Marguerite De La Motte
Marguerite De La Motte was an American silent film star.
Biography
In her youth, Marguerite De La Motte took dance and ballet lessons from the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova and graduated from the Egan Art School. At the age of 17, she began performing regularly as a dancer. Douglas Fairbanks spotted her at the Sid Grauman’s Million Dollar Theatre in Los Angeles and invited her to collaborate. The most popular films where she played alongside him, incl. “The Mark of Zorro“, “The Three Musketeers”, “The Nut” and “Iron Mask”.
Unfortunately, when she was 18, she became an orphan. The mother died in a car accident in January 1920, and in August of the same year, her father had a heart attack. She was left alone with her younger brother but was taken care of by producer J.L. Frothingham.
In 1924, she married John Bowers, an idol of silent cinema. They played together in 12 films. The relationship ended in separation, and John Bowers soon committed suicide by throwing himself into the ocean. The reason was that sound works began to enter film productions, and silent cinema actors were unable to find themselves in the new reality. Marguerite starred in a few more of them but quickly retired.
During World War II, she worked as an inspector in a war factory and for the Red Cross.
Best known for
- The Three Musketeers (1921)
- The Mark of Zorro (1920)
- Shadows (1922)
- The Nut (1921)
- Iron Mask (1929)
Link with Zorro
Marguerite De La Motte played the role of Lolita Pulindo in the 1920 movie “The Mark of Zorro“. She was then 18 years old.
Metric, family, awards
date of birth: June 22, 1902
date of death: March 10, 1950 (aged 47 due to cerebral thrombosis)
place of birth: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
height: 157 cm
marital status: husband John Bowers (1924-1936, divorce, suicide), husband Sidney H. Rivkin (1939-1943, divorce)
family: younger brother, cousin of Clete Roberts
Trivia and links
- From February 8, 1960, she has her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- She starred with Noah Beery and Noah Beery Junior in both “The Mark of Zorro” and in her latest film “Overland Mail”.
- Douglas Fairbanks and Marguerite De La Motte in 1920 co-starred in the first film about Zorro. The cooperation did not end there. In 1929 they starred in the movie “Iron Mask”. Fairbanks played D’Artagnan, and Marguerite De La Motte played Constance Bonacieux. The cast also included Charles Stevens, who in “The Mark of Zorro” got a cameo role as a peon beaten by Sergeant Gonzales, and in “The Iron Mask” – Planchet, D’Artagnan’s servant.
- Her cousin, Clete Roberts, appeared in two episodes of the series M * A * S * H * as a war correspondent, which he was by profession.
- She liked reading and playing the piano.
- She was interred at Olivet Memorial Park in Colma, California.
- Her best friend was actress Barbara La Marr, who died at the age of 29 of tuberculosis.
Filmography
1942 – The Man Who Returned to Life as Mrs. Hibbard
1942 – Overland Mail as Waitress Rose
1941 – Reg’lar Fellers as Mrs. Dugan
1934 – A Woman’s Man as Gloria Jordan
1930 – Shadow Ranch as Ruth Cameron
1929 – The Iron Mask as Constance
1929 – Montmartre Rose as Jeanne
1927 – The Kid Sister as Helen Hall
1927 – Ragtime as Beth Barton
1927 – Held by the Law as Mary Travis
1927 – Broadway Madness as Maida Vincent
1926 – The Unknown Soldier as Mary Phillips
1926 – The Last Frontier as Beth
1926 – Red Dice as Beverly Vane
1926 – Pals in Paradise as Geraldine Howard
1926 – Meet the Prince as Annabelle Ford
1926 – Hearts and Fists as Alexia Newton
1926 – Fifth Avenue as Barbara Pelham
1925 – The People vs. Nancy Preston as Nancy Preston
1925 – Flattery as Betty Biddle
1925 – Children of the Whirlwind as Maggie
1925 – Cheaper to Marry as Doris
1924 – When a Man’s a Man as Helen Wakefield
1924 – The Clean Heart as Essie Bickers
1924 – The Beloved Brute as Jacinta
1924 – Gerald Cranston’s Lady as Angela
1924 – East of Broadway as Judy McNulty
1923 – What a Wife Learned as Sheila Dorne
1923 – The Famous Mrs. Fair as Sylvia Fair
1923 – Scars of Jealousy as Helen Meanix
1923 – Just Like a Woman as Peggy Dean
1923 – A Man of Action as Helen Sumner
1922 – The Jilt as Rose Trenton
1922 – Shattered Idols as Sarasvati
1922 – Shadows as Sympathy Gibbs
1922 – Fools of Fortune as Marion DePuyster
1921 – The Three Musketeers as Constance Bonacieux
1921 – The Nut as Estrell Wynn
1920 – Trumpet Island as Eve de Merincourt
1920 – The U.P. Trail as Allie Lee
1920 – The Sagebrusher as Mary Warren
1920 – The Mark of Zorro as Lolita Pulido
1920 – The Hope as Lady Brenda Carylon
1920 – The Broken Gate as Anne Oglesby
1919 – The Pagan God as Beryl Addison
1919 – In Wrong as Millie Fields
1919 – For a Woman’s Honor as Helen Rutherford
1918 – Arizona as Lena
