Barbara La Marr

Silent film star Barbara La Marr in a hypnotic portrait study from 1923. She was born Reatha Dale Watson in Yakima, Washington, on July 28, 1896. After performing in vaudeville and working as a dancer in New York City, she moved to Los Angeles with her second husband and became a screenplay writer for Fox Film, writing several successful films for the company. She was finally "discovered" by Douglas Fairbanks who gave her a prominent role in "The Nut" (1921), then cast her as Milady de Winter in his production of "The Three Musketeers" (1921). After two further career-boosting films with "The Prisoner of Zenda" and the Gothic drama "Trifling Women" (both 1922), La Marr signed with Arthur H. Sawyer to make several films for various studios, including "The Hero" (1923), "Souls for Sale" (1923), and "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" (1924). La Marr lived extravagantly, lavishing expensive gifts on friends and relations. After an affair with John Gilbert and legal complications over the legality of some of her marriages and divorces, her career went into a decline and her contract with Metro was terminated. Mismanaged by her new studio, scathing reviews brought her to despair as her health declined, in part due to destructive crash-dieting. By late 1925, her health had deteriorated significantly due to pulmonary tuberculosis. While filming her final feature, "The Girl from Montmartre" (1926), she collapsed on the set and lapsed into a coma. She was then diagnosed with nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys, as a complication of her already tubercular state, sadly dying at age 29 in January of 1926. Some historians and writers have claimed that La Marr was a drug addict during her later life (addicted to morphine and heroin which she had been prescribed after injuring her ankle) and that this contributed to her health problems.

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