Misplaced Pages

Edna Purviance: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 23:15, 31 January 2024 editJackieeejw (talk | contribs)16 editsm linked the correct Limelight (the film not the stage lighting)Tag: Visual edit← Previous edit Latest revision as of 01:17, 4 October 2024 edit undoNojboj (talk | contribs)163 editsmNo edit summaryTag: Visual edit 
(24 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)
Line 2: Line 2:
{{Use American English|date=December 2019}} {{Use American English|date=December 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2010}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
| name = Edna Purviance | name = Edna Purviance
Line 19: Line 18:
}} }}


'''Olga Edna Purviance''' (October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the ] era. She was the leading lady in many of ]'s early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with him. Her name was pronounced "pur-VIE-unce" as verified by Chaplin in his spoken narration of one of his films. '''Olga'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=FamilySearch.org |url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L5BY-XK5/edna-olga-purviance-1895-1958 |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=ancestors.familysearch.org}}</ref>{{NoteTag|May need more citations}} '''Edna Purviance''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ɜːr|ˈ|v|aɪ|.|n|s}};<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wada |first1=Linda |title=How to pronounce Purviance |url=https://www.ednapurviance.org/specialevents/pronouncingednasname.html |website=Edna Purviance's official site |publisher=Wada Works |access-date=30 May 2024}}</ref> October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the ] era. She was the leading lady in many of ]'s early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with him.


==Life and career== ==Life and career==
===1895–1913: Early life=== ===1895–1913: Early life===
Edna Purviance was born in October 21, 1895, in ], to English immigrant Louisa Wright Davey and American vintner to the western mining camps Madison (Matt) Gates Purviance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ednapurviance.org/amadison/amadison.html|title=Madison Gates Purviance – Edna Purviance's father|website=EdnaPurviance.org}}</ref> When she was three, the family moved to ], where they assumed ownership of the Singer Hotel.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ednapurviance.org/ednahome/lovelockhomeb.html | title=Purviance Family Lovelock, Nevada Home - Part Two }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ednapurviance.org/lovelockhome/minsingerhistory.html | title=The Singer Hotel Brief Property HIstory }}</ref><ref name="silent-hall-of-fame.org">{{cite web | url=https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/stars-l-p/77-edna-purviance | title=Edna Purviance }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Toll|first=David W. |title=The Complete Nevada Traveler: The Affectionate and Intimately Detailed Guidebook to the Most Interesting State in America|year=2002|publisher=University of Nevada Press|isbn=0-940936-12-7|page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Monush, Barry|title=Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965, Volume 1|year=2003|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=1-55783-551-9|page=612}}</ref> Her parents divorced in 1902, and her mother later married Robert Nurnberger, a German plumber. Growing up, Purviance was a talented pianist. Edna Purviance was born in October 21, 1895, in ], to English immigrant Louisa Wright Davey and American vintner to the western mining camps Madison (Matt) Gates Purviance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ednapurviance.org/amadison/amadison.html|title=Madison Gates Purviance – Edna Purviance's father|website=EdnaPurviance.org}}</ref> When she was three, the family moved to ], where they assumed ownership of the Singer Hotel.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ednapurviance.org/ednahome/lovelockhomeb.html | title=Purviance Family Lovelock, Nevada Home - Part Two }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ednapurviance.org/lovelockhome/minsingerhistory.html | title=The Singer Hotel Brief Property HIstory }}</ref><ref name="silent-hall-of-fame.org">{{cite web | url=https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/stars-l-p/77-edna-purviance | title=Edna Purviance }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Toll|first=David W. |title=The Complete Nevada Traveler: The Affectionate and Intimately Detailed Guidebook to the Most Interesting State in America|year=2002|publisher=University of Nevada Press|isbn=0-940936-12-7|page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Monush, Barry|title=Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965, Volume 1|year=2003|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=1-55783-551-9|page=612}}</ref> Her parents divorced in 1902, and her mother later married Robert Nurnberger, a German plumber. Growing up, Purviance was a talented pianist.{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}}


