Mae Murray

Silent screen star Mae Murray as featured in CIRCE THE ENCHANTRESS (1924). Dubbed "The Girl with the Bee Stung Lips”, Murray was born in New York City as Marie Adrienne Koenig on May 10, 1885. The middle of three children born to French and German émigrés, she started acting on the Broadway stage in 1906 with dancer Vernon Castle. In 1908, she joined the chorus line of the Ziegfeld Follies, moving up to headliner by 1915. She made her motion picture debut in “To Have and to Hold” in 1916. She gradually became a major star, moving around for different studios and playing opposite a number of handsome leading men in films such as “The Gilded Lily” (1921), “Peacock Alley” (1922), “Broadway Rose” (1922), “Jazzmania” (1923), “The French Doll” (1923) and, quite notably, “The Delicious Little Devil” (1919) and “Big Little Person” (1919) both opposite Rudolph Valentino. Brought over to MGM, Murray’s most acclaimed film would be “The Merry Widow” (1925) opposite matinée idol John Gilbert. She also starred in the romantic drama “The Masked Bride” (1925) and appeared in the title role in “Valencia” (1926). Her last silent film was the MGM romantic drama “Altars of Desire” (1927). Murray’s movie career sadly faded with the advent of sound. Her first sound film, “Peacock Alley” (1930), received lacklustre reviews and failed at the box office. Murray made only two more films before retiring from the screen. The former actress grew more eccentric over the years and was eventually forced to declare bankruptcy, living in abject poverty for the better part of her later life. The 74-year-old lady managed to co-write her autobiography in 1959 entitled "The Self-Enchanted" and ended her days in the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, CA. Mae Murray died of a heart ailment on March 23, 1965.

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