Mary Astor
Holy Cross Cemetery
Mary Astor is best known
for her role as the femme fatale in "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), but she
is also known for her role in off-screen scandal.
After winning a beauty contest, Astor made her film debut
at the age of 14, in a bit part in "The Scarecrow" (1920), a comedy starring
Buster Keaton. After appearing in small roles in dozens of films over the
next few years, Astor got her first major role in "Beau Brummel" (1924),
co-starring with John Barrymore, and there were rumors of an off-screen
romance between the 42-year-old actor and his 18-year-old co-star. Astor
appeared in a number of costume dramas and swashbuckling adventures over the
next few years, including "Don Q, Son of Zorro" (1925) and "Don Juan" (1926).
Astor made a successful transition to talkies, and appeared in dozens of
Astor made headlines in a different way in 1936, when she
was in the midst of divorce and custody battle with her second husband.
Admitted as evidence at the trial was Astor's diary, which included a
graphic and detailed account of Astor's 16-month affair with playwright
George S. Kaufman, and the case became the most publicized and talked-about
scandal in Hollywood in the 1930s. But rather than end Astor's career,
the trial publicity seemed to energize it, and she next appeared in
"The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937), "The Hurricane" (1937), "Midnight" (1939)
and "Turnabout" (1940), before co-starring with Humphrey Bogart in
Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" (1941). For her performance in
her next film, "The Great Lie" (1941), Astor won the Academy Award for
Best Supporting Actress.
By the mid-1940s, Astor was making the transition from
roles as the elegant and sophisticated leading lady to character and
supporting parts, including roles in "The Palm Beach Story" (1942),
"Thousands Cheer" (1943), "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944), "Desert Fury"
(1947), "Little Women" (1949) and "A Kiss Before Dying" (1956).
Her last film was "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1965).
Astor was born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke on May 3, 1906,
in Quincy, IL. She died on Sept. 25, 1987, in Woodland Hills, CA.
1906 - 1987
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