Clara Kimball Young
Encyclopedia
Clara Kimball Young was an American film actress, who was highly regarded and publicly popular in the early silent film
era.
; her parents Edward M. Kimball
and Pauline Maddern were travelling stock actors. She made her stage debut at the age of three, and throughout her early childhood travelled with her parents and acted with their theater company. She attended St. Francis Xavier's Academy in Chicago and then was afterwards hired into a stock company and resumed her stage career, travelling extensively through the United States and playing various small town theaters.
Early in her career she met and married a fellow stock company and known Broadway actor named James Young
. Young's previous wife had been the songwriter/lyricist Rida Johnson Young
. After sending a photograph to Vitagraph Studios
, Clara Kimball Young, as she was then known, and her husband were both offered yearly contracts in 1912.
In 1914 Vitagraph released the drama My Official Wife which starred Young as a Russian revolutionary and was directed by her husband James Young
and co-starred the popular leading man Earle Williams
. The film, which is now lost, was an enormous success and launched Clara Kimball Young and Earle Williams into first place in the popularity polls and Young was immediately signed to a contract with legendary pioneering Hollywood mogul Lewis J. Selznick
.
After a string of successful roles, Young was firmly established as one of the chief attractions of World Film Corporation and her husband James was now a much sought after director. By 1915 Young's popularity was rivalling that of other early luminary actresses of the era: Mary Pickford
, Dorothy
and Lillian Gish
, Pearl White
, Edna Purviance
, and Mabel Normand
.
Young became involved in a much publicized affair with Selznick, culminating in a 1916 divorce suit brought about by James Young, charging Clara with alienation of affection. James Young finally obtained a final decree on April 8, 1919 on grounds of desertion.
Selznick quickly formed the Clara Kimball Young Film Corporation, installing himself as president, and formed Selznick Productions to distribute her films and those of some other independent producers. After only four films with Selznick however, the personal and business relationship began to sour and Kimball Young struggled to extricate herself from all business arrangements with Selznick, accusing him of defrauding her of her profits through a series of dummy corporations and by electing himself president of her company while not permitting her any input in her business affairs.
In 1917 Kimball Young became involved in an affair with Harry Garson
, with whom she then teamed up with in a business venture. Garson had little experience in the motion picture business, and as a result Kimball Young's career began to sputter. Although she remained a popular actress into the early 1920s, Kimball Young suffered at the inexperience and alleged mismanagement and apathy of Garson.
Kimball Young also began suffering a series of press attacks for her business dealings and personal relationship with Garson. By 1925, her stardom began to fade and she made her last silent film Lying Wives. Kimball Young spent the remainder of the 1920s performing in vaudeville
, and in 1928 quietly married Dr. Arthur Fauman.
The advent of sound briefly revived her career, and she appeared in several featured talkie roles for RKO Radio Pictures and Tiffany Studios with only modest success, appearing only in bit parts including a Three Stooges
short, and extra roles in mostly lower budget pictures and having a stint on radio. One of her bigger roles is in the murder mystery The Rogues Tavern
(1936) where she plays a sweet but fussy motherly woman who is hiding a very big secret.
She quietly retired from her acting career in 1941. Clara Kimball Young died of a stroke at the Motion Picture House
on October 15, 1960 in Woodland Hills, California and was interred at the Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery
in Glendale, California
.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Clara Kimball Young was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6513 Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood, California, USA.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era.
Early life
Clarisa Kimball was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
; her parents Edward M. Kimball
Edward Kimball
Edward M. Kimball was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 63 films between 1912 and 1936. Like many older actors of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, he enjoyed a varied stage career on and off Broadway before entering the silent films.He was born Edward Marshall Kimball in Keokuk,...
and Pauline Maddern were travelling stock actors. She made her stage debut at the age of three, and throughout her early childhood travelled with her parents and acted with their theater company. She attended St. Francis Xavier's Academy in Chicago and then was afterwards hired into a stock company and resumed her stage career, travelling extensively through the United States and playing various small town theaters.
Early in her career she met and married a fellow stock company and known Broadway actor named James Young
James Young (director)
James Young was an American film director, actor and screenwriter of the silent era. Before films Young had a successful career as a stage actor appearing on Broadway and throughout the country. His first wife was librettist Rida Johnson Young who often composed with Victor Herbert. Turning to...
. Young's previous wife had been the songwriter/lyricist Rida Johnson Young
Rida Johnson Young
Rida Johnson Young was an American playwright, songwriter and librettist. In her career, Young wrote over thirty plays and musicals, and over 500 songs. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970...
. After sending a photograph to Vitagraph Studios
Vitagraph Studios
American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. By 1907 it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros...
, Clara Kimball Young, as she was then known, and her husband were both offered yearly contracts in 1912.
