Martha Mansfield

Martha Mansfield

Birth : 1899-07-14, New York City, New York, USA

Death : 1923-11-30

History

From Wikipedia Martha Mansfield (July 14, 1899 – November 30, 1923) was an American actress in silent films and vaudeville stage plays. She was born Martha Ehrlich in New York City to Maurice and Harriett Gibson Ehrlich. She had a younger sister, Edith, born in 1905. Although many biographies state that Martha was born in Mansfield, Ohio, her birth record and death certificate both have New York City as her place of birth. Her mother, Harriet, was from Mansfield, Ohio, having emigrated there from Ireland in 1885. Martha later adopted the name of the town as her stage name. Her first Hollywood movie was Civilian Clothes (1920) directed by Hugh Ford. She gained prominence as Millicent Carew in the film adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which starred John Barrymore. She then signed with Selznick Pictures where she was cast with Eugene O'Brien in The Perfect Lover (1919). In 1921, Mansfield returned to the stage in a vaudeville tour. She appeared in two independent films the following year: Queen of the Moulin Rouge and Till We Meet Again. She spent the remainder of the year touring the vaudeville circuit. In 1923, Mansfield completed her contract for Selznick and signed with Fox Film Corporation. Her first film for Fox was The Silent Command, starring Edmund Lowe and Béla Lugosi. The final completed features in her short film career were Potash and Permutter and The Leavenworth Case, both from 1923. On November 29, 1923, while working on location in San Antonio, Texas on the film The Warrens of Virginia, Mansfield was severely burned when a tossed match ignited her Civil War costume of hoop skirts and flimsy ruffles. Mansfield was playing the role of Agatha Warren and had just finished her scenes and retired to a car when her clothing burst into flames. Her neck and face were saved when leading man Wilfred Lytell threw his heavy overcoat over her. The chauffeur of Mansfield's car was burned badly on his hands while trying to remove the burning clothing from the actress. The fire was put out, but she sustained substantial burns to her body. She was rushed to a hospital where she died less than twenty-four hours later of "burns of all extremities, general toxemia and suppression of urine". Mansfield was 24 years old. Accompanied by actor Phillip Shorey, Mansfield's body was transported back to her home in New York City. She was interred at the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

Profile

Martha Mansfield

Movies

The Tragedy Of Doctor Jekyll And Mister Hyde
Millicent Carew (Archive Footage)
A chemist and physician concocts a solution he believes will separate good and evil parts of the human soul, thus creating a being of moral purity and a being that can indulge in its deepest desires.
The Warrens of Virginia
Agatha Warren
As the Civil War begins, Ned Burton leaves his Southern love Agatha Warren and joins the Union army. He is later protected and saved from death by Agatha in spite of her loyalty to the South.
Potash and Perlmutter
The Head Model
The film is based on an ethnic Jewish comedy with characters created by Montague Glass and Charles Klein.
The Silent Command
Peg Williams
A distinguished young Naval officer from a celebrated military falls prey to a terrorist and his seductress accomplice bent on destroying the Panama Canal.
Fog Bound
Mildred Van Buren
Silent film directed by Irvin Willat
Is Money Everything?
Mrs. Justine Pelham
A farmer, unhappy with his life, decides to go the city to try and make his fortune. He takes a friend along with him. The two of them become successful, but that success brings other, unforeseen problems into their lives.
The Last Door
Helen Rogers
The Last Door (1921)
Society Snobs
Vivian Forrester
Lorenzo Carilo selects more-or-less menial jobs at which to make a living, other more "select" jobs not paying enough, and then he meets and falls in love with Vivian Forrester the daughter of a new-rich family. What's a poor boy to do? He might pose as a French Duke.
The Wonderful Chance
Peggy Winton
Upon leaving prison, an ex con vows to go straight, but circumstances force him to return to crime. Meanwhile, a gang of crooks kidnaps a visiting British aristocrat, but the ex-con has an incredible likeness to the Englishman, and his intended hosts take him home to their mansion.
Civilian Clothes
Florence Lanham
During the First World War, Captain Sam McGinnis marries Florence Lanham, a Salvation Army worker in France. When she mistakenly hears that Sam has been killed, she returns home to her wealthy family without mentioning her brief marriage. But Sam turns up, alive but poorly dressed, and Florence is happy to see him but appalled at his clothing.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Millicent Carewe
A doctor's research into the roots of evil turns him into a hideous depraved fiend.
Mothers of Men
Paulette
Young Austrian girl Marie Helmar, is left penniless by the death of her father and disgraced by Prussian officer Captain Von Pfaffen, she flees to the safety of her French cousins, the De La Mottes. There she falls in love with their eldest son Gerome. On the night before their wedding, Marie sends a letter to Gerome confessing her indiscretion with the Prussian, but the letter is returned unopened. Soon after, she recognizes a new household servant to be Von Pfaffen, who demands that Marie disclose war secrets in return for his silence about her past. Torn, she passes on false information, which disgraces the Prussian. In revenge, he attempts to kill Marie, but she shoots him in self-defense. Shaken by remorse, Marie presents Gerome with her confession, which, he then reveals, he had read the night of their wedding. Their life thus unclouded, Marie announces she is expecting Gerome's child.
Max in a Taxi
Herself
Max Linder in his first Los Angeles made comedy "Max in a Taxi"
Max Wants a Divorce
Max's Wife
Max is forced to choose between losing his newly wedded wife and a fortune. He hits upon a brilliant scheme: He will give his wife grounds for a divorce, secure the money and then make his ex-wife Mrs. Linder again. He goes through any amount of trouble in helping her to get the necessary evidence, only to find that it is all a mistake on the part of a stupid lawyer - the money and the wife are both to be his.
Max Comes Across
Martha
The adventures of Max Linder, some based on real events, some fictional, as he travels by ocean liner from France to America.