#vera steadman

[vintagedreamsofsennett]

[kayflapper]

Vera Steadman, c. 1920s.

[monkeyssalad-blog]

Marie Prevost by Truus, Bob & Jan too! Via Flickr: German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4467/1, 1929-1930. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute. Marie Prevost (1898-1937) was an American silent screen actress. Born in Ontario, Canada, as Mary Bickford Dunn, Prevost was still a child when the family moved to the US. First, the Dunn family settled in Denver, Colorado, then in Los Angeles. Mary was hired as a secretary but in the meantime, she sought work in the cinema. Mack Sennett, also of Canadian origin, entrusted her with the role of an exotic "French girl" and inserted her into his Bathing Beauties, with the stage name of Marie Prevost. In 1919, Marie was secretly married to Sonny Gerke, a young man from high society, but the marriage failed after only six months because Gerke did not have the courage to tell his mother that he had married an actress. Fearful of the bad publicity resulting from a divorce, Marie remained married until 1923, always keeping everyone unaware of her marriage. One of Prevost's first successful films was Love, Honor, and Behave (Richard Jones, Erle Kenton, 1920), alongside another Sennett protégé, George O'Hara. A series of small roles followed in which she played the part of the young, innocent sexy girl. In 1921, Marie signed a contract with Universal after getting the attention of Irving Thalberg. Thalberg decided to make her a star and organized a great advertising hype for her. He announced that Marie would star in two films, The Moonlight Follies (King Baggot, 1921) and Kissed (King Baggot, 1922), and sent her to Coney Island. There the actress publicly burned her bathing suit, signifying the end of her "bathing" days. At Universal, Marie Prevost only got light comedy roles. When the contract expired, Jack Warner had her signed for Warner Bros, recognizing $ 1,500 a week. Alongside actor Kenneth Harlan as Tony, Marie played Gloria in The Beautiful and the Damned (Sidney Franklin, 1922), based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's bestseller on two idle spendthrifts who do not know how to cope with money running out. To publicize the film, the production company announced that the actors would get married during filming on the set. The advertising launch worked and the studios were flooded with letters and gifts for the spouses. But when in the Los Angeles Mirror the story of Prevost's earlier secret marriage appeared: "Marie Prevost will become bigamist if she marries Harlan", Warner immediately took charge of the annulment of that marriage, so Harlan and Marie could marry. Despite the bad publicity, The Beautiful and Damned was successful. By consequence, Ernst Lubitsch wanted Marie as a co-host for his film The Marriage Circle (1924), with Adolphe Menjou, Florence Vidor, and Monte Blue. Lubitsch said that Prevost was one of the few actresses in Hollywood who knew how to underplay comedy to achieve the maximum effect. At Warner's in the mid-1920s, Prevost would star in comedies and dramas with Harrison Ford [the silent actor], Monte Blue, Matt Moore, Douglas Fairbanks jr., and Harlan. In 1926, Warner decided not to prolong the contracts of Harlan and Marie Prevost. The Canadian actress also lost her mother - who, in a car with actress Vera Steadman and producer Al Christie - was killed in an accident in Florida. Devastated by her mother's death and losing her work, Marie's marriage deteriorated, she began to drink and soon slipped into alcoholism. In 1927, she separated from her second husband, and despite a reconciliation in between, she divorced him altogether in 1929. To overcome the crisis, Prevost threw herself completely at work. After seeing her in The Beautiful and Damned, in 1928 Howard Hughes wanted her to star in The Racket. The two had a brief relationship but Hughes soon left her and Marie fell into a deepening depression. The Racket would be her last feature film. She began to gain weight and could no longer control either food or alcohol. In 1934 her financial situation became dramatic. To find work again, he faced drastic diets that further weakened her. In 1937, Marie Prevost died of a heart attack due to malnutrition and acute alcoholism. Her body was found only two days later, due to the continuous and insistent barking of her dachshund dog. A bellhop came into the house and found her lying face down on the bed, legs marked by the teeth of her dog, which had tried to wake her by biting her. The funeral at the Memorial Cemetery in Hollywood was paid for by Joan Crawford: in addition to Crawford, Clark Gable, Wallace Beery and Barbara Stanwyck participated. Her poor case prompted the Hollywood community to create in the early 1940s the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital to provide medical care for employees of the television and motion picture industry. Sources: Wikipedia (Italian and English) and IMDb. And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

