Marceline Day
Encyclopedia
Marceline Day was an American motion picture actress whose career began as a child in the 1910s and ended in the 1930s.
Born Marceline Newlin in Colorado Springs, Colorado
and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah
, she was the younger sister of film actress Alice Day
.
Marceline Day began her film career after her sister, Alice Day, became a featured actress as one of the Sennett Bathing Beauties in one and two-reel comedies for Keystone Studios
. Day made her first film appearance alongside her sister in the 1924
Mack Sennett comedy Picking Peaches before being cast in a string of comedy shorts opposite actor Harry Langdon
and a stint in early Hollywood Western
s opposite such silent film cowboy stars as Hoot Gibson
, Art Acord and Jack Hoxie
. Gradually, Day began appearing in more dramatic roles opposite such esteemed actors of the era as Lionel Barrymore
, John Barrymore
, Norman Kerry
, Ramón Novarro
, Buster Keaton
, and Lon Chaney.
In 1926
, Marceline Day was named one of the thirteen WAMPAS Baby Stars
, a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States, which honored thirteen young women each year who they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. Other notable recipients that year were Joan Crawford
, Mary Astor
, Janet Gaynor
and Dolores del Río
. The publicity from the campaign added to Day's popularity and in 1927
she appeared opposite John Barrymore
in the romantic adventure The Beloved Rogue
.
Marceline Day is probably best recalled for her appearances in the now lost 1927
Tod Browning
directed horror classic London After Midnight
opposite Lon Chaney
and Conrad Nagel
, her role as Sally Richards in the 1928
comedy The Cameraman
opposite Buster Keaton
, and the 1929 drama The Jazz Age
opposite Douglas Fairbanks Jr.. By the late 1920s, Day's career had eclipsed her sister Alice's, who herself was quite a publicly popular actress. The two would appear together onscreen again in the 1929
musical The Show of Shows.
Although Day transitioned into talkies with little problem, her film roles gradually became lesser in quality and she began working primarily for lower-rung film studios. By 1933, Marceline Day made the transition back to the Western genre, appearing in "B" Westerns starring Tim McCoy
, Hoot Gibson
, Ken Maynard
, Jack Hoxie
, and John Wayne
. Her last film was The Fighting Parson, with Gibson
. After her retirement, Day rarely spoke of her years as an actress and never spoke to reporters or granted interviews.
Marceline Day first married silent film producer Arthur J. Klein, then, after divorcing, married John Arthur. She had no children with either husband. She died of natural causes in Cathedral City, California
, USA at the age of 91 and was cremated. Her ashes were given to family.
Born Marceline Newlin in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, she was the younger sister of film actress Alice Day
Alice Day
Alice Day was a film actor who began her career as of the Sennett Bathing Beauties....
.
Marceline Day began her film career after her sister, Alice Day, became a featured actress as one of the Sennett Bathing Beauties in one and two-reel comedies for Keystone Studios
Keystone Studios
Keystone Studios was an early movie studio founded in Edendale, California in 1912 as the Keystone Pictures Studio by Mack Sennett with backing from Adam Kessel and Charles O. Bauman, owners of the New York Motion Picture Company...
. Day made her first film appearance alongside her sister in the 1924
1924 in film
-Events:* Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
Mack Sennett comedy Picking Peaches before being cast in a string of comedy shorts opposite actor Harry Langdon
Harry Langdon
Harry Philmore Langdon was an American comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films , and talkies. He was briefly partnered with Oliver Hardy.-Life and career:...
and a stint in early Hollywood Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
s opposite such silent film cowboy stars as Hoot Gibson
Hoot Gibson
Hoot Gibson was an American rodeo champion and a pioneer cowboy film actor, director and producer.-Early life and career:...
, Art Acord and Jack Hoxie
Jack Hoxie
Jack Hoxie was an American rodeo performer and motion picture actor whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1930s...
. Gradually, Day began appearing in more dramatic roles opposite such esteemed actors of the era as Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
, John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
, Norman Kerry
Norman Kerry
Norman Kerry was an American actor whose career spanned over twenty-five years in the motion picture industry beginning in the silent era at the end of World War I.-Biography:...
, Ramón Novarro
Ramón Novarro
Ramón Novarro was a Mexican leading man actor in Hollywood in the early 20th century. He was the next male "Sex Symbol" after the death of Rudolph Valentino...
, Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
, and Lon Chaney.
In 1926
1926 in film
-Events:*August - Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system used multiple 33⅓ rpm disc records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back audio synchronized with film....
, Marceline Day was named one of the thirteen WAMPAS Baby Stars
WAMPAS Baby Stars
The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States which honored thirteen young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. They were selected from 1922 to 1934, and annual...
, a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States, which honored thirteen young women each year who they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. Other notable recipients that year were Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, Mary Astor
Mary Astor
Mary Astor was an American actress. Most remembered for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart, Astor began her long motion picture career as a teenager in the silent movies of the early 1920s.She eventually made a successful transition to talkies, but almost...
, Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor was an American actress and painter.One of the most popular actresses of the silent film era, in 1928 Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: Seventh Heaven , Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Street Angel...
and Dolores del Río
Dolores del Río
Dolores del Río was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood...
