Mildred Harris

Mildred Harris
Harris, c. 1918-20
Born	November 29, 1901(1901-11-29) Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.
Died	July 20, 1944(1944-07-20) (aged 42) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1912–1944
Spouse	Charlie Chaplin (1918–1920)[1] Everett Terrence McGovern (1924–1929) William P. Fleckenstein (1934–1944)

Mildred Harris (November 29, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American film actress. Harris began her career in the film industry as a popular child actress at age eleven. At the age of fifteen, she was cast as a harem girl in D. W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916). She appeared as a leading lady through the 1920s but her career slowed with the advent of the "talkies". She was critically praised for No, No Nanette in 1930, had a few bit parts in the early 1940s, and made her last appearance in the posthumously released Having A Wonderful Crime of 1945.

Harris has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6307 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles, California. In 1992, she was portrayed by Milla Jovovich in the biographical film Chaplin.

Career

Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Harris made her first screen appearance at the age of eleven in the 1912 Francis Ford and Thomas H. Ince-directed Western short The Post Telegrapher. She followed the film with various juvenile roles, often appearing opposite child actor Paul Willis. In 1914, she was hired by The Oz Film Manufacturing Company to portray Fluff in The Magic Cloak of Oz and Button-Bright in His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. In 1916, at the age of 15, she appeared as a harem girl in Griffith's epic Intolerance.

Harris in Fool's Paradise (1921) with John Davidson (l) and Conrad Nagel (r)

In the 1920s, Harris graduated to leading lady roles opposite leading men such as Conrad Nagel, Milton Sills, Lionel Barrymore, Rod La Rocque and the Moore brothers, Owen and Tom. She appeared in Frank Capra's 1928 silent drama The Power of the Press with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Jobyna Ralston.

She found the transition to the "talkies" difficult and her career slowed dramatically. She performed in vaudeville and burlesque, and, at one point, toured with comedian Phil Silvers. She was critically praised for her performance in the 1930 film adaptation of the Broadway musical No, No Nanette. In the 1936 Three Stooges comedy Movie Maniacs, she portrayed a temperamental and demanding film starlet who, while receiving a pedicure, is startled by stooge Curly Howard striking a match on the sole of her foot.

Harris continued to work in film in the early 1940s, largely through the kindness of her former director, Cecil B. DeMille, who cast her in bit parts in 1942's Reap the Wild Wind, and 1944's The Story of Dr. Wassell. Her last film appearance was in the posthumously released 1945 film Having A Wonderful Crime.

Personal life

Mildred Harris c. 1920.

Sixteen-year-old Harris met actor Charlie Chaplin in mid-1918, dated, and came to believe she was pregnant by him. They married on October 23, 1918, in Los Angeles, California. The couple quarreled about her contract with Louis B. Mayer and her career. Chaplin felt she was not his intellectual equal, and, when their child died in July 1919 after three days of life,^[2][3] they separated in the autumn of 1919. Chaplin moved to the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Harris tried to keep appearances up, believing a happy marriage was possible, but in 1920 she filed for divorce based on mental cruelty. Chaplin accused her of infidelity, and, though he would not name her lover publicly, Alla Nazimova was suspected.^[4] Harris denied rumors Chaplin had been physically violent, and divorce was granted in November 1920 with Harris receiving $100,000 in settlement and some community property.^[1]

Following the divorce, Harris had a highly publicized relationship of less than a year's duration with the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII).^[5]

