October 13 Hollywood Forever Tour and My Performance as Barbara La Marr

Silent screen actress Barbara La Marr was a legend in her time, leading an astounding, oftentimes scandalous life described by newspapers of the day as “a wilder story than she ever helped to film.” Join me, Sherri Snyder, at the 125-year-old Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Sunday, October 13 as I once again portray Barbara in a one-woman performance piece that I wrote about her. Barbara’s banishment from Los Angeles at age seventeen for being “too beautiful”; her notable careers as an actress, a dancer, a vaudevillian, and a screenwriter; her tragic death at age twenty-nine in 1926; and more will be spotlighted.

My performance is part of the Los Angeles Art Deco Society’s 41st Hollywood Forever Cemetery walking tour. Also featured on the tour are the stories—told by performers and historians—of silent film god Rudolph Valentino, matinee idol Douglas Fairbanks Jr., actress and William Randolph Hearst mistress Marion Davies, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, slain director William Desmond Taylor, glamour ghoul Vampira, and around twenty other Old Hollywood luminaries and Los Angeles pioneers interred at Hollywood Forever.

In addition to portraying Barbara on the tour for many years, I now have the honor of producing it.

Click here for tickets and additional details. This event typically sells out.

(Photo: [left to right] Barbara in 1925 and me as Barbara.)

Barbara La Marr Tribute Coffee Blend

I am pleased to announce a coffee blend specifically created to pay tribute to the legendary Barbara La Marr. As one of the silent screen’s leading vamps, Barbara seduced audiences worldwide with her laudable talent, exotic beauty, and enigmatic allure. Offscreen, her sweetness, tender heart, and giving nature endeared her to others. The Siren Blend, a cinnamon vanilla flavored medium roast, salutes Barbara’s fiery screen persona and her kind soul.

It was a pleasure to work with Dominique Benedict of Breakfast at Dominique’s on this blend in an advisory capacity, providing biographical information and photos for the bag design, naming the blend, and choosing a proceeds recipient.

Breakfast at Dominique’s fair trade, organic, and sugar-free coffees honor classic Hollywood luminaries and other celebrated icons, including Mary Pickford, Ava Gardner, Bette Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Joan Crawford, and many more. A variety of the blends support charities and other deserving organizations.

Proceeds from Barbara’s Siren Blend benefit the National Film Preservation Foundation.

(Coffee bags may be purchased here.)

Barbara All Dolled Up (Part II)

Published paper doll artist extraordinaire Gregg Nystrom, who specializes in Old Hollywood glamour, has had a longstanding fascination with Barbara La Marr.

When the opportunity arose to create a souvenir doll for the Roaring Twenties-themed 2024 Paper Doll Convention, he chose to spotlight Barbara in her starring turn as a rich, disreputable temptress who finds love with an Englishman in the silent drama The Heart of a Siren (1925). Featured here are Nystrom’s Barbara doll and Barbara’s Nile green charmeuse, chiffon, and ostrich feather negligee; white crepe satin gown with black beading and tassels; and black velvet gown from the film.

Oscar-winning designer Charles LeMaire, creator of the costumes, rhapsodized, “[Barbara] was gorgeous, feline, and wore clothes with grace and elegance.” Nystrom could not agree more. “I’m an aesthete,” he said, “and she is very beautiful.”

(Read more about Gregg Nystrom, his work, and his Barbara La Marr dolls in my previous post, Barbara All Dolled Up: Celebrating the Work of Gregg Nystrom.)

My October 18 Barbara La Marr Program at La Venta Inn

I (Sherri Snyder) am honored to present a program on illustrious silent screen star Barbara La Marr at the historic La Venta Inn on the Palos Verdes Peninsula on Wednesday, October 18. Hosted by the Palos Verdes Historical Society as part of a fundraising event, my program will feature my one-woman performance as Barbara and slideshow lecture about her astounding life and laudable career.

La Venta Inn, an event and wedding venue, was a getaway for the rich and famous in the 1920s and 1930s. It was also the setting for Barbara’s final film, The Girl from Montmartre, filmed in 1925 and released in 1926.

For additional information and tickets, click here.

Barbara and Lewis Stone on location at La Venta Inn filming *The Girl from Montmartre*.

Happy National Silent Movie Day (September 29)!

Though not all silent films have survived, some of Barbara’s most noteworthy film acting work has! Why not celebrate the day by watching one of Barbara’s wonderful films free online?

The Nut (1921)

The Three Musketeers (1921)

The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)

Souls for Sale (1923)

The Whilte Moth (1924)

Barbara, Ramon Novarro, director Rex Ingram, and cameraman John F. Seitz film a scene from *The Prisoner of Zenda*, 1922.

October 15 Hollywood Forever Tour and My Performance as Barbara La Marr

Silent screen actress Barbara La Marr was a legend in her time, leading an astounding, oftentimes scandalous life described by newspapers of the day as “a wilder story than she ever helped to film.” Join me, Sherri Snyder, at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Sunday, October 15 as I once again portray Barbara in a one-woman performance piece that I wrote about her. Barbara’s banishment from Los Angeles at age seventeen for being “too beautiful”; her notable careers as an actress, a dancer, a vaudevillian, and a screenwriter; her tragic death at age twenty-nine in 1926; and more will be spotlighted.

My performance is part of the Los Angeles Art Deco Society’s 40th Hollywood Forever Cemetery walking tour. Also featured on the tour are the stories—told by performers and historians—of silent screen god Rudolph Valentino, matinee idol Douglas Fairbanks Jr., actress and William Randolph Hearst mistress Marion Davies, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, slain director William Desmond Taylor, glamour ghoul Vampira, and over twenty other Old Hollywood stars, movie moguls, and pioneers interred at Hollywood Forever.

In addition to portraying Barbara on the tour for many years, I have had the honor of producing it since 2017.

Click here for tickets and additional details. This event typically sells out.

My September 17 Barbara La Marr Performance (Mountain View Mausoleum Centenary Celebration)

Join me, Sherri Snyder, at the majestic Mountain View Mausoleum (2300 North Marengo Avenue, Altadena, CA) on Sunday, September 17 as I portray Barbara in a one-woman performance piece that I wrote about her. Barbara’s banishment from Los Angeles at age seventeen for being “too beautiful”; her notable careers as an actress, a dancer, a vaudevillian, and a screenwriter; her tragic death at age twenty-nine in 1926; and more will be spotlighted.

My performance is part of the Mountain View Mausoleum Centenary Celebration. Sponsored by Altadena Heritage, the celebration will take place from 4 to 7:30 p.m. and feature performers portraying famous Altadenans (Barbara passed away in Altadena after battling tuberculosis) and live 1920s music. Click here for additional information and tickets.