She left Lovelock in 1913 and moved in with her married sister Bessie while attending business college in San Francisco.<ref name="ednapurviance.org">{{cite web |title=Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance Dates and Events |url=http://www.ednapurviance.org/ednacharlie/careerchart.html |website=www.ednapurviance.org |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> She left Lovelock in 1913 and moved in with her married sister Bessie while attending business college in San Francisco.<ref name="ednapurviance.org">{{cite web |title=Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance Dates and Events |url=http://www.ednapurviance.org/ednacharlie/careerchart.html |website=www.ednapurviance.org |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref>
Line 44: Line 43:
Chaplin arranged a meeting with her,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31UyYJnDhJsC&dq=Tate%E2%80%99s+Caf%C3%A9+Hill+Street&pg=PT229 | title=My Autobiography | isbn=978-1-61219-193-5 | last1=Chaplin | first1=Charlie | date=December 26, 2012 | publisher=Melville House }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DpPjHbz3FrUC&dq=Tate%E2%80%99s+Caf%C3%A9+Hill+Street&pg=PA146 | title=Charlie Chaplin and His Times | isbn=978-0-684-80851-2 | last1=Lynn | first1=Kenneth Schuyler | date=January 22, 1997 | publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfO4AwAAQBAJ&dq=Tate%E2%80%99s+Caf%C3%A9+Hill+Street&pg=RA2-PA10 | title=Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin | isbn=978-1-4976-5916-2 | last1=Milton | first1=Joyce | date=July 2014 | publisher=Open Road Media }}</ref> but he was concerned that she might be too serious for comedic roles. Purviance still won the role.<ref>This is not the way Purviance met Chaplin, according to Gerith von Ulm's , pp. 90–91.</ref> Chaplin arranged a meeting with her,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31UyYJnDhJsC&dq=Tate%E2%80%99s+Caf%C3%A9+Hill+Street&pg=PT229 | title=My Autobiography | isbn=978-1-61219-193-5 | last1=Chaplin | first1=Charlie | date=December 26, 2012 | publisher=Melville House }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DpPjHbz3FrUC&dq=Tate%E2%80%99s+Caf%C3%A9+Hill+Street&pg=PA146 | title=Charlie Chaplin and His Times | isbn=978-0-684-80851-2 | last1=Lynn | first1=Kenneth Schuyler | date=January 22, 1997 | publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfO4AwAAQBAJ&dq=Tate%E2%80%99s+Caf%C3%A9+Hill+Street&pg=RA2-PA10 | title=Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin | isbn=978-1-4976-5916-2 | last1=Milton | first1=Joyce | date=July 2014 | publisher=Open Road Media }}</ref> but he was concerned that she might be too serious for comedic roles. Purviance still won the role.<ref>This is not the way Purviance met Chaplin, according to Gerith von Ulm's , pp. 90–91.</ref>


] ]


Edna Purviance was so closely associated with Chaplin on screen that trade reviewers took exception when she was away. Columnist Julian Johnson, reporting on Chaplin's solo performance in '']'', wrote: "Congratulations, Mr. Chaplin, on speaking your piece so nicely, but—come on back, Edna!"<ref>Julian Johnson, ''Photoplay'', October 1916, p. 80.</ref> The noticeably close relationship extended to the actors' private lives: Chaplin and Purviance were romantically involved during the making of his Essanay, ], and ] films of 1915 to 1917.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=David |title=Chaplin : his life and art |date=1986 |publisher=Collins |isbn=978-0-586-08544-8 |pages=141, 219 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_STuAAAAMAAJ|access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> The romance ended suddenly when Purviance read a newspaper report of Chaplin having married 16-year-old ]. Edna Purviance was so closely associated with Chaplin on screen that trade reviewers took exception when she was away. Columnist Julian Johnson, reporting on Chaplin's solo performance in '']'', wrote: "Congratulations, Mr. Chaplin, on speaking your piece so nicely, but—come on back, Edna!"<ref>Julian Johnson, ''Photoplay'', October 1916, p. 80.</ref> The noticeably close relationship extended to the actors' private lives: Chaplin and Purviance were romantically involved during the making of his Essanay, ], and ] films of 1915 to 1917.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=David |title=Chaplin : his life and art |date=1986 |publisher=Collins |isbn=978-0-586-08544-8 |pages=141, 219 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_STuAAAAMAAJ|access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> The romance ended suddenly when Purviance read a newspaper report of Chaplin having married 16-year-old ].{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}}


