Corinne Mae Griffith (November 21, 1894 – July 13, 1979) was an American film actress, producer and author. Dubbed "The Orchid Lady of the Screen", she was one of the most popular film actresses of the 1920s and widely considered the most beautiful actress of the silent screen. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Divine Lady.

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30/08/2019.

Corinne Griffith : Actress, producer, author.

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1. Profile :

 Born    Corinne Mae Griffin, November 21, 1894

Texarkana, Texas, U.S.
Died    July 13, 1979 (aged 84)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.

Nationality    American
Education    Sacred Heart Convent
Occupation    Actress, producer, author
Years active    1916–1932

Spouse(s)    Webster Campbell
(m. 1920; div. 1923)

Walter Morosco
(m. 1924; div. 1934)

George Preston Marshall
(m. 1936; div. 1958)

Danny Scholl
(m. 1965; div. 1965)
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2. Introduction :


Corinne Mae Griffith (November 21, 1894 – July 13, 1979) was an American film actress, producer and author. Dubbed "The Orchid Lady of the Screen", she was one of the most popular film actresses of the 1920s and widely considered the most beautiful actress of the silent screen. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Divine Lady.

Shortly after the advent of sound film, Griffith retired from acting and became a successful author and businesswoman. A biographical film about her life was released in 1963 titled Papa's Delicate Condition, based on her memoir and focusing on the relationship between her and her father.
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3. Early life and career :

*An early starring feature, The Climbers (1919)

Griffith was born in Texarkana, Texas to John Lewis Griffin and Ambolina (Ambolyn) Ghio. She attended Sacred Heart Convent school in New Orleans and worked as a dancer before she began her acting career.

Griffith began her screen career at the Vitagraph Studios in 1916. She later moved to First National, where she became one of their most popular stars. In 1928, she had the starring role in The Garden of Eden. The next year, in 1929, Griffith received an Academy Award nomination for her role in The Divine Lady.

Griffith's first sound film, Lilies of the Field, was released in 1930. Griffith's voice did not record well (The New York Times stated that she "talked through her nose"), and the film was a box office flop. After appearing in one more Hollywood picture, Back Pay in 1930, and a British film Lily Christine in 1932, she retired from acting. She returned to the screen in 1962 in the low-budget melodrama Paradise Alley, which received scant release.
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4. Later career :

  Griffith was one of the few film stars to move successfully into new careers once her stardom had ended. She was an accomplished writer who published eleven books including two best sellers, My Life with the Redskins and the memoir Papa's Delicate Condition, which was made into a 1963 film starring Jackie Gleason about the Ghio and Griffin family. Her actual family names were used in the film.


Her ventures into real estate were particularly successful (at one point she owned four different major office buildings in Los Angeles, each of them named after her).
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5. Personal life :

Griffith was a member of the Christian Science religion.

While married to Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, she introduced NFL Commissioner Bert Bell to his future wife. She also introduced Curly Lambeau to his second and third wives. All were old friends from her film career.

She was a California Republican Committee Woman and an early advocate for the career of Richard Nixon. She was also an old friend of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

She was the long time consort to Curly Lambeau, who recommended various methods for operating a pro football team. Lambeau recommended Sammy Baugh as quarterback and the T formation. She later arranged for her husband to hire Lambeau as coach.
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6. Marriages :

Griffith was married four times and produced no children but adopted two girls, Pamela and Cynthia. She was married to actor and frequent co-star Webster Campbell from 1920 to 1923, producer Walter Morosco from 1924 to 1934, and George Preston Marshall from 1936 to 1958. During her marriage to Marshall, she composed the lyrics to the Redskins fight song "Hail to the Redskins" which became one of the most famous football anthems.

In 1965, she married and divorced her fourth husband, Broadway actor Danny Scholl (Call Me Mister). Scholl was 45, more than 25 years Griffith's junior. In court she testified that she was not Corinne Griffith. She claimed that she was the actress's younger (by twenty years) sister who had taken her place upon the famous sister's death. Contradictory testimony by actresses Betty Blythe and Claire Windsor, who had both known her since the 1920s, did not shake her story. In 1974, Adele Whitely Fletcher, editor of Photoplay, said Griffith was still claiming that she was her own younger sister.
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7. Death :

On July 13, 1979, Griffith died of heart failure in Santa Monica, California, aged 84.
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8. Legacy :

For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Griffith has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street.

