Lili Damita
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| Lili Damita | |
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| Born | Liliane Marie Madeleine Carré )July 10, 1904 Blaye, Gironde, Aquitaine, France |
| Died | March 21, 1994) (aged 89) Palm Beach, Florida, USA |
| Other names | Lily Damita, Lily Deslys |
| Years active | 1922-1937 |
| Spouse(s) | Michael Curtiz (1925–1926) Errol Flynn (1935–1942) Allen Loomis (1962–1983) |
Lili Damita (July 10, 1904 – March 21, 1994) was a French actress who appeared in 33 movies between 1922 and 1937.
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Early life and education
Born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré in Blaye, France, she was educated in convents and ballet schools in several European countries, including France, Spain and Portugal. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opera de Paris.
By the age of 16, she was performing in popular music halls, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris.[1] She also worked as a photographic model. Offered a role in film as a prize for winning a magazine beauty competition in 1921, she appeared in several silent films before being offered her first leading role in Das Spielzeug von Paris (1925) by Hungarian-born director Michael Curtiz, whom she married in 1925 (they divorced a year later). She was an instant success, and Curtiz directed her in two more films: Fiaker Nr 13 (1926) and Der Goldene Schmetterling (1926). Damita continued appearing in German productions directed by Robert Wiene (Die Grosse Abenteuerin; 1927), G.W. Pabst (Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe; 1926), and British director Graham Cutts (The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927).
Career
In 1928, at the invitation of Samuel Goldwyn she went to Hollywood, making her American debut in a film titled The Rescue. Leased out to various studios, she appeared with stars such as Gary Cooper, Maurice Chevalier, Laurence Olivier, Cary Grant, and James Cagney. Her films included the box office successes The Cock-Eyed World (1929),[2] the semi-silent The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929), and This Is the Night (1932).
Personal life
In 1935, she married her second husband, a virtual unknown who would become Hollywood's biggest box office attraction, Errol Flynn, with whom she had a son, Sean Flynn (born 1941). Following the marriage, she retired from the screen. The couple divorced in 1942. (Barbara Hershey portrayed her in the TV film My Wicked, Wicked Ways [1985] based on Errol Flynn's autobiography.)
While living in Palm Beach, Florida, Damita married Allen Loomis, a retired Fort Dodge, Iowa dairy owner, and spent part of each year living there.[3]
During the Cambodian Civil War (Khmer Rouge Reign), her son Sean Flynn was working as a freelance photo journalist under contract to Time magazine when he and fellow journalist Dana Stone went missing on the road south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on April 6, 1970. Although Damita spent an enormous amount of money searching for her son, he was never found, and in 1984 he was declared legally dead. DNA testing was conducted on remains found in Cambodia and turned over to the U.S. embassy in March 2010.[4] However, the results, released June 30, 2010 by JPAC, showed the remains were not those of Sean Flynn.[5]
Death
Lili Damita died of Alzheimer's disease on March 21, 1994, in Palm Beach, Florida, aged 89. She was interred in the Oakland Cemetery in Fort Dodge, Iowa, her third husband's hometown.[3]
Selected filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Maman Pierre | Silent film | |
| 1922 | La belle au bois dormant | Silent film | |
| 1922 | L'Empereur des pauvres | Riquette | |
| 1922 | La fille sauvage | Henriette Villedieu | Silent film |
| 1922 | The Clairvoyant | ||
| 1923 | Corsica | ||
| 1924 | Une femme dans la nuit | ||
| 1925 | Prince Charming | ||
| 1925 | Das Spielzeug von Paris | Célimène aka Susana Armard | |
| 1926 | Cab No. 13 (Fiaker Nr. 13) |
Lilian | |
| 1926 | Secrets of a Soul (Geheimnisse einer Seele) |
Uncredited | |
| 1926 | The Golden Butterfly (Der goldene Schmetterling) |
Lilian | |
| 1926 | One Does Not Play with Love (Man spielt nicht mit der Liebe) |
Calixta | |
| 1927 | The Queen Was in the Parlour | Prinzessin Nadya von Kraya | |
| 1927 | The Famous Woman (Die berühmte Frau) |
Sonja Litowskaja | |
| 1928 | The Great Adventuress | ||
| 1928 | Scandal in Paris | ||
| 1929 | The Rescue | Lady Edith Travers | |
| 1929 | The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Camila (La Perichole) | |
| 1929 | The Cock-Eyed World | Mariana Elenita | |
| 1930 | Let Us Be Gay (Soyons gais) |
Kitty | |
| 1931 | The Bachelor Father (Le père célibataire) |
||
| 1931 | Fighting Caravans | Felice | |
| 1931 | The Woman Between | Julie Whitcomb | |
| 1931 | Friends and Lovers | Mrs. Alva Sangrito | |
| 1931 | The Easiest Way (Quand on est belle) |
Laura Murdock | |
| 1932 | This Is the Night | Germaine | |
| 1932 | One Hour With You (Une heure près de toi) |
Mitzi Olivier | |
| 1932 | The Match King | Marta Molnar | |
| 1933 | Goldie Gets Along | Goldie LaFarge | |
| 1934 | Man Stolen | Annette | |
| 1935 | Brewster's Millions | Rosalie La Rue | |
| 1935 | Frisco Kid | Belle Morra | |
| 1936 | The Devil on Horseback | Diane Corday | |
| 1937 | Escadrille of Chance | Edwige |
Selected stage musicals
- On Dit Ça, Paris (1923)
- Sons o'Guns, New York (1929/30)
- Here's How, London (1934)
References
- ^ Brennan, Sandra. "Lili Damita". Allmovie. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^ Erickson, Hal. "The Cock-Eyed World". Allmovie. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^ a b Tronchoni, José L Bernabé (Nov 27, 2002). "Lily Damita". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^ Kennedy, Helen (March 29, 2010). "Remains of Errol Flynn's son, photographer Sean Flynn, may have been found in Cambodia mass grave". Daily News (New York).
- ^ Sean Flynn not buried in Cambodia war grave, The Daily Telegraph. June 30, 2010.
Bibliography
- Bermingham, Cedric Osmond (1931). Stars of the screen 1931: A volume of biographies of contemporary actors and actresses engaged in photoplay throughout the world. London: Herbert Joseph.
- "Lily Damita". Stars of the Photoplay. Chicago: Photoplay magazine. 1930.
External links
- Lili Damita at the Internet Movie Database
- Lili Damita at the Internet Broadway Database
- Lili Damita at Find a Grave
- Peter's E.F. Club - An internet scrapbook dedicated to Errol Flynn with extensive archival articles, books, photographs, filmography, biography, and much more including Lili Damita and son, Sean Flynn.
- Photographs of Lili Damita
- Photographs and literature