Purviance appeared in 33 of Chaplin's productions, including the 1921 '']''. Her last credited appearance in a Chaplin film, '']'', was also her first leading role. The film was not a success and effectively ended Purviance's career. She appeared in two more films: ''Sea Gulls'', also known as '']'' (which Chaplin never released) and '']'', a French film released in 1927.{{sfn|Powrie|2005|p=95}} Purviance appeared in 33 of Chaplin's productions, including the 1921 '']''. Her last credited appearance in a Chaplin film, '']'', was also her first leading role. The film was not a success and effectively ended Purviance's career. She appeared in two more films: ''Sea Gulls'', also known as '']'' (which Chaplin never released) and '']'', a French film released in 1927.{{sfn|Powrie|2005|p=95}}


Purviance was peripherally involved in a scandal.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://vintagepowderroom.com/?p=2381 | title=LA BARA - Vintage Powder Room }}</ref> She and ] were guests of millionaire<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-01-04 |title=100 Years Ago This Month: Historical events from January 2024 |url=https://www.duboiscountyherald.com/perry_county_news/news/100-years-ago-this-month-historical-events-from-january-2024/article_c58e53f1-50eb-501f-bcd8-f046a1504675.html |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Dubois County Herald |language=en}}</ref> oil broker<ref>https://www.perrysburg.com/news/100-years-ago-month-historical-events-january-1924</ref> Courtland Stark Dines (1889-1945)<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-dines-clip/7162797/ | title=Dines clip | newspaper=Oakland Tribune | date=January 2, 1924 | page=1 }}</ref> on New Year’s Day 1924. Mabel’s chauffeur,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/01/03/archives/blame-jealousy-for-dines-shooting-los-angeles-police-think-the.html | title=BLAME JEALOUSY FOR DINES SHOOTING; Los Angeles Police Think the Chauffeur Was Infatuated with Miss Normand. SHE CONTRADICTS HIS STORY Breaks Down from Excitement and Goes to Hospital -- Dines Develops Pneumonia. BLAME JEALOUSY FOR DINES SHOOTING | work=The New York Times | date=January 3, 1924 }}</ref> R. C. Greer, alias Joe Kelly,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> got into an argument with Dines, produced a revolver and shot him, not fatally. As a result some cities banned ''A Woman of Paris''.<ref name="silent-hall-of-fame.org"/> Purviance was peripherally involved in a scandal.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://vintagepowderroom.com/?p=2381 | title=LA BARA - Vintage Powder Room }}</ref> She and ] were guests of millionaire<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-01-04 |title=100 Years Ago This Month: Historical events from January 2024 |url=https://www.duboiscountyherald.com/perry_county_news/news/100-years-ago-this-month-historical-events-from-january-2024/article_c58e53f1-50eb-501f-bcd8-f046a1504675.html |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Dubois County Herald |language=en}}</ref> oil broker<ref>{{cite news |title=100 Years Ago This Month: Historical events from January 1924 |url=https://www.perrysburg.com/news/100-years-ago-month-historical-events-january-1924 |access-date=17 August 2024 |work=Perrysburg Messenger Journal |date=January 2, 2024}}</ref> Courtland Stark Dines (1889-1945)<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-dines-clip/7162797/ | title=Dines clip | newspaper=Oakland Tribune | date=January 2, 1924 | page=1 }}</ref> on New Year’s Day 1924. Mabel’s chauffeur,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/01/03/archives/blame-jealousy-for-dines-shooting-los-angeles-police-think-the.html | title=BLAME JEALOUSY FOR DINES SHOOTING; Los Angeles Police Think the Chauffeur Was Infatuated with Miss Normand. SHE CONTRADICTS HIS STORY Breaks Down from Excitement and Goes to Hospital -- Dines Develops Pneumonia. BLAME JEALOUSY FOR DINES SHOOTING | work=The New York Times | date=January 3, 1924 }}</ref> R. C. Greer, alias Joe Kelly,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> got into an argument with Dines, produced a revolver and shot him, not fatally. As a result some cities banned ''A Woman of Paris''.<ref name="silent-hall-of-fame.org"/>


"Between Purviance's last film in 1924 and her death in 1958,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://silentlondon.co.uk/2012/08/13/charlies-london-chaplins-women-part-two/ | title=Charlie's London: Chaplin's women – part two | date=August 13, 2012 }}</ref> Chaplin kept her on the payroll at 1000 a month."<ref name="newspapers.com"/> Between Purviance's last film in 1924 and her death in 1958,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://silentlondon.co.uk/2012/08/13/charlies-london-chaplins-women-part-two/ | title=Charlie's London: Chaplin's women – part two | date=August 13, 2012 }}</ref> Chaplin kept her on the payroll at $1000 a month.<ref name="newspapers.com"/>