[thedabara]

ACTRESSES WHO DIED 1966

Anne Nagel at 50 from liver cancer

Hedda Hopper at 80 from pneumonia

Seena Owen at 71 from illness

Carmelita Geraghty at 65 from heart attack

Ethel Clayton at 82 from heart attack

Vera Steadman at 65 from unknown events

Natacha Rambova at 69 from heart attack

Helen Kane at 62 from cancer

Renate Ewert at 33 from alcoholism

Sophie Tucker at 79 from cancer

[silentdivasblog]

Vera Steadman ❤

[ein-bleistift-und-radiergummi]

Loretta Young 1931.

Carole Lombard 1931.

Louise Brooks 1931.

Vera Steadman 1931.

Norma Shearer 1931

[historical-hollywood]

Silent actress Vera Steadman poses in a Georgian-inspired beachwear look, with canine companion at her side, c. 1920s

[tarynisbunhead]

Vera Steadman (1900 - 1966)

Silent film actress.  Her earlier films were with Mack Sennett

https://www.redbubble.com/people/princessbunhead/works/21393223-vera-steadman

[theshadowstage]

Motion Picture News, November 8, 1919. Internet Archive.

[bala5]

Vera Steadman - American Actress ( 1900-1966 )

[vintagedreamsofsennett]

teasing pretty woman

[kayflapper]

Vera Steadman was an American film actress of the silent era. Steadman was born on June 23, 1900, in Monterey, California. Before she began working in films, Steadman was experienced as a swimmer, high diver, and classic dancer.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Henry Mickleton’s Cucumber Sandwiches

Mrs Gosling: [about the stable boy Mr Gosling eloped with] “Yes sir, that’s the one, Raymond!”

Henry Mickleton: “Mrs Gosling, I’ve told you a hundred times, please don’t call me ‘sir’!”

Mrs Gosling: “Oh yes, of course, I’m sorry, Madam.”

Henry Mickleton: “That’s better. Now, please oblige me by getting rid of this tart and, do you know what I think I fancy?”

Mrs Gosling: “No, Madam. That’s always been a bit of a mystery to me.”

Henry Mickleton: “Some dear little cucumber sandwiches on an eighteenth century plate.”

Mrs Gosling: “Of course, Madam.”

If you haven’t had the chance to listen to Gloomsbury yet, I absolutely recommend it! The BBC Radio programme chronicles the lives of 1920s “bohemians” in a brilliant parody of the Bloombsbury Group. It is just delightful, and as I find inspiration for meals and menus everywhere and anywhere, Henry Mickleton’s (parody of Harold Nicholson, played by Jonathan Coy) obsession with cucumber sandwiches have persuaded me to make those for tea. I normally wouldn’t have, I would have thought them lacking in flavour, and would have favoured crumpets, slathered with butter and Golden Syrup, which also happen to be his wife Vera Sackcloth-Vest’s (parody of Vita Sackville-West, played by Miriam Margolyes) péché mignon! That would have been my loss, surely for they are really good! I made them with Labneh; Henry being a diplomat, I imagine he might have acquired a taste for the velvety texture of the Middle Eastern treat. That’s why these sandwiches are Henry Mickleton's Cucumber Sandwiches, and not Mrs Gosling’s (the couple’s housekeeper, played by Alison Steadman), who most definitely made them, all the while thinking them rather “exotic”, I expect! Jules and I enjoyed these, and crumpets, very much!

Ingredients (makes 8):

1/2 cucumber

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or coarse sea salt

1/3 cup Labneh

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

a pinch of salt

a small bunch fresh chives

1 1/2 heaped tablespoon sour cream

4 large slices Soft White Bread

Thoroughly rinse cucumber under cold water. Cut into thin slices, and place in a colander over a large bowl. Sprinkle with fleur de sel, toss gently, and leave for about half an hour. The salt will help realease the moisture from the cucumber.

In a small bowl, combine Labneh, black pepper and salt. Finely chop chives, and add to the bowl. Give a good stir until well-blended. Then, stir in sour cream. Chill in the refrigerator. 

Half an hour before tea, generously spread chives Labneh mixture onto each of the four slices of Bread. 

Gently pat cucumber slices with a paper towel and arrange them onto two of the Bread slices. Top with remaining two Bread slices, pressing gently to close the sandwiches.

