Madlaine Traverse
Encyclopedia
Madlaine Traverse was an American
stage
and screen
actress from Cleveland, Ohio
. Mary was her birth name. In the course of her career she is alternately billed as "Madaline Traverse", "Madeline Traverse" and "Madeline Travers".
in The Poor Little Rich Girl
(1917). In What Would You Do? (1920) director Edmund Lawrence required Traverse to wear the clothes of a Boer
woman of South Africa
. Lawrence stressed realism to the point of insisting that Traverse not wash her face for several days before her scenes were shot.
Her most successful films are The Caillaux Case (1918) and Three Weeks (1914). In 1920 she made her first movie for Madlaine Traverse Productions, Snares of Paris
(1919), in New York
. Her wardrobe for the motion picture was purchased in Paris and she stayed in Fort Lee, New Jersey
while on location.
Traverse was rescued from drowning while she was bathing at high tide in the Pacific Ocean in October 1918. A man who was swimming nearby noticed Traverse did not come to the surface after struggling with strong waves. He pulled her by her skirt and took her to safety from the water off the coast of Ocean Park, California.
She became an avid duck hunter in southern California
after settling there to make motion pictures.
Madlaine Traverse died in Cleveland in 1964.
-Additional information-
Madlaine Traverse's birth name was Mary Businsky. She was born August 1, 1875. Madlaine began her acting career on the stage in England. She married Max Traverse, who died in 1906. The lights from filming permanently damaged her eyes, forcing her into retirement. Mary Pickford, who starred with her in "Poor Little Rich Girl" visited her in 1962, which was the highlight of her retirement years. She was 88 when she died January 7, 1964.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and screen
Screen
- Separation or partitioning :* Window screen, a wire mesh that covers a window opening* Fire screen, a device to put in front of a fireplace* Windbreak of trees or shrubs* Windshield , protects the driver of a vehicle...
actress from Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. Mary was her birth name. In the course of her career she is alternately billed as "Madaline Traverse", "Madeline Traverse" and "Madeline Travers".
Silent movie actress
Traverse was a leading lady of the Fox Film Corporation in the second decade of the twentieth century. In 1917 she played the mother of Mary PickfordMary 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...
in The Poor Little Rich Girl
The Poor Little Rich Girl
The Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1917 American comedy-drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur. Adapted by Frances Marion from the 1913 play by Eleanor Gates. The Broadway play actually starred future screen actress Viola Dana...
(1917). In What Would You Do? (1920) director Edmund Lawrence required Traverse to wear the clothes of a Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
woman of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Lawrence stressed realism to the point of insisting that Traverse not wash her face for several days before her scenes were shot.
Her most successful films are The Caillaux Case (1918) and Three Weeks (1914). In 1920 she made her first movie for Madlaine Traverse Productions, Snares of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(1919), in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Her wardrobe for the motion picture was purchased in Paris and she stayed in Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...
while on location.
Traverse was rescued from drowning while she was bathing at high tide in the Pacific Ocean in October 1918. A man who was swimming nearby noticed Traverse did not come to the surface after struggling with strong waves. He pulled her by her skirt and took her to safety from the water off the coast of Ocean Park, California.
She became an avid duck hunter in southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
after settling there to make motion pictures.
Madlaine Traverse died in Cleveland in 1964.
-Additional information-
Madlaine Traverse's birth name was Mary Businsky. She was born August 1, 1875. Madlaine began her acting career on the stage in England. She married Max Traverse, who died in 1906. The lights from filming permanently damaged her eyes, forcing her into retirement. Mary Pickford, who starred with her in "Poor Little Rich Girl" visited her in 1962, which was the highlight of her retirement years. She was 88 when she died January 7, 1964.
External links
- Madlaine Traverse at the Internet Movie Database / IMDb.com
- Madlaine Traverse at Internet Broadway Database / IBDb.com(as Madeline Traverse)
- a still picture mislabeled as Madlaine Traverse. The actress in the photo is Seena Owen(Univ. of Washington, Sayre collection)
- an actual portrait of Madlaine Traverse in side profile, 1919(Univ. of Washington, Sayre collection)