===1927–1958: Retirement and later years=== ===1927–1958: Retirement and later years===
For more than 30 years afterward, Edna Purviance lived quietly outside Hollywood. Purviance married John Squire, a Pan-American Airlines pilot, in 1938. They remained married until his death in 1945. For more than 30 years afterward, Edna Purviance lived quietly outside Hollywood. Purviance married John Squire, a Pan-American Airlines pilot, in 1938. They remained married until his death in 1945.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}


Chaplin kept Purviance on his payroll. She received a small monthly salary from Chaplin's film company until she got married, and the payments resumed after her husband's death. She later played bit roles in Chaplin's last two American movies, '']'' and '']''. Chaplin kept Purviance on his payroll. She received a small monthly salary from Chaplin's film company until she got married, and the payments resumed after her husband's death.<ref>Eyman, 2023 p. 274: “…he paid Edna Purviance $100 a week…”</ref> She later played bit roles in Chaplin's last two American movies, '']'' and '']''.


"How could I forget Edna?" Chaplin responded to an interviewer after her death. "She was with me when it all began."<ref>{{cite news|first=David W.|last=Toll|url=https://www.nevadaweb.com/nevadaca/edna.html|title=Edna Purviance: Nevada's Forgotten Movie Star|magazine=Nevada Magazine|date=December 1994|via=nevadaweb.com}}</ref> “How could I forget Edna? Chaplin responded to an interviewer after her death. "She was with me when it all began."<ref>{{cite news|first=David W.|last=Toll|url=https://www.nevadaweb.com/nevadaca/edna.html|title=Edna Purviance: Nevada's Forgotten Movie Star|magazine=Nevada Magazine|date=December 1994|via=nevadaweb.com}}</ref><ref>Kiernan, 1999 p. 79: See footnote no. 1</ref>

In her posthumously published ], actress ], who played opposite Chaplin in '']'' (1925), reported that Chaplin always spoke affectionately of Purviance. Hale relates Chaplin’s account of an incident during the silent film era, when Chaplin and Purvience—he in “an old sweatshirt” and she in “a cotton house dress”—stopped at the exclusive ] “looking like hoboes.” The head waiter, alarmed at the couple's appearance, ushered them to the back of the restaurant:

{{blockquote|He seated behind a large pillar. While we were scanning the menu, some of the customers recognized us. The word spread like wildfire. Back rushed the waiter, waving us to a nice table by the window, where we’d be visible to all his guests. But Edna remained seated and motioned to me to be seated… said “I’m so sorry, I thought you were just common people.” Edna looked at him and said sweetly, “We want to thank you for treating us like humble people. You have just paid us the highest compliment. That will be all. Please send us the waiter.”<ref>Hale, 1995 p. 79-80</ref>}}


==Death== ==Death==
On January 13, 1958, Purviance died from throat cancer at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 62.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19580116&id=9RYvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aagFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3279,2536053|title=Edna Purviance|date=January 16, 1958|work=The Montreal Gazette|page=35|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref><ref name=ellenberger>{{cite book|last=Ellenberger|first=Allan R.|title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory|year=2001|publisher=McFarland & Company Incorporated Pub|isbn=0-7864-0983-5|page=104}}</ref> Her remains are interred at ] in Glendale, California.<ref name=ellenberger/> On January 13, 1958, Purviance died from throat cancer at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 62.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19580116&id=9RYvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aagFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3279,2536053|title=Edna Purviance|date=January 16, 1958|work=The Montreal Gazette|page=35|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref><ref name=ellenberger>{{cite book|last=Ellenberger|first=Allan R.|title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory|year=2001|publisher=McFarland & Company Incorporated Pub|isbn=0-7864-0983-5|page=104}}</ref> Her remains are interred at ] in Glendale, California.<ref name=ellenberger/><ref>Eyman, 2023 p. 47: “...Edna gradually became, in the words of actress ] ‘a terrible alcoholic’”</ref>


==In popular culture== ==In popular culture==
Line 70: Line 73:


==Filmography== ==Filmography==
] ]
] ]
] ]


