Honoring Barbara’s Birthday With New Photographs

To celebrate the genius and beauty that was Barbara La Marr on the anniversary of her birth, July 28, 1896, I am pleased to share the following selection of film stills and portraits.  As those who follow this blog know, I have spent the past decade researching and writing Barbara’s biography, per the request of her son, Donald Gallery (the book, titled Barbara La Marr: The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful for Hollywood, will be released in December 2017 and is currently available for pre-order here and here).  Over the years, Barbara La Marr fans the world over frequently contacted me, asking that I include many photographs in the book.  Although my publisher, the University Press of Kentucky, allowed me to include seventy-six photographs, choosing the photographs was a challenge; I had amassed quite a collection over the years!  Rather than allow the photographs that weren’t used in the book to go to waste, I offer some of them below (more will follow in future blog posts).  Enjoy!

Barbara as she appeared in an advertisement for Richelieu pearls, 1924

1924

Barbara in Sandra (1924)

Barbara with Doris Pawn in The Hero (1923)

Barbara and George F. Marion in The White Monkey (1925)

Barbara and Charles De Roche in The White Moth (1924)

Barbara and Arthur Sawyer, her manager (on left), cameraman Rudolph Bergquist (center), and director Phil Rosen (on right) on the set of The Heart of a Siren (1925).

Barbara and Eleanor Boardman in Souls for Sale (1923)

Barbara (third from left among those seated in the front row) with company members from Souls for Sale (1923); director Rupert Hughes is on her left, Frank Mayo is second from her right, Richard Dix is seated on the far right, Eleanor Boardman is on his right. William Haines, with whom Barbara would soon become romantically involved, is standing [in white shirt] behind Hughes.

Barbara, Percy Marmont (center), and Lew Cody (on right) in The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1924)

The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1924)

Promoting The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1924)

Barbara (first on right in middle row) pictured with a portion of the Quincy Adams Sawyer (1922) cast and crew; she is seated next to director Clarence Badger.

Barbara and Pat O’Malley in The Eternal Struggle (1923)

Strangers of the Night (1923)

1923

Barbara pictured with Stuart Holmes (standing) and Ramon Novarro (seated, center) in The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)

Barbara poses on a gilded bed owned by singer, dancer, and actress Gaby Deslys. Patterned after the boat from the “Grotto of Venus” scene in the opera Tannhäuser, the bed was imported from France by director Rex Ingram for Trifling Women (1922).

Barbara photographed by Hoover Art Studios

Barbara in The White Moth (1924); photographed by Paul Grenbeaux

A film slide featuring (left to right) Barbara, Lionel Barrymore, and Bert Lytell in The Eternal City (1923)

Barbara and Jack Daughterty, her final husband, return to work at Universal Studios two days after their wedding in May 1923

Barbara and William V. Mong in Thy Name Is Woman (1924)

Barbara, E. H. Calvert (on left), and Lewis Stone (center) in The Girl From Montmartre (1926)

Film Synopses Added To Filmography Section

Since I had a window of time between deadlines as my upcoming biography, Barbara La Marr: The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful for Hollywood, nears publication, I compiled and added film synopses for the six films Barbara wrote during her story writing days with the Fox Film Corporation and the twenty-six credited films encompassing her meteoric career as one of the silent screen’s leading actresses.  They may be viewed on the Filmography page.

In the future, I’ll be writing more blog posts spotlighting specific films comprising Barbara’s screenwriting and acting careers.  Meanwhile, feel free to browse my previous blog posts (see the “Categories” section located on the right—you’ll need to scroll down a bit—and select “Barbara’s Film Acting Career” and “Barbara’s Screenwriting Career” from the drop down menu).  I also have many film stills and other photos pertaining to Barbara’s films in the “Galleries” (see the tab at the top).  Of course, Barbara’s films are additionally discussed at length in my book, scheduled for release in early December 2017 by the University Press of Kentucky.

Pre-Ordering Information and an Interview/Review of my Barbara La Marr Biography, Barbara La Marr: The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful for Hollywood!

My Barbara La Marr biography, Barbara La Marr: The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful for Hollywood, scheduled for release in early December 2017, through the University Press of Kentucky, may now be pre-ordered on Amazon.

Writer and cinema historian Annette Bochenek recently read the book and interviewed me about it.  Creator of the Hometowns to Hollywood website, Annette offers a fascinating look at the oftentimes modest beginnings of Old Hollywood’s biggest icons.  Read my interview with Annette and her review of Barbara La Marr: The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful for Hollywood on her blog.

Remembering Barbara on the Anniversary of Her Passing

Silent screen siren Barbara La Marr passed away on January 30, 1926, having lived life on her own terms.  Her death, attributed to tuberculosis and nephritis, was hastened by her tendency to “burn the candle at both ends,” her severe diet regimen, and her insistence upon continuing her work until her final collapse on the set of her last film.  Her life, involving accomplished careers as a theater actress, cabaret dancer, vaudevillian, screenwriter, and film star—and unremitting scandal—played out in ceaseless headlines.

Her incredible life story will be told in its entirely this fall in my upcoming biography, Barbara La Marr: The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful for Hollywood.  The University Press of Kentucky, my publisher, recently sent me the book’s cover photo:

For some commentary on the book, see my blog post, “Exciting News About My Barbara La Marr Biography.”

Official Title of My Barbara La Marr Biography

I have now finalized the title of my Barbara La Marr biography with my publisher, the University Press of Kentucky.  Look for Barbara La Marr: The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful for Hollywood to be released sometime in the fall or winter of 2017.  UPK’s design team is currently working on the cover design and I should have a photo to share early in the new year.  Meanwhile, I have been working away on a preliminary index in order to get a leg up for when things move into the proof stages.  This has been a thrilling (albeit all-consuming) process these past many years, and I dare say that the end is in sight!

My Barbara La Marr Biography Will Be Published by University Press of Kentucky!

The acquisitions editor at University Press of Kentucky informed me this afternoon that their board members “wholeheartedly approved” my completed manuscript, (tentatively titled) Barbara La Marr: The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful, at their quarterly meeting today and are thrilled to publish it.  The book will be published in their Fall 2017 Screen Classics series, perhaps as soon as August.

After submitting my completed manuscript to University Press of Kentucky around January, it was evaluated by their panel of readers; I sincerely thank the readers for their time and wonderful feedback.  I thank UPK for taking me on; I am honored to be working with them.   Many thanks to Christina Rice, author of Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel (also published by UPK), for suggesting that I submit my manuscript to them in the first place.  Thank you to all who have offered much-appreciated encouragement and expressed interest in this biography and Barbara.  Finally, I thank Barbara’s son and only child, the late and greatly missed Donald Gallery, for asking me to write this biography.  It was Donald’s dream that his mother’s full life story be published; it has been a dream come true for me to fulfill that dream.

I have truly been putting a tremendous amount of work and research, my heart, and my soul into this project these past so many years and am extremely excited to get Barbara’s incredible story out there!

I will post periodic updates here on the blog and in the “Barbara La Marr Book Updates” section of this site.