Tom Tryon wrote a novella, Fedora, based on Griffith's claim that she had taken the place of the real actress.
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9. Filmography :

 The Girl Problem (1919)

The Common Law (1923)

Year     Title     Role     Notes

1916     La Paloma     Stella     Short
Lost film
Bitter Sweet     Ruth Slatter - John's Wife     Short
Lost film
When Hubby Forgot     The Maid     Short
Lost film
Sin's Penalty     Lola Wilson     Short
Lost film
Miss Adventure     Gloria     Short
Lost film
The Cost of High Living     Jack's Sister     Short
The Rich Idler     Marion- Mary's Friend     Short
Lost film
Ashes     The Nurse     Short
Lost film
The Waters of Lethe     Joyce Denton     Short
Lost film
The Yellow Girl     Corinne     Short
A Fool and His Friend         Short
Lost film
Through the Wall     Pussy Wimott     Lost film
The Last Man     Lorna     Lost film
His Wife's Allowance         Short
Lost film
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1917     The Mystery of Lake Lethe         Short
Lost film
The Stolen Treaty     Irene Mitchell     Lost film
Transgression     Marion Hayward     Lost film
The Love Doctor     Blanche Hildreth     Lost film
I Will Repay     Virginia Rodney     Lost film
Who Goes There?     Karen Girard     Lost film
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1918     The Menace     Virginia Denton     Lost film
Love Watches     Jacqueline Cartaret     Lost film
The Clutch of Circumstance     Ruth Lawson     Lost film
The Girl of Today     Leslie Selden     Lost film
Miss Ambition     Marta     Lost film
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1919     The Adventure Shop     Phyllis Blake     Lost film
The Girl Problem     Erminie Foster     Lost film
The Unknown Quantity     Mary Boyne     Lost film
Thin Ice     Alice Winton    
A Girl at Bay     Mary Allen     Lost film
The Bramble Bush     Kaly Dial     Lost film
The Climbers     Blanche Sterling
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1920     The Tower of Jewels     Emily Cottrell     Lost film
Human Collateral     Patricia Langdon     Lost film
Deadline at Eleven     Helen Stevens     Lost film
The Garter Girl     Rosalie Ray     Lost film
Babs     Barbara Marvin; "Babs"     Lost film
The Whisper Market     Erminie North     Lost film
The Broadway Bubble     Adrienne Landreth/Drina Lynn     Lost film
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1921     It Isn't Being Done This Season     Marcia Ventnor     Lost film
What's Your Reputation Worth?     Cara Deene     Lost film
Moral Fibre     Marion Wolcott     Lost film
The Single Track     Janette Gildersleeve     Lost film
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1922     Received Payment         Lost film
A Virgin's Sacrifice         Lost film
Island Wives     Elsa Melton     Lost film
Divorce Coupons     Linda Catherton     Lost film
The Common Law     Valerie West     Lost film
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1923     Black Oxen     Madame Zatianny/Mary Ogden    
Six Days     Laline Kingston
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1924     Single Wives     Betty Jordan     Executive producer
Love's Wilderness     Linda Lou Heath     Executive producer
Lilies of the Field     Mildred Harker     Executive producer
Lost film
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1925     Declassee     Lady Helen Haden     Producer
Classified     Babs Comet     Producer
Infatuation     Violet Bancroft     Executive producer
Lost film
The Marriage Whirl     Marian Hale     Executive producer
Lost film
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1926     Mademoiselle Modiste     Fifi     Executive producer
Lost film
Into Her Kingdom     Grand Duchess Tatiana (at 12 and 20)     Executive producer
Lost film
Syncopating Sue     Susan Adams     Executive producer
Lost film
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1927     The Lady in Ermine     Mariana Beltrami     Executive producer
Lost film
Three Hours     Madeline Durkin     Executive producer
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1928     The Garden of Eden     Toni LeBrun    
Outcast     Miriam
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1929     Saturday's Children     Bobby Halevy     Lost film
Prisoners     Riza Riga     Lost film
The Divine Lady     Lady Emma Hart Hamilton
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1930     Lilies of the Field     Mildred Harker     Lost film
Back Pay     Hester Bevins
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    1932     Lily Christine     Lily Christine Summerset
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1962     Paradise Alley     Mrs. Wilson     Alternative title: Stars in the Backyard
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10. Books by Corinne Griffith :

 1947 My Life with the Redskins – history of the Washington Redskins football team, owned by her husband, George Marshall

    1952 Papa's Delicate Condition – memoir of her childhood
    1955 Eggs I Have Known – collection of recipes
    1961 Antiques I Have Known – book about her interest in antiques
    1962 Taxation Without Representation – Griffith's argument against taxes.
    1963 I Can't Boil Water – collection of recipes she obtained from famous restaurants
    1963 Hollywood Stories – collection of short fiction written by Griffith
    1964 Truth is Stranger – collection of true stories and anecdotes told by Griffith that struck her as stranger than any fiction
    1969 Not For Men Only – But Almost – a book on sports and its lack of appeal for most women
    1972 This You Won't Believe – another collection similar to "Truth is Stranger"
    1974 I'm Lucky at Cards – a book of various essays by Griffith
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THE END.
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