Happy Silent Birthday

As you may or may not be aware, we love our silent films, and it turns out that today is the birthday of three of the silent film era’s major female stars:

Marion Davies (1897-1961) - married to publishing tycoon William Randolph Hurst, and it was said that she was the inspiration for the character Susan Alexander Kane in the film Citizen Kane, which is loosely based on Hurst’s life. 

Pola Negri (1897-1987) - Negri from Poland, ended up becoming one of the most popular Hollywood actresses of the era, and certainly the richest woman of the film industry at the time, living in a mansion in Los Angeles modeled after the White House. While in Hollywood, she started several ladies' fashion trends, some of which are still fashion staples today, including red painted toenails, fur boots, and turbans.

Anna May Wong (1905-1961) - Wong became a fashion icon and had achieved international stardom in 1924. Wong had been one of the first to embrace the flapper look. In 1934, the Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York voted her the "world's best dressed woman." In the 1920s and 1930s, Wong was acclaimed as one of the top fashion icons. 

In 1951, Wong made history with her television show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, the first-ever U.S. television show starring an Asian-American series lead.

While these names are largely unknown by many today, in the days before tv and social media, everyone went to the cinema, it meant that these three women along with many others held a lot of wealth and power in Hollywood and the world at large. 

Off to watch Citizen Kane again now …