===Short subjects=== ===Short subjects===
Line 229: Line 232:
|- |-
! scope="row"| 1918 ! scope="row"| 1918
| '']'' | '']''
| Bar Singer | Bar Singer
| |
Line 337: Line 340:
|} |}


==References== == Footnotes ==
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}
<references group="note" />

==Sources== == Sources ==
*] 2023. ''Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex and Politics Collided.'' ], New York. {{ISBN | 978-1-9821-7635-8}}
*] 1995. ''Charlie Chaplin: Intimate Close-ups.'' ], Lanham, Maryland. Heather Kiernan, editor. {{ISBN | 1-57886-004-0}}
*]. 1967. ''The Rise of the American Film: Experimental Cinema in America, 1921-1947.'' ], Teacher’s College, ], New York. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 68-25845
*Kiernan, Heather. 1999. Introduction to ''Charlie Chaplin: Intimate Close-ups.'' ], Lanham, Maryland. Heather Kiernan, editor. {{ISBN | 1-57886-004-0}}
*{{cite book|last=Neibaur|first=James L.|year=2012|title=Early Charlie Chaplin: The Artist as Apprentice at Keystone Studios|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-0-810-88242-3}} *{{cite book|last=Neibaur|first=James L.|year=2012|title=Early Charlie Chaplin: The Artist as Apprentice at Keystone Studios|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-0-810-88242-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Powrie|first=Phil|year=2005|title=Pierre Batcheff and Stardom in 1920s French Cinema|location=Edinburgh, Schotland|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-748-62960-2}} *{{cite book|last=Powrie|first=Phil|year=2005|title=Pierre Batcheff and Stardom in 1920s French Cinema|location=Edinburgh, Schotland|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-748-62960-2}}
Line 368: Line 375:
] ]
] ]
]
] ]

Latest revision as of 01:17, 4 October 2024

American actress (1895–1958)

Edna Purviance
Purviance in 1923
BornOlga Edna Purviance
(1895-10-21)October 21, 1895
Paradise Valley, Nevada, U.S.
DiedJanuary 13, 1958(1958-01-13) (aged 62)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeGrand View Memorial Park Cemetery
OccupationActress
Years active1915–1927
Spouse John Squire ​ ​(m. 1938; died 1945)

Olga Edna Purviance (/pɜːrˈvaɪ.ns/; October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the silent film era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with him.

Life and career

1895–1913: Early life

Edna Purviance was born in October 21, 1895, in Paradise Valley, Nevada, to English immigrant Louisa Wright Davey and American vintner to the western mining camps Madison (Matt) Gates Purviance. When she was three, the family moved to Lovelock, Nevada, where they assumed ownership of the Singer Hotel. Her parents divorced in 1902, and her mother later married Robert Nurnberger, a German plumber. Growing up, Purviance was a talented pianist.

She left Lovelock in 1913 and moved in with her married sister Bessie while attending business college in San Francisco.

1914–1927: Film career

Purviance in Photoplay magazine, 1915

In 1915, Purviance was working as a stenographer in San Francisco when actor and director Charlie Chaplin was working on his second film with Essanay Studios, working out of Niles, California, 28 miles (45 km) southeast of San Francisco, in Southern Alameda County. He was looking for a leading lady for A Night Out.

"A Chaplin talent scout recognized potential in a pretty stenographer named Edna Purviance ... spotted sipping coffee at Tate's Café on Hill Street in Noe Valley."

"...Tate's Cafe on Hill Street. There she met Carl Strauss, in town scouting for a leading lady for the young Charlie Chaplin."

Chaplin arranged a meeting with her, but he was concerned that she might be too serious for comedic roles. Purviance still won the role.

Purviance in The Adventurer (1917)

Edna Purviance was so closely associated with Chaplin on screen that trade reviewers took exception when she was away. Columnist Julian Johnson, reporting on Chaplin's solo performance in One A.M., wrote: "Congratulations, Mr. Chaplin, on speaking your piece so nicely, but—come on back, Edna!" The noticeably close relationship extended to the actors' private lives: Chaplin and Purviance were romantically involved during the making of his Essanay, Mutual, and First National films of 1915 to 1917. The romance ended suddenly when Purviance read a newspaper report of Chaplin having married 16-year-old Mildred Harris.