Career
In the new medium of motion pictures, and without much screen competition, Clara Kimball Young's star at Vitagraph rose quickly. Young was predominantly cast in one and two reel roles as the virtuous heroine. By 1913 she had become one of the most popular leading ladies at Vitagraph and placed at number seventeen in a public popularity poll. Unfortunately, many of Young's films from her early period with Vitagraph are now lost.In 1914 Vitagraph released the drama My Official Wife which starred Young as a Russian revolutionary and was directed by her husband James Young
James Young (director)
James Young was an American film director, actor and screenwriter of the silent era. Before films Young had a successful career as a stage actor appearing on Broadway and throughout the country. His first wife was librettist Rida Johnson Young who often composed with Victor Herbert. Turning to...
and co-starred the popular leading man Earle Williams
Earle Williams
Earle Williams was a silent film star....
. The film, which is now lost, was an enormous success and launched Clara Kimball Young and Earle Williams into first place in the popularity polls and Young was immediately signed to a contract with legendary pioneering Hollywood mogul Lewis J. Selznick
Lewis J. Selznick
Lewis J. Selznick was a Jewish-Ukrainian-American producer in the early years of the film industry.-Personal life and early career:...
.
After a string of successful roles, Young was firmly established as one of the chief attractions of World Film Corporation and her husband James was now a much sought after director. By 1915 Young's popularity was rivalling that of other early luminary actresses of the era: Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, Dorothy
Dorothy Gish
Dorothy Elizabeth Gish was an American actress, and the younger sister of actress Lillian Gish.-Early life:...
and Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....
, Pearl White
Pearl White
Pearl Fay White was an American film actress, the so-called "Stunt Queen" of silent films, most notably in The Perils of Pauline.-Early life:...
, Edna Purviance
Edna Purviance
Edna Purviance was an American actress during the silent movie era. She was the leading lady in many Charlie Chaplin movies. In a span of eight years, she appeared in over thirty films with Chaplin.-Early life:...
, and Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand was an American silent film comedienne and actress. She was a popular star of Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and is noted as one of the film industry's first female screenwriters, producers and directors...
.
Young became involved in a much publicized affair with Selznick, culminating in a 1916 divorce suit brought about by James Young, charging Clara with alienation of affection. James Young finally obtained a final decree on April 8, 1919 on grounds of desertion.
Selznick quickly formed the Clara Kimball Young Film Corporation, installing himself as president, and formed Selznick Productions to distribute her films and those of some other independent producers. After only four films with Selznick however, the personal and business relationship began to sour and Kimball Young struggled to extricate herself from all business arrangements with Selznick, accusing him of defrauding her of her profits through a series of dummy corporations and by electing himself president of her company while not permitting her any input in her business affairs.
In 1917 Kimball Young became involved in an affair with Harry Garson
Harry Garson
Harry Garson was an American film director and producer. He directed 28 films between 1920 and 1934.He was born in Rochester, New York and died in Los Angeles, California.-External links:...
, with whom she then teamed up with in a business venture. Garson had little experience in the motion picture business, and as a result Kimball Young's career began to sputter. Although she remained a popular actress into the early 1920s, Kimball Young suffered at the inexperience and alleged mismanagement and apathy of Garson.
Kimball Young also began suffering a series of press attacks for her business dealings and personal relationship with Garson. By 1925, her stardom began to fade and she made her last silent film Lying Wives. Kimball Young spent the remainder of the 1920s performing in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, and in 1928 quietly married Dr. Arthur Fauman.
The advent of sound briefly revived her career, and she appeared in several featured talkie roles for RKO Radio Pictures and Tiffany Studios with only modest success, appearing only in bit parts including a Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
short, and extra roles in mostly lower budget pictures and having a stint on radio. One of her bigger roles is in the murder mystery The Rogues Tavern
The Rogues Tavern
- Cast :*Wallace Ford as Jimmy Kelly*Barbara Pepper as Marjorie Burns*Joan Woodbury as Gloria Robloff*Clara Kimball Young as Mrs. Jamison*Jack Mulhall as Bill*John Elliott as Mr. Jamison*Earl Dwire as Morgan*John Cowell as Hughes*Vincent Dennis as Bert...
(1936) where she plays a sweet but fussy motherly woman who is hiding a very big secret.
She quietly retired from her acting career in 1941. Clara Kimball Young died of a stroke at the Motion Picture House
Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California...
on October 15, 1960 in Woodland Hills, California and was interred at the Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery
Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery
Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery at 1341 GlenwoodRoad in Glendale, California was established in 1884 as Grand View Cemetery.The cemetery was purchased by Len C. Davis in the 1920s, renamed Grand View Memorial Park, and extensively remodeled. A 40 foot entrance arch was added on what is now...
in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Clara Kimball Young was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6513 Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood, California, USA.
