Anita Page

Anita Page (born Anita Evelyn Pomares; August 4, 1910 – September 6, 2008) was an American film actress who reached stardom in the final years of the silent film era.[1]

Anita Page
Page in Our Modern Maidens (1929)
Born
Anita Evelyn Pomares

(1910-08-04)August 4, 1910
Flushing, Queens, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 6, 2008(2008-09-06) (aged 98)
Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeHoly Cross Cemetery, San Diego, California
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActress
Years active1925–1936; 1961; 1996–2008
Spouse(s)
    ​
    (
    m. 1934; div. 1935)
      Herschel A. House
      ​
      (
      m. 1937; died 1991)
      Children2

      Page became a highly popular young star, reportedly receiving the most fan mail of anyone on the MGM lot. She was referred to as "a blond, blue-eyed Latin"[2] and "the girl with the most beautiful face in Hollywood" in the 1920s.[3] She retired from acting in 1936. Page married her second husband the following year with whom she had two children.

      Page returned to acting sixty years later in 1996, and appeared in four films in the 2000s. She died in September 2008 at the age of 98.

      Early life

      Anita Evelyn Pomares was born to Marino Leo, Sr. (b. Brooklyn[4]) and Maude Evelyn (née Mullane) Pomares.[5] She had one brother, Marino Jr., who later worked for her as a gym instructor while her mother worked as her secretary and her father as her chauffeur.[6] Page's paternal grandfather Marino was from Spain,[7] and had worked as a consul in El Salvador; her grandmother Anna Muñoz was of Spanish descent from Spain.[7] She was of maternal Yankee and French descent.[8][9]

      Career

      Silent films and early talkies
      Page featured in the Argentinean magazine Cinelandia, January 1929

      Page entered films with the help of friend, actress Betty Bronson. A photo of Page was spotted by a man who handled Bronson's fan mail who was also interested in representing actors. With the encouragement of her mother, Page telephoned the man who arranged a meeting for her with a casting director at Paramount Studios. After doing a screen test for Paramount, she became among the first residents of the Chateau Marmont.[10] There, she met actress Joan Crawford, who facilitated a screen test at MGM.[10] Page was offered contracts by both studios, and selected MGM,[11] "because they were so good for female actresses. If you ask me, MGM was the studio."[12]

      Page's first film for MGM was the 1928 comedy-drama Telling the World, opposite William Haines. Her performance in her second MGM film, Our Dancing Daughters (1928) opposite Joan Crawford was a tremendous success and it inspired two similar films in which they also co-starred Our Modern Maidens and Our Blushing Brides. "I used to say that we're going to be 'The Galloping Grandmothers' at the rate we're going with these pictures," she said in 1993.[13]

      The Broadway Melody (1929) opposite Bessie Love was one of her greatest successes, and it won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Page had no trouble transitioning to talking pictures, but she wasn't thrilled that they basically did away with silent films. "In my opinion, silents were much better than talkies. One thing you had was mood music, which you could have playing throughout your scene to inspire you. My favorite song was 'My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice' from Samson and Delilah. I never seemed to tire of it. The trouble with talkies was, they let you have the music, but they'd stop it when you had to talk and it was always a letdown for me."[13]

      She was the leading lady to Lon Chaney, Buster Keaton, Robert Montgomery, and Clark Gable (among others) and during the early 1930s, she was one of Hollywood's busiest actresses. She was involved briefly with Gable romantically during that time. At the height of her popularity, she was receiving more fan mail than any other female star, with the exception of Greta Garbo, and received several marriage proposals from Benito Mussolini in the mail.[6]

      Retirement

      When her contract expired in 1933, she surprised Hollywood by announcing her retirement at the age of 23. She made one more movie, Hitch Hike to Heaven, in 1936, and then left the screen, virtually disappearing from Hollywood circles for sixty years. In a 2004 interview with author Scott Feinberg, she claimed that her refusal to meet demands for sexual favors by MGM head of production Irving Thalberg, supported by studio chief Louis B. Mayer, is what truly ended her career. She said that Mayer colluded with the other studio bosses to ban her and other uncooperative actresses from finding work.

      She married composer Nacio Herb Brown in 1934, but the marriage was annulled a year later because Brown's previous divorce had not been finalized at the time they were married.[14] She married Lieutenant Hershel A. House, a Navy pilot, on January 9, 1937 in Yuma, Arizona,[15] and they moved to Coronado, California, and lived there until his death in 1991. They had two daughters, Linda[16] (now Linda Sterne)[17] and Sandra (who predeceased Page).

      Page was a Democrat who supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election[18]. Page was a Roman Catholic.[19]

      Return to acting

      Page returned to the screen in 1996 after sixty years retirement and appeared in several low budget horror films. Film veteran Margaret O'Brien appeared in two of them. During this period, she moved in with her co-star and occasional director, Randal Malone at his Van Nuys home.

      Later years and death

      Page relished her status as "last star of the silents" and frequently gave interviews and appeared in documentaries about the era. Ill health prevented her from making public appearances in her final years.

