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(10 November 1895, New Brighton,
Staten Island, New York - 22 February 1930, Monrovia, California)
Born
Mabel Ethelreid Normand in Staten Island, New York, she grew up in
extreme poverty. Her father was sporadically employed as a carpenter
at Sailors' Snug Harbor home for elderly seamen.
Before she entered films in 1909, Normand worked as an artist's
model, which included posing for postcards illustrated by Charles
Dana Gibson, creator of the Gibson Girl image.
Her first films portrayed her as a bathing beauty, but Normand
quickly demonstrated a flair for comedy and became a star of
Sennett's short films. She appeared regularly with Charles Chaplin
and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and wrote, directed, and starred in some
of Chaplin's early films. She has been credited with being the first
person to throw a cream pie on film and is often cited as silent
cinema's most prominent comedienne. She directed films and made
full-length features before either Arbuckle or Chaplin.
In 1914 she starred with Chaplin and Marie Dressler in Tillie's
Punctured Romance. Normand developed into a major film star. As her
relationship with Sennett came to an end, she signed a contract with
Samuel Goldwyn in 1918 and opened her own film studio in Culver
City.
She 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 film Raggedy Rose plus four others
which were released with publicity support from the Hollywood
community.
Mabel appeared in 227 films from 1910 to 1927.
Mabel Normand has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her
contributions to Motion Pictures, at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard. |