In 1924, Harris married Everett Terrence McGovern. The union lasted until November 26, 1929, when Harris filed for divorce in Los Angeles, California, on grounds of desertion. The couple had one child, Everett Terrence McGovern, Jr., in 1925. In 1934, she married William P. Fleckenstein in Asheville, North Carolina. The couple remained married until Harris' unexpected death in 1944 of pneumonia. She was laid to rest at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1912	The Post Telegrapher
	The Triumph of Right	Their Little Daughter
	His Nemesis
	The Frontier Child	A Frontier Child
	His Squaw
	His Sense of Duty
1913	A Shadow of the Past
	The Wheels of Destiny
	The Way of a Mother
	The Miser
	The Drummer of the 8th
	A Child of War
	A True Believer
	The Seal of Silence
	Granddad	Mildred
	Borrowed Gold
1914	Romance of Sunshine Alley
	O Mimi San
	The Courtship of O San
	Wolves of the Underworld
	The Colonel's Orderly
	The Social Ghost	Ethel
	Shadows of the Past
	A Frontier Mother
	The Sheriff of Bisbee
	Shorty and the Fortune Teller
	When America Was Young
	Mildred's Doll	Mildred
	The Magic Cloak	Princess Margaret 'Fluff' of Noland
	His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz	Button-Bright, who is lost and doesn't care
	Jimmy	Mary
1915	The Lone Cowboy
	The Warrens of Virginia	Betty Warren
	Enoch Arden	A Child	(uncredited)
	The Little Matchmaker	Mildred
	The Little Soldier Man	Mildred
	The Absentee	Innocence
	A Rightful Theft
	The Old Batch	First Adopted Daughter
	The Choir Boys
	The Little Lumberjack
	The Indian Trapper's Vindication	Dorothy King - their Daughter
1916	Hoodoo Ann	Goldie
	Intolerance	Favorite of the Harem	(uncredited)
	The Old Folks at Home	Marjorie
	The Matrimaniac		(uncredited)
	The Americano	Stenographer
1917	The Bad Boy	Mary
	A Love Sublime	Eurydice
	An Old Fashioned Young Man
	Time Locks and Diamonds	Lolita Mendoza
	Golden Rule Kate	Olive - Kate's sister
	The Cold Deck	Alice Leigh
	The Price of a Good Time	Linnie
1918	The Doctor and the Woman	Sidney Page
	Cupid by Proxy	Jane Stewart
	For Husbands Only	Toni Wilde
	Borrowed Clothes	Mary Kirk
1919	When a Girl Loves	Bess
	Home	Millicent Rankin
	Forbidden	'Maddie' Irvin
1920	Old Dad	Daphne Bretton
	The Inferior Sex	Allisa Randall	as Mildred Harris Chaplin
	Polly of the Storm Country	Polly	as Mildred Harris Chaplin
	The Woman in His House	Hilda	as Mildred Harris Chaplin
1921	Habit	Irene Fletcher
	A Prince There Was	Katherine Woods
	Fool's Paradise	Rosa Duchene
1922	The First Woman	The Girl
1923	The Fog	Madelaine Theddon
	The Daring Years	Susie LaMotte
1924	The Shadow of the East	Gillian Locke
	By Divine Right	The Girl
	Traffic in Hearts	Alice Hamilton
	One Law for the Woman	Polly Barnes
	In Fast Company	Barbara Belden
	Unmarried Wives	Princess Sonya
	Stepping Lively	Evelyn Pendroy, the girl
	The Desert Hawk	Marie Nicholls
1925	Easy Money	Blanche Amory
	Flaming Love	Chita
	Beyond the Border	Molly Smith
	The Dressmaker from Paris	Joan McGregor
	Super Speed	Claire Knight
	Private Affairs	Amy Lufkin
	My Neighbor's Wife	Inventor's Wife
	A Man of Iron	Claire Bowdoin
	The Fighting Cub
	The Unknown Lover	Gale Norman
	Soiled	Pet Darling
1926	Mama Behave	Lolita Chase, Charlie's Wife
	The Isle of Retribution	Lenore Hardenworth
	The Self Starter
	Dangerous Traffic	Helen Leonard
	The Wolf Hunters
	The Mystery Club	Mrs. Kate Vandeerveer
	Cruise of the Jasper B	Agatha Fairhaven
1927	The Show Girl	Maizie Udell
	One Hour of Love	Gwen
	Husband Hunters	Cynthia Kane
	Wandering Girls	Maxine
	Wolves of the Air	Marceline Manning
	Burning Gold
	She's My Baby	Claire Daltour
	Rose of the Bowery
	The Swell-Head	Kitty
	Sumuru	Helen Graham
	Out of the Past	Dora Prentiss
	The Adventurous Soul	Miriam Martin
1928	The Last Lap
	Hearts of Men	Alice Weston
	The Heart of a Follies Girl	Florine
	Lingerie	Mary
	The Speed Classic	Sheila Van Hauten
	Melody of Love	Madelon
	The Power of the Press	Marie
1929	Side Street	Bunny
	Sea Fury
1930	No, No, Nanette	Betty
	Melody Man	Martha
	Ranch House Blues
1935	Lady Tubbs	Society Woman	(uncredited)
	The quiero con locura
	Never Too Late	Mary Lloyd Hartley
1936	Movie Maniacs	Leading Lady
	Great Guy	Bit Role	(uncredited)
1942	Reap the Wild Wind	Dancing Lady	(uncredited)
	Holiday Inn	Woman	(uncredited) (unconfirmed)
1944	The Story of Dr. Wassell	Dutch nurse	(uncredited)
	Fun Time	Tillie	(uincredited)
	Hail the Conquering Hero	Wife of Marine Colonel	(uncredited)
1945	Having a Wonderful Crime	Guest	(uncredited)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Charles J. Maland. 1991. Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image. Princeton University Press. pp.43-44.
2. ^ The child was buried in the Inglewood Park Cemetery under a headstone with the inscription The Little Mouse.Beneath Los Angeles- Norman Spencer Chaplin at www.beneathlosangeles.com
3. ^ Charlie Chaplin's Wives at www.ednapurviance.org
4. ^ McLellan, Diana. 2000. The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood London: Robson Books. 1-86105-381-9. p.28
5. ^ Journal of San Diego History at www.sandiegohistory.org

External links

Biography portal

• Mildred Harris at the Internet Movie Database
• Mildred Harris at AllRovi
• Mildred Harris at Find a Grave
• Mildred Harris at Yahoo! Movies
• Silent Ladies and Gents
• Silent Era People

Persondata
Name	Harris, Mildred
Alternative names
Short description	Actress
Date of birth	November 29, 1901
Place of birth	Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.
Date of death	July 20, 1944
Place of death	Los Angeles, California, U.S.