Violet Mersereau
Encyclopedia
Violet Mersereau was an American silent movie star.
Her career spanned the years from 1908-1926. She was born in New York, New York and was educated there. As a young girl she played child parts in stock. She toured with Margaret Anglin
and had a role in the original company of The Clansman. The play continued to show for three years. Violet was given the nickname The Child Wonder. She starred on the road as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
and then became a screen actress. She was five feet four inches tall with light hair and blue eyes. Her sister, Claire Mersereau, who was two years younger, was also an actress.
. In 1916 Carl Laemmle
decided to open one of his eastern United States studios for Miss Mersereau's own productions. Laemmle engaged O.A.C. Lund to direct Violet in these features. The actress took the first train available for Boston, Massachusetts. Blue Bird was absent from the Boston Exhibitor's Ball in October 1918, and while there, Mersereau represented the film company.
She had always exhibited a distinct preference for working in the East, and disliked California
. Among her most successful ventures for Blue Bird and Universal include The Boy Girl (1917), Morgan's Raiders (1918), Little Miss Nobody (1917), Susan's Gentleman (1917), The Honor of Mary Blake (1916), Souls United (1917), Autumn (1916), and The Little Terror (1917).
The actress' continued in motion pictures into the 1920s with her final film being The Wives of the Prophet (1926), in which she had the role of Alma. The most acclaimed project of her final period was Nero (1922), directed by J. Gordon Edwards
, grandfather of Blake Edwards
.
Violet played the part of Marcia in a production which
featured French actress Paulette Duval
. The movie had many of the same elements as The Sign of the Cross
, yet was inferior in many respects to the film directed by Cecil B. Demille
. Nero was made with an impressive number of participants in the crowd scenes. However the chariot races and burning of Rome
employed cheaply constructed sets. The American Mersereau's blond beauty was in sharp contrast to the lovely brunette foreign stars like Duval, Lina Talba, Lydia Yaguinto, and Maria Marchiali.
Violet Mersereau died in 1975 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, aged 83.
Her career spanned the years from 1908-1926. She was born in New York, New York and was educated there. As a young girl she played child parts in stock. She toured with Margaret Anglin
Margaret Anglin
Mary Margaret Anglin was a Canadian-born Broadway actress, director and producer whom Encyclopædia Britannica calls "one of the most brilliant actresses of her day."...
and had a role in the original company of The Clansman. The play continued to show for three years. Violet was given the nickname The Child Wonder. She starred on the road as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her two stern aunts in the village of Riverboro, Maine. Rebecca's joy for life inspires her aunts, but she faces many trials in her young life, gaining...
and then became a screen actress. She was five feet four inches tall with light hair and blue eyes. Her sister, Claire Mersereau, who was two years younger, was also an actress.
Silent film player
Violet made her first films for Biograph and was later an actress for Universal PicturesUniversal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
. In 1916 Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle , born in Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany, was a pioneer in American film making and a founder of one of the original major Hollywood movie studios - Universal...
decided to open one of his eastern United States studios for Miss Mersereau's own productions. Laemmle engaged O.A.C. Lund to direct Violet in these features. The actress took the first train available for Boston, Massachusetts. Blue Bird was absent from the Boston Exhibitor's Ball in October 1918, and while there, Mersereau represented the film company.
She had always exhibited a distinct preference for working in the East, and disliked 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...
. Among her most successful ventures for Blue Bird and Universal include The Boy Girl (1917), Morgan's Raiders (1918), Little Miss Nobody (1917), Susan's Gentleman (1917), The Honor of Mary Blake (1916), Souls United (1917), Autumn (1916), and The Little Terror (1917).
The actress' continued in motion pictures into the 1920s with her final film being The Wives of the Prophet (1926), in which she had the role of Alma. The most acclaimed project of her final period was Nero (1922), directed by J. Gordon Edwards
J. Gordon Edwards
J. Gordon Edwards was a Canadian-born film director, producer, and a writer who began his career as a stage actor and as a stage director. He made his directorial debut on film in 1914's St. Elmo. Soon went on helming all of the Fox studio's mega-budget spectacles, including all of actress Theda...
, grandfather of Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
.
Violet played the part of Marcia in a production which
featured French actress Paulette Duval
Paulette Duval
Paulette Duval was a French dancer and actress of the silent film era and early sound motion pictures. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1900 and raised in France. She was considered one of the most beautiful women in Paris in the early twentieth century...
. The movie had many of the same elements as The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross (film)
The Sign of the Cross is a pre-Code epic film released by Paramount Pictures, produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille from a screenplay by Waldemar Young and Sidney Buchman, and based on the original 1895 play by Wilson Barrett....
, yet was inferior in many respects to the film directed by Cecil B. Demille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
. Nero was made with an impressive number of participants in the crowd scenes. However the chariot races and burning of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
employed cheaply constructed sets. The American Mersereau's blond beauty was in sharp contrast to the lovely brunette foreign stars like Duval, Lina Talba, Lydia Yaguinto, and Maria Marchiali.
Violet Mersereau died in 1975 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, aged 83.
