COP11 Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 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. 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 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, 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. 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. 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). 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) Quote
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