Louise Dresser

Louise Dresser
Born Louise Josephine Kerlin
(1878-10-17)October 17, 1878
Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
Died April 24, 1965(1965-04-24) (aged 85)
Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1922 – 1937
Spouse(s) Jack Norworth (1899-1907) (divorced)
Jack Gardner (1908-1950) (his death)

Louise Dresser (October 17, 1878 – April 24, 1965) was an American actress.[1]

Early years

Born Louise Josephine Kerlin [2] in Evansville, Indiana. Her father was a train conductor who died when she was 15 years old.

Career

Dresser took her professional last name as a tribute to her good friend, songwriter Paul Dresser, who was a popular songwriter of the turn of the 20th century.

She had acted on the stage, being a Vaudeville singer at age 15. Her first film was The Glory of Clementina (1922), and her first starring role was in The City that Never Sleeps (1924).

She portrayed Empress Elizabeth in Paramount Pictures's The Scarlet Empress (1934). Dresser's last film was Maid of Salem (1937). On television, she appeared in an episode spotlighting Buster Keaton on Ralph Edwards's program, This is Your Life. She had known Keaton since he was a small boy with his parents in vaudeville.

Recognition

During the first presentations of the Academy Awards in 1929 Dresser was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for A Ship Comes In.

Personal life

Dresser was married twice. First, to singer/songwriter, Jack Norworth, whom she divorced and then to Jack Gardner, until his death in 1950. Dresser died in Woodland Hills, California, after surgery for an intestinal ailment, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Dresser died without issue.

Filmography

Silent

Sound

References

  1. ↑ The Green Book Magazine, Volume 15 page 161 "I Am Thirty-Six and Proud of It" by Ada Patterson
  2. ↑ The Green Book Magazine Volume 9, page 523, c.1913 Retrieved September 7, 2016
Louise Dresser in a 1900 vaudeville show
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Louise Dresser.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.