 (March 19, 1897 - April 18, 1974)
Born Eleanor Luicime Compson in Beaver, Utah, she had an extensive
filmography. As a youth her father died and she was forced to drop
out of school and earn a living for herself and her mother. She
obtained employment as a violinist in a Salt Lake City, Utah
theater.
Compson made 25 films in 1916 alone, although most of them are
shorts. She completed The Miracle Man (1919) for George Loane
Tucker. Compson's rise as a star in motion pictures began with her
portrayal of Rose in this production.
In 1920 she began to head her own company. She worked at the
Hollywood Brunton studio and acquired three stories for films. Her
first movie as producer was Prisoners of Love (1921). She played the
role of Blanche Davis, a girl born to wealth and cursed by her
inheritance of physical beauty. Compson selected Art Rosson to
direct the feature.
Compson worked for the Christie Company as a newcomer in films,
followed by Famous Players-Lasky. After completing The Woman With
Four Faces (1923) she signed with a London, England motion picture
company. There she starred in a series of four films directed by
Graham Cutts, a well-known English filmmaker. The first of these was
a movie version of an English play called Woman to Woman (1929).
In 1928 she appeared in The Barker, a silent movie which contained
some talking scenes. Compson was nominated for the Academy Award for
Best Actress for the performance. |