Purviance appeared in 33 of Chaplin's productions, including the 1921 The Kid. Her last credited appearance in a Chaplin film, A Woman of Paris, was also her first leading role. The film was not a success and effectively ended Purviance's career. She appeared in two more films: Sea Gulls, also known as A Woman of the Sea (which Chaplin never released) and Éducation de Prince, a French film released in 1927.

Purviance was peripherally involved in a scandal. She and Mabel Normand were guests of millionaire oil broker Courtland Stark Dines (1889-1945) on New Year’s Day 1924. Mabel’s chauffeur, R. C. Greer, alias Joe Kelly, got into an argument with Dines, produced a revolver and shot him, not fatally. As a result some cities banned A Woman of Paris.

Between Purviance's last film in 1924 and her death in 1958, Chaplin kept her on the payroll at $1000 a month.

1927–1958: Retirement and later years

For more than 30 years afterward, Edna Purviance lived quietly outside Hollywood. Purviance married John Squire, a Pan-American Airlines pilot, in 1938. They remained married until his death in 1945.

Chaplin kept Purviance on his payroll. She received a small monthly salary from Chaplin's film company until she got married, and the payments resumed after her husband's death. She later played bit roles in Chaplin's last two American movies, Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight.

“How could I forget Edna?” Chaplin responded to an interviewer after her death. "She was with me when it all began."

In her posthumously published memoir, actress Georgia Hale, who played opposite Chaplin in The Gold Rush (1925), reported that Chaplin always spoke affectionately of Purviance. Hale relates Chaplin’s account of an incident during the silent film era, when Chaplin and Purvience—he in “an old sweatshirt” and she in “a cotton house dress”—stopped at the exclusive Riverside Inn “looking like hoboes.” The head waiter, alarmed at the couple's appearance, ushered them to the back of the restaurant:

He seated behind a large pillar. While we were scanning the menu, some of the customers recognized us. The word spread like wildfire. Back rushed the waiter, waving us to a nice table by the window, where we’d be visible to all his guests. But Edna remained seated and motioned to me to be seated… said “I’m so sorry, I thought you were just common people.” Edna looked at him and said sweetly, “We want to thank you for treating us like humble people. You have just paid us the highest compliment. That will be all. Please send us the waiter.”

Death

On January 13, 1958, Purviance died from throat cancer at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 62. Her remains are interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

In popular culture

She was portrayed by Penelope Ann Miller in the film Chaplin (1992) and by Katie Maguire in the film Madcap Mabel (2010).

In the TV series Peaky Blinders (series three, episode four), the character Tatiana Petrovna played by Gaite Jansen is said to resemble her.

Filmography

Purviance in The Pawnshop (1916)
Charlie Chaplin and Purviance in Behind the Screen (1916)
Chaplin and Purviance in The Idle Class (1921)

Short subjects

All short subjects directed by Charlie Chaplin.

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1915 A Night Out The Headwaiter's Wife
1915 The Champion Trainer's Daughter
1915 In the Park Nursemaid
1915 A Jitney Elopement Edna
1915 The Tramp Farmer's Daughter
1915 By the Sea Man in Top Hat's Sweetheart
1915 Work Maid
1915 A Woman Daughter of the House
1915 The Bank Edna, a Secretary
1915 Shanghaied Daughter of the Shipowner
1915 A Night in the Show Lady in the Stalls with Beads
1915 Burlesque on Carmen Carmen
1916 Police Daughter of the House
1916 The Floorwalker Manager's secretary
1916 The Fireman The Chief's Sweetheart
1916 The Vagabond Girl Stolen by Gypsies
1916 The Count Miss Moneybags
1916 The Pawnshop Daughter
1916 Behind the Screen The Girl
1916 The Rink The Girl
1917 Easy Street The Mission Worker
1917 The Cure The Girl
1917 The Immigrant Immigrant
1917 The Adventurer The Girl
1918 A Dog's Life Bar Singer
1918 Triple Trouble Maid
1918 The Bond Charlie's Wife
1918 Shoulder Arms French Girl
1919 Sunnyside Village Belle
1919 A Day's Pleasure Mother
1921 The Idle Class Neglected Wife
1922 Pay Day Foreman's Daughter
1923 The Pilgrim Miss Brown

