Constance Talmadge
Constance Talmadge was the youngest of three sisters,
all of whom went into films. She was born April 19, 1899, in Jersey
City, NJ, and moved with her family to New York City where she
attended public school. Her mother, Peg, had always pushed the
daughters toward acting, and Constance got her break at Vitagraph
where older sister, Norma, was an established actress. She did
bit parts for awhile and then had her first lead in "Buddy's
First Call" in 1914. She made several comedies for the company
until mid-1915 when the family moved to California. She worked
for two years at Fine Arts-Triangle where she got her first real
notice as the Mountain Girl in "Intolerance" (1916).
It was during this time that she struck up a life-long friendship
with Dorothy Gish. Sister Norma married producer Joseph Schenck
in 1916, and he and Lewis J. Selznick began producing a series
of comedies throughout the late 'teens that made Constance one
of the movies' most popular comediennes. As the story goes, Constance
decided to elope with businessman John Pialoglou in December,
1920, and talked Gish into joining her in a double ceremony. Gish
married James Rennie, but neither marriage lasted long. Constance's
popularity continued throughout the twenties with 24 feature films,
12 of which were made with Harrison Ford as her leading man and
seven with Kenneth Harlan. Few of her films are available for
viewing today, but "A Pair of Silk Stockings" (1918),
"The Primitive Lover" (1922) and "The Duchess of
Buffalo" (1926) are all on the home video market. Constance
married again in 1926 to Scotsman Alistair MacIntoch, which lasted
about a year. In 1929, she married Chicago businessman Townsend
Netcher, but this marriage failed, too. Constance retired from
films in 1929 after one last silent, "Venus," but she
was a wealthy woman and had no need to work. She married one last
time to stockbroker Walter Giblin to whom she remained married
until his death in 1964. During World War II, she worked as a
Red Cross nurse, and continued volunteer work in hospitals after
the war. She died a wealthy society matron Nov. 23, 1973, having
outlived both her sisters.
Selected films of this star available for viewing:
Intolerance (1916)
The Matrimaniac (1916)
A Pair of Silk Stockings (1918)
The
Primitive Lover (1922)
Her
Night of Romance (1924)
Her Sister From Paris (1925)
The
Duchess of Buffalo (1926)
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