Martha Mansfield
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.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.827 |
Birthday | 1899-07-13 |
Place of Birth | New York City, New York, USA |
Also Known As | Martha Ehrlich, Martha Early, |
1920
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
6.8/140
A doctor's research into the roots of evil turns him into a hideous depraved fiend.
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1920
Mothers of Men
5/2
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...
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Mothers of Men
1921
Society Snobs
0/0
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...
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Society Snobs
1917
Max in a Taxi
4.8/3
A wealthy alcoholic is disowned by his father for his drunken behavior. Now penniless, he takes a job as a taxi driver, despite not knowing how to dri...
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Max in a Taxi
1917
Max Wants a Divorce
4.9/4
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 divor...
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Max Wants a Divorce
1923
Potash and Perlmutter
0/0
The film is based on an ethnic Jewish comedy with characters created by Montague Glass and Charles Klein.
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Potash and Perlmutter
1920
The Wonderful Chance
5.4/7
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 Bri...
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The Wonderful Chance
1923
The Silent Command
5/4
A distinguished young Naval officer from a celebrated military falls prey to a terrorist and his seductress accomplice bent on destroying the Panama C...
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The Silent Command
1921
His Brother's Keeper
0/0
Rex Radcliffe, vice president of the Northern Atlantic Railroad, is opposed by company president William Harding in his desire to put over a deal that...
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His Brother's Keeper
1922
Queen of the Moulin Rouge
0/0
Queen of the Moulin Rouge is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Ray C. Smallwood and starring Martha Mansfield, Joseph Striker and Jane Tho...
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Queen of the Moulin Rouge
1923
Fog Bound
0/0
Silent film directed by Irvin Willat
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Fog Bound
1921
The Last Door
0/0
The Last Door (1921)
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The Last Door
1923
Is Money Everything?
6/1
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 successf...
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Is Money Everything?
1917
Max Comes Across
0/0
The adventures of Max Linder, some based on real events, some fictional, as he travels by ocean liner from France to America.
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Max Comes Across
1924
The Warrens of Virginia
0/0
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 Aga...
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The Warrens of Virginia
1920
Civilian Clothes
0/0
During the First World War, Captain Sam McGinnis marries Florence Lanham, a Salvation Army worker in France. When she mistakenly hears that Sam has be...
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