Cut each large sandwich diagonally into four triangles. Arrange finger sandwiches onto serving tray or plate, and chill, until serving time.

Serve Henry Mickleton’s Cucumber Sandwiches for Tea, with Mrs Truebody’s Ham and Gruyère Sandwiches, Crumpets and a pot of piping hot tea!

[thedabara]

ACTRESSES BORN IN 1900

Helen Hayes

Agnes Moorehead

Julanne Johnston

Evelyn Laye

Catherine Hessling

Vera Steadman

Irene Delroy

Jean Arthur

Jeanne Aubert

Eve Southern

[the1920sinpictures]

1950 Mack Sennett’s (seated) seventieth birthday, spent with some remaining actors from Keystone days. Left to right Charles Lynch, Max Asher, Hank Mann, Vera Steadman, Leo Sulky, James Finlayson and Heine Conklin. From Silents Please!, FB.

[wearsshoes]

“Curious Scientific Names”

From the following list: http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html#Curious%20Scientific%20Names There’s a lot of good ones but I loved these the most.

Generics

Dyaria Neumoegen, 1893 (moth; Neumoegen greatly disliked his contemporary, Dyar)

Ittibittium Houbrick, 1993 (mollusks smaller than those in the genus Bittium)

Muscatheres Evenhuis, 1986 (fly; "there are only 3 Muscatheres known")

Notnops, Taintnops, and Tisentnops Platnick, 1994 (spiders; all originally placed in the genus Nops, but Platnick decided these were all distinct new genera)

Dolichisme, Ochisme, Peggichisme and Polychisme Kirkaldy, 1904 (bugs; "-chisme" is pronounced "kiss me")

Ptomaspis, Dikenaspis, Ariaspis, all by Denison, 1963 (fossil fish; remove the "-aspis" from all three names to get the joke)

This McAlpine, 1991 (fly; McAlpine had a poster on his office door with an illustration of the fly and a quote below "Look at This!")

One might note that entomologists seem to have the most fun (or just the most species to name)

Binomials

Abra cadabra Eames & Wilkins, 1957 (bivalve; now in genus Theora, but "Theora cadabra" just doesn't have the same ring)

Aha ha Menke, 1977 (wasp)

Apopyllus now Platnick & Shadab, 1984 (spider)

Ba humbugi Solem, 1976 (snail from Mba Island)

Cephise nuspesez Burns (skipper; pronounced "new species")

Chaos chaos Linnaeus, 1767 (amoeba)

Charis ma Harvey & Hall, 2002 (butterfly)

Colon forceps Hatch, 1957 (leoidid beetle; genus includes species such as Colon rectum, Colon monstrosum, Colon grossum, Colon horni, and other suggestive combinations)

Cyclocephala nodanotherwon Ratcliffe (scarab beetle)

Dziwneono etcetera Dworakowska, 1972 (leafhopper; in addition to the unusual epithet, the generic name means "It is strange" in Polish)

Eubetia bigaulae Brown (tortricid moth; pronounced "yubetcha bygolly")

Extra extra Jousseaume, 1894 (snail; a somewhat gray literature publication on the taxon was titled "Extra extra: Read All About It!")

Gelae baen, Gelae belae, Gelae donut, Gelae fish, Gelae rol Miller & Wheeler, 2004 (fungus beetles)

Heerz lukenatcha, Heerz tooya Marsh, 1993 (braconid wasp)

Lalapa lusa Pate, 1946 (tiphiid wasp)

Mini ature, Mini mum, and Mini scule Scherz et al., 2019 (extremely tiny frogs from Madagascar)

Phthiria relativitae Evenhuis, 1985 (bee fly; now in genus Oligodranes)

Pieza deresistans, Pieza kake, Pieza pi, Pieza rhea Evenhuis, 2002 (bee flies)

Pison eu Menke, 1988 (wasps)

Qrocodiledundee outbackense Fernandez-Triana & Boudreault 2018 (braconid wasp)

Reissa roni Evenhuis & Baez, 2001 (bee fly)

Riga toni Evenhuis 2013 (bee fly)

Verae peculya Marsh, 1993 (braconid wasp)

Vini vidivici Steadman & Zarriello, 1987 (a recently extinct parrot)

Ytu brutus Spangler, 1980 (beetle)

@slatestarscratchpad for puns