      Page died in her sleep on September 6, 2008 at her Los Angeles home, at the age of 98.[20] She is buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in San Diego.

      At the time of her death in September 2008, she was among the last to have acted as an adult in silent films (Barbara Kent and Miriam Seegar are among the handful of others) to live into the 21st century. She was also the last living attendee of the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929.

      Legacy

      For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Anita Page has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6116 Hollywood Boulevard.

      Filmography
      Year Title Role Notes[21]
      1925 A Kiss for Cinderella Uncredited
      1926 Love 'Em and Leave 'Em Uncredited
      1927 Beach Nuts Short
      1928 Telling the World Chrystal Malone
      Our Dancing Daughters Ann 'Annikins'
      While the City Sleeps Myrtle Portions of 2 reels are missing
      West of Zanzibar Bit role Uncredited
      1929 The Flying Fleet Anita Hastings
      The Broadway Melody Queenie Mahoney Alternative title: The Broadway Melody of 1929
      The Hollywood Revue of 1929 Herself
      Our Modern Maidens Kentucky Strafford
      Speedway Patricia
      Navy Blues Alice "Allie" Brown
      1930 Free and Easy Elvira Plunkett Alternative title: Easy Go
      Caught Short Genevieve Jones
      Our Blushing Brides Connie Blair
      The Little Accident Isabel
      War Nurse Joy Meadows
      Great Day Incomplete
      Estrellados Herself Uncredited
      1931 The Voice of Hollywood No. 7 (Second Series) Herself Short
      Wir schalten um auf Hollywood Herself Uncredited
      Reducing Vivian Truffle
      The Easiest Way Peg Murdock Feliki
      Gentleman's Fate Ruth Corrigan
      Sidewalks of New York Margie Kelly
      Under Eighteen Sophie
      1932 Are You Listening? Sally O'Neil
      Night Court Mary Thomas Alternative title: Justice for Sale
      Skyscraper Souls Jenny LeGrande
      Prosperity Helen Praskins Warren
      1933 Jungle Bride Doris Evans
      Soldiers of the Storm Natalie
      The Big Cage Lilian Langley
      I Have Lived Jean St. Clair Alternative titles: After Midnight
      Love Life
      1936 Hitch Hike to Heaven Claudia Revelle Alternative title: Footlights and Shadows
      1961 The Runaway Nun
      1996 Sunset After Dark Anita Bronson
      1998 Creaturealm: From the Dead Herself (segment "Hollywood Mortuary")
      2000 Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood Sister Seraphina Direct-to-DVD release
      2002 The Crawling Brain Grandma Anita Kroger Direct-to-DVD release
      2004 Bob's Night Out Socialite
      2010 Frankenstein Rising Elizabeth Frankenstein Released posthumously
      2016 Doctor Stein Elizabeth Stein Released posthumously

      References
      Citations
      1. Anita Page: Star of the silent screen. Independent.co.uk (September 8, 2008). Retrieved on May 10, 2012.
      2. Latinas in the United States. Books.google.com. Retrieved on May 10, 2012.
      3. Anita Page, 98; Hollywood Star at End of Silent Movie Era. Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved on May 10, 2012.
      4. Anita Page Interview 4 out of 9. States her father was of Spanish origin born in Brooklyn.
      5. Ankerich 1998, p. 181
      6. Ronald, Bergan (September 8, 2008). "Anita Page: Obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
      7. At the Center of the Frame: Leading Ladies of the Twenties and Thirties William M. Drew "My real name is Anita Pomares which is Spanish. Both my parents were born in this country. My paternal grandfather had come over from Spain and was a consul in El Salvador. My grandmother was definitely Castilian Spanish".
      8. Latin American Writers and the Rise of Hollywood Cinema By Jason Borge
      9. Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro by André Soares
      10. "Anita Page: Silent film actress who aroused the jealousy of Joan Crawford and the lust of Mussolini". The Telegraph. September 7, 2008.
      11. Golden, Eve (2001). Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars. McFarland. pp. 130–131. ISBN 0-7864-0834-0.
      12. Ankerich 1998, p. 185
      13. Ankerich 1998, p. 191
      14. Alternate Film Guide: Anita Page: Anita Page: Q&A with Author Allan Ellenberger. Altfg.com (August 22, 2007). Retrieved on May 10, 2012.
      15. Arizona, County Marriage Records, 1865–1972
      16. KansasCity.com: Silent screen siren Anita Page dies at 98
      17. Silent screen siren Anita Page dies at 98. usatoday.com (September 7, 2008). Retrieved on May 10, 2012.
      18. Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
      19. Morning News, January 10, 1948, Who Was Who in America (Vol. 2)
      20. Berkvist, Robert (September 8, 2008). "Anita Page, Silent-Film Siren, Dies at 98". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
      21. Villecco, Tony (2001). Silent Stars Speak. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0814-6.
      Works cited
      • Ankerich, Michael G. (1998). The Sound of Silence: Conversations With 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Bridged the Gap Between Silents and Talkies. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0504-X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
      This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.