In the early 1900s, aspiring actors, producers and writers flocked to sunny Southern California, longing to make their mark on the new industry of motion pictures. While many worked long, hard years to hone their talent and get on the big screen, the Talmadge family seemingly walked on, took their places, and became the first royal family of Hollywood.
The Talmadge Family Gets Their Start In Motion Pictures
Grand stars of the silent films, Norma, Natalie and Constance Talmadge were the product of their driven stage mother, Margaret. She demanded nothing but the best for her daughters and went about carefully planning every detail of their lives. Although in many ways, their lives were bigger than their screen personas. With eight husbands and many love affairs between the three of them, the three ladies partied and cavorted their way through the roaring twenties and then through the Great Depression, arriving on the other end with their loyalties firmly planted in their family name.When their father left the girls at a young age, it was Mama Peg who stepped up to the plate and resourcefully put her girls in front of the cameras to pay the bills. She started them in modeling and later turned to sneaking the girls into studios, thrusting her beauties on anyone who would have them. While living in New York, they started with minor work in film at Vitagraph Studios before moving west to Hollywood under the guidance of D.W. Griffith.
Norma Talmadge, The Sultry Sister
Born around 1893, Norma Talmadge was the eldest and most famous of the three girls. Her dark, glamorous persona led the public to believe that she was the serious, sultry sister. She made her mark in the art of melodrama and her twenty-year career generated more than 150 films. In 1916, she married Hollywood heavyweight Joe Schenk, who went on to produce all three sisters and made them stars. When the talkies took over the world, she was the only one of the girls to try her hand at the new genre, and although she could speak well, her career faded after just a few productions.
Natalie Talmadge, The Practical Sister
Natalie Talmadge was the middle sister, born in 1896. Although she was an actress in her own right, she mostly worked behind the scenes in publicity supporting her sisters' careers. At the studio, Natalie soon found her love in Buster Keaton, whom Schenk was also producing. The two were married in 1921 and she settled into a more domestic life. Her last role was as Keaton's love interest in the 1923 film Our Hospitality.
Constance Talmadge, The Funny Sister
Constance Talmadge was the baby of the family born in 1897. She was a natural comedienne and appeared in over 80 silent films. Constance, also nicknamed Dutch, was never the serious one and took her career lightly. Were it not for Peg's chronic pushing, Constance would never have made her first film. When the talkies took over mainstream Hollywood, she happily hung up her trade and retired to a life of leisure.
The Talmadge Sisters' Legacy
So why, with more than 200 films to their collective credit, has this family faded to near oblivion? For starters, most of their films were made before 1920. As such, many have been lost or damaged. While a good collection of their films still exist in the Library of Congress, they have suffered much deterioration and the cost of transferring them to video would be substantial. Without a need for the productions, they will sit in the vaults in unwatchable form.
Another factor is that when other silent stars, such as Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson, transitioned well into the talkies and thus sustained their fan base, the Talmadge girls did not. As sound hit the screen, audiences were ready to toss out the old stars and bring in new celebrities. The wave was so huge that the silent stars were cast aside with abandon. Audiences were looking for more sophistication in their films and more polish in their actors.
Even biographers have widely overlooked the girls' contributions to film. With the exception of screenwriter, Anita Loos' memoir entitled, The Talmadge Girls, bookstore shelves are void of much information to carry their legacy forward to newer generations. Only slight remnants of their glorious past survive. Talmadge Street in Los Angeles is named after the family and the community of Talmadge California, near San Diego, carries their name as well, though surely most of the inhabitants have never heard of the glorious family who lent their name to the city. However, to film enthusiasts, the name Talmadge stands clear. These girls were viable and trend-setting and they will always remain the first great family in film.
Sources:
http://www.stanford.edu/~gdegroat/NT/home.htm
