1866-1937
19th century stage actress Caroline Harris, who is best known as the mother of actor Richard Barthelmess, also had a silver screen presence herself in the early twentieth century. She was born today in Brooklyn, New York. Her first appearances in films apparently started in 1909 with two roles that were uncredited, the first of which was in the D. W. Griffith film The Necklace. Her first confirmed appearance in a film came in 1914 in The Claws Of Greed. Her film career didn't last long; she was active through the years 1914 and 1917, with her last appearance coming in The Gulf Between in 1917. She seems to have retired, at least from film acting, at the age of 51. Harris died in New York City in 1937 (23rd of April) at the age of 70. In her obituary, she is credited with teaching Alla Nazimova (who was born in the Crimea in the Russian Empire) English. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx. At the time, her son Richard was her only survivor.
Thank you so much for posting this. I am the author of the Hollywood's Garden of Allah novels in which Alla Nazimova is a character, and also a co-founder of the Alla Nazimova Society. In all my reading, researching, and internet-wandering, I've never been able to learn the identity of the person who taught Alla to speak English in such a remarkably short period of time. But at last I have my answer. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMartin Turnbull
https://martinturnbull.com/
http://www.allanazimova.com/
Thank YOU!!!
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