. The publicity from the campaign added to Day's popularity and in 1927
1927 in film
-Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premiers at the Paris Opéra and would demonstrate techniques and equipment that would not be used for years to...
she appeared opposite John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
in the romantic adventure The Beloved Rogue
The Beloved Rogue
The Beloved Rogue is a 1927 American silent film, loosely based on the life of the 15th century French poet, François Villon. The film was directed by Alan Crosland for United Artists....
.
Marceline Day is probably best recalled for her appearances in the now lost 1927
1927 in film
-Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premiers at the Paris Opéra and would demonstrate techniques and equipment that would not be used for years to...
Tod Browning
Tod Browning
Tod Browning was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras...
directed horror classic London After Midnight
London After Midnight (film)
London After Midnight aka The Hypnotist is a silent mystery film with horror overtones produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film stars Lon Chaney, Marceline Day, Conrad Nagel, Henry B. Walthall, and Polly Moran and was directed by Tod Browning. It is also a lost film, quite...
opposite Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
and Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well-known television actor and radio performer.-Biography:...
, her role as Sally Richards in the 1928
1928 in film
-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...
comedy The Cameraman
The Cameraman (1928 film)
The Cameraman is a 1928 American silent comedy directed by Edward Sedgwick and an uncredited Buster Keaton. The picture stars Buster Keaton, Marceline Day, Harold Goodwin, and others.The Cameraman was Keaton's first film with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
opposite Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
, and the 1929 drama The Jazz Age
The Jazz Age (1929 film)
The Jazz Age is a film starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Marceline Day, and Joel McCrea in his first leading role. The film, directed by Leslie Shores and written by Randolph Bartlett, was released by RKO Radio Pictures soon after RKO was created from Film Booking Offices of America, RCA, and the...
opposite Douglas Fairbanks Jr.. By the late 1920s, Day's career had eclipsed her sister Alice's, who herself was quite a publicly popular actress. The two would appear together onscreen again in the 1929
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
musical The Show of Shows.
Although Day transitioned into talkies with little problem, her film roles gradually became lesser in quality and she began working primarily for lower-rung film studios. By 1933, Marceline Day made the transition back to the Western genre, appearing in "B" Westerns starring Tim McCoy
Tim McCoy
Col. Tim McCoy was an American actor, military officer, and expert on American Indian life and customs.-Early years:...
, Hoot Gibson
Hoot Gibson
Hoot Gibson was an American rodeo champion and a pioneer cowboy film actor, director and producer.-Early life and career:...
, Ken Maynard
Ken Maynard
Ken Maynard was an American motion picture stuntman and actor.-Biography:Born Kenneth Olin Maynard in Vevay, Indiana, he was one of five children. His younger brother, Kermit Maynard, also became a stuntman and actor....
, Jack Hoxie
Jack Hoxie
Jack Hoxie was an American rodeo performer and motion picture actor whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1930s...
, and John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
. Her last film was The Fighting Parson, with Gibson
Hoot Gibson
Hoot Gibson was an American rodeo champion and a pioneer cowboy film actor, director and producer.-Early life and career:...
. After her retirement, Day rarely spoke of her years as an actress and never spoke to reporters or granted interviews.
Marceline Day first married silent film producer Arthur J. Klein, then, after divorcing, married John Arthur. She had no children with either husband. She died of natural causes in Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 51,200 at the 2010 census. Sandwiched between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, it is one of the cities in the Coachella Valley of southern California...
, USA at the age of 91 and was cremated. Her ashes were given to family.
Selected filmography
- The BarrierThe Barrier (1926 film)The Barrier is a 1926 silent film produced and distributed by MGM and directed by George Hill. The film stars Lionel Barrymore and Marceline Day and is based on the wilderness novel The Barrier by Rex Beach. Previous versions of the novel had been filmed in 1913 and 1917 respectively...
(1926) - Captain SalvationCaptain Salvation (1927 film)Captain Salvation is a 1927 drama directed by John S. Robertson and released by MGM. It stars Lars Hanson, Pauline Starke and Marceline Day. On January 18, 2010 the film had its first home video release on the Warner Archives series.-Cast:...
(1927) - The Beloved RogueThe Beloved RogueThe Beloved Rogue is a 1927 American silent film, loosely based on the life of the 15th century French poet, François Villon. The film was directed by Alan Crosland for United Artists....
(1927) - The Cameraman (1928)
- Trent's Last CaseTrent's Last Case (1929 film)Trent's Last Case is an American detective film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Raymond Griffith, Marceline Day, Raymond Hatton, and Donald Crisp, and released by Fox Film Corporation...
(1929) - Temple TowerTemple TowerTemple Tower is an American crime film directed by Donald Gallaher and starring Kenneth MacKenna, Marceline Day. and Peter Gawthorne....
(1930) - The CrusaderThe Crusader (1932 film)The Crusader is a 1932 American drama film directed by Frank R. Strayer and starring Evelyn Brent.- Cast :* Evelyn Brent as Tess Brandon* H. B. Warner as Phillip Brandon* Lew Cody as Jimmie Dale* Ned Sparks as Eddie Crane* Walter Byron as Joe Carson...
(1932)