Feature films

Year Title Role Director(s) Notes Ref.
1921 The Kid Mother Charlie Chaplin
1923 A Woman of Paris Marie St. Clair Charlie Chaplin
1926 A Woman of the Sea Joan Josef von Sternberg not released; destroyed lost film
1927 Éducation de Prince The Queen Henri Diamant-Berger
1947 Monsieur Verdoux Garden Party Guest Charlie Chaplin uncredited
1952 Limelight Mrs. Parker Charlie Chaplin uncredited

Footnotes

  1. "FamilySearch.org". ancestors.familysearch.org. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  2. Wada, Linda. "How to pronounce Purviance". Edna Purviance's official site. Wada Works. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  3. "Madison Gates Purviance – Edna Purviance's father". EdnaPurviance.org.
  4. "Purviance Family Lovelock, Nevada Home - Part Two".
  5. "The Singer Hotel Brief Property HIstory".
  6. ^ "Edna Purviance".
  7. Toll, David W. (2002). The Complete Nevada Traveler: The Affectionate and Intimately Detailed Guidebook to the Most Interesting State in America. University of Nevada Press. p. 12. ISBN 0-940936-12-7.
  8. Monush, Barry, ed. (2003). Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965, Volume 1. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 612. ISBN 1-55783-551-9.
  9. "Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance Dates and Events". www.ednapurviance.org. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  10. "Nevadan Edna Purviance went from Silver State to silver screen". Las Vegas Review-Journal. May 13, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  11. Stein, Ruthe (April 10, 2009). "S.F.'s stories, style caught Hollywood's eye". CT Insider. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  12. "Chaplin at Essanay".
  13. "WHITEMAN, Paul: Sweet and Low Down - NaxosDirect".
  14. "Streetwise: Tait's".
  15. "Silent Era : Home Video Reviews".
  16. 37.7561202, -122.4211713
  17. ^ "Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada". November 21, 1999.
  18. "Los Angeles Herald from Los Angeles, California". December 10, 1907.
  19. Chaplin, Charlie (December 26, 2012). My Autobiography. Melville House. ISBN 978-1-61219-193-5.
  20. Lynn, Kenneth Schuyler (January 22, 1997). Charlie Chaplin and His Times. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80851-2.
  21. Milton, Joyce (July 2014). Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin. Open Road Media. ISBN 978-1-4976-5916-2.
  22. This is not the way Purviance met Chaplin, according to Gerith von Ulm's Charlie Chaplin – King of Tragedy, pp. 90–91.
  23. Julian Johnson, Photoplay, October 1916, p. 80.
  24. Robinson, David (1986). Chaplin : his life and art. Collins. pp. 141, 219. ISBN 978-0-586-08544-8. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  25. ^ Powrie 2005, p. 95.
  26. "LA BARA - Vintage Powder Room".
  27. "100 Years Ago This Month: Historical events from January 2024". Dubois County Herald. January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  28. "100 Years Ago This Month: Historical events from January 1924". Perrysburg Messenger Journal. January 2, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  29. ^ "Dines clip". Oakland Tribune. January 2, 1924. p. 1.
  30. "BLAME JEALOUSY FOR DINES SHOOTING; Los Angeles Police Think the Chauffeur Was Infatuated with Miss Normand. SHE CONTRADICTS HIS STORY Breaks Down from Excitement and Goes to Hospital -- Dines Develops Pneumonia. BLAME JEALOUSY FOR DINES SHOOTING". The New York Times. January 3, 1924.
  31. "Charlie's London: Chaplin's women – part two". August 13, 2012.
  32. Eyman, 2023 p. 274: “…he paid Edna Purviance $100 a week…”
  33. Toll, David W. (December 1994). "Edna Purviance: Nevada's Forgotten Movie Star". Nevada Magazine – via nevadaweb.com.
  34. Kiernan, 1999 p. 79: See footnote no. 1
  35. Hale, 1995 p. 79-80
  36. "Edna Purviance". The Montreal Gazette. January 16, 1958. p. 35. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  37. ^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland & Company Incorporated Pub. p. 104. ISBN 0-7864-0983-5.
  38. Eyman, 2023 p. 47: “...Edna gradually became, in the words of actress Virginia Cherrill ‘a terrible alcoholic’”
  39. ^ Neibaur 2012, p. 225.
  40. ^ "Edna Purviance Filmography". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  41. ^ Neibaur 2012, p. 226.
  1. May need more citations

Sources

External links

Categories: