
| The Drummer's Vacation Template:Dagger | |||||
| The Duel Template:Dagger | Mabel | ||||
| Mabel's Stratagem | Fred Mace Alice Davenport Mack Sennett |
||||
| Kings Court Template:Dagger | |||||
| 1913 | The Bangville Police | Farm Girl | Henry Lehrman | Fred Mace the Keystone Cops |
|
| A Noise from the Deep | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Roscoe Arbuckle the Keystone Cops |
||
| A Little Hero | George Nichols | ||||
| Mabel's Awful Mistakes Template:Dagger | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Ford Sterling |
Alternative title: Her Deceitful Lover | |
| Passions, He Had Three Template:Dagger | Henry Lehrman | Roscoe Arbuckle | Alternative title: He Had Three | ||
| For the Love of Mabel Template:Dagger | Mabel | Roscoe Arbuckle Ford Sterling |
|||
| Mabel's Dramatic Career | Mabel, the kitchen maid | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Ford Sterling |
Alternative title: Her Dramatic Debut | |
| The Gypsy Queen Template:Dagger | Roscoe Arbuckle | ||||
| Cohen Saves the Flag | Rebecca | Ford Sterling | |||
| 1914 | Mabel's Stormy Love Affair Template:Dagger | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Alice Davenport | |
| Won in a Closet<ref name="Kerr2010" /> | Alternative title: Won in a Cupboard | ||||
| In the Clutches of the Gang Template:Dagger | Roscoe Arbuckle Keystone Cops |
||||
| Mack at It Again Template:Dagger | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett | |||
| Mabel's Strange Predicament | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Charles Chaplin | Alternative title: Hotel Mixup First film with Chaplin as the Tramp although the second released. | |
| Mabel's Blunder | Charley Chase Al St. John |
Added to the National Film Registry in 2009<ref name="yahoo1" /> | |||
| A Film Johnnie | George Nichols | Charles Chaplin Roscoe Arbuckle |
|||
| Mabel at the Wheel | Mabel Normans Mack Sennett |
Charles Chaplin | |||
| Caught in a Cabaret | Mabel Normand | Charles Chaplin | Writer | ||
| Mabel's Nerve Template:Dagger | George Nichols | ||||
| The Alarm Template:Dagger | Roscoe Arbuckle Edward Dillon |
Roscoe Arbuckle Minta Durfee |
Alternative title: Fireman's Picnic | ||
| Her Friend the Bandit Template:Dagger | Mabel | Mabel Normand Charles Chaplin |
Charles Chaplin | ||
| The Fatal Mallet | Mack Sennett | Charles Chaplin Mack Sennett |
|||
| Mabel's Busy Day | Mabel Normand | Charles Chaplin Chester Conklin |
Writer | ||
| Mabel's Married Life | Charles Chaplin | Charles Chaplin | Co-written by Normand and Chaplin | ||
| Mabel's New Job Template:Dagger | Mabel Normand George Nichols |
Chester Conklin Charley Chase |
Writer | ||
| The Sky Pirate Template:Dagger | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle Minta Durfee |
|||
| The Masquerader | Actress | Charles Chaplin | Uncredited | ||
| Mabel's Latest Prank Template:Dagger | Mabel | Mabel Normand Mack Sennett |
Mack Sennett Hank Mann |
Alternative title: Touch of Rheumatism | |
| Hello, Mabel | Mabel Normand | Charley Chase Minta Durfee |
Alternative title: On a Busy Wire | ||
| Gentlemen of Nerve | Charles Chaplin | Charles Chaplin Chester Conklin |
Alternative titles: Charlie at the Races Some Nerve | ||
| His Trysting Place | Mabel, The Wife | Charles Chaplin | |||
| Shotguns That Kick Template:Dagger | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle Al St. John |
|||
| Getting Acquainted | Ambrose's Wife | Charles Chaplin | Charles Chaplin Phyllis Allen |
||
| Tillie's Punctured Romance | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Marie Dressler Charles Chaplin |
Feature-Length film First feature-length comedy | |
| 1915 | Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle | ||
| Mabel and Fatty's Simple Life | Roscoe Arbuckle | Alternative title: Mabel and Fatty's Simple Life | |||
| Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco | Mabel Normand Roscoe Arbuckle |
Roscoe Arbuckle | |||
| Mabel and Fatty's Married Life | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle | |||
| That Little Band of Gold | Wifey | Uncredited Alternative title: For Better or Worse | |||
| Wished on Mabel | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Roscoe Arbuckle | ||
| Mabel's Wilful Way | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle | |||
| Mabel Lost and Won | Mabel Normand | Owen Moore Mack Swain |
|||
| The Little Teacher | The Little Teacher | Mack Sennett | Roscoe Arbuckle, Mack Sennett | Alternative title: A Small Town Bully | |
| 1916 | Fatty and Mabel Adrift | Mabel | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle Al St. John |
Alternative title: Concrete Biscuits |
| He Did and He Didn't | The Doctor's Wife | Roscoe Arbuckle Al St. John |
Goldwyn Feature films
Hal Roach Studios
| Year | Film | Role | Director | Co-Star | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | Raggedy Rose | Raggedy Rose | Richard Wallace | Carl Miller Max Davidson |
Feature-length film |
| The Nickel-Hopper | Paddy, the nickel hopper | F. Richard Jones Hal Yates |
|||
| 1927 | Should Men Walk Home? | The Girl Bandit | Leo McCarey | Eugene Pallette Oliver Hardy |
|
| One Hour Married Template:Dagger | Jerome Strong | Creighton Hale James Finlayson |
References
Notes Template:Reflist
Further reading
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Sherman, William Thomas (2006). Mabel Normand: A Source Book to Her Life and Films
- Normand, Stephen (1974). Films in Review September Issue: Mabel Normand – A Grand Nephew's Memoir
- Lefler, Timothy Dean (2016). Mabel Normand: The Life and Career of a Hollywood Madcap. Template:ISBN
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- American silent film actresses
- American women film directors
- American women screenwriters
- Silent film comedians
- American silent film directors
- 1890s births
- 1930 deaths
- 20th-century American actresses
- American artists' models
- American female models
- American film actresses
- American people of French-Canadian descent
- American people of Irish descent
- Screenwriters from New York (state)
- Hal Roach Studios actors
- Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles)
- 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
- Drug-related deaths in California
- Comedians from Staten Island
- Tottenville High School alumni
- Actresses from Los Angeles
- Actresses from Staten Island
- Articles containing video clips
- 20th-century American comedians
- Women film pioneers
- Film directors from New York City
- Screenwriters from California
- Comedians from Los Angeles
- 20th-century American women writers
- 20th-century American screenwriters
- Tuberculosis deaths in California
- American women comedians
- Mack Sennett
- American slapstick comedians