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Edna Purviance

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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 (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. Her name was pronounced "pur-VIE-unce" as verified by Chaplin in his spoken narration of one of his films.

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.

Edna 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."

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

Edna Purviance in The Pawnshop (1916)
Charlie Chaplin and Edna 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. "Madison Gates Purviance – Edna Purviance's father". EdnaPurviance.org.
  2. "Purviance Family Lovelock, Nevada Home - Part Two".
  3. "The Singer Hotel Brief Property HIstory".
  4. ^ "Edna Purviance".
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. "Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance Dates and Events". www.ednapurviance.org. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  8. "Nevadan Edna Purviance went from Silver State to silver screen". Las Vegas Review-Journal. May 13, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  9. Stein, Ruthe (April 10, 2009). "S.F.'s stories, style caught Hollywood's eye". CT Insider. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  10. "Chaplin at Essanay".
  11. "WHITEMAN, Paul: Sweet and Low Down - NaxosDirect".
  12. "Streetwise: Tait's".
  13. "Silent Era : Home Video Reviews".
  14. 37.7561202, -122.4211713
  15. ^ "Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada". November 21, 1999.
  16. "Los Angeles Herald from Los Angeles, California". December 10, 1907.
  17. Chaplin, Charlie (December 26, 2012). My Autobiography. Melville House. ISBN 978-1-61219-193-5.
  18. Lynn, Kenneth Schuyler (January 22, 1997). Charlie Chaplin and His Times. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80851-2.
  19. Milton, Joyce (July 2014). Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin. Open Road Media. ISBN 978-1-4976-5916-2.
  20. This is not the way Purviance met Chaplin, according to Gerith von Ulm's Charlie Chaplin – King of Tragedy, pp. 90–91.
  21. Julian Johnson, Photoplay, October 1916, p. 80.
  22. Robinson, David (1986). Chaplin : his life and art. Collins. pp. 141, 219. ISBN 978-0-586-08544-8. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  23. ^ Powrie 2005, p. 95.
  24. "LA BARA - Vintage Powder Room".
  25. "100 Years Ago This Month: Historical events from January 2024". Dubois County Herald. January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  26. https://www.perrysburg.com/news/100-years-ago-month-historical-events-january-1924
  27. ^ "Dines clip". Oakland Tribune. January 2, 1924. p. 1.
  28. "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.
  29. "Charlie's London: Chaplin's women – part two". August 13, 2012.
  30. Toll, David W. (December 1994). "Edna Purviance: Nevada's Forgotten Movie Star". Nevada Magazine – via nevadaweb.com.
  31. "Edna Purviance". The Montreal Gazette. January 16, 1958. p. 35. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  32. ^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland & Company Incorporated Pub. p. 104. ISBN 0-7864-0983-5.
  33. ^ Neibaur 2012, p. 225.
  34. ^ "Edna Purviance Filmography". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  35. ^ Neibaur 2012, p. 226.

Sources

External links

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