Amabel Ethelreid "Mabel" Normand (November 10, 1892 – February 23, 1930) was an American silent-film actress, screenwriter, director, and producer. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in his Keystone Studios films, and at the height of her career in the late 1910s and early 1920s, had her own movie studio and production company.

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26/01/2020.
Mabel Normand - Actress, director, screenwriter, producer.
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1. Profile :

#Mabel Normand-1917

Born Amabel Ethelreid Normand,  November 10, 1892,  New Brighton, Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Died February 23, 1930 (aged 37), 
Monrovia, California, U.S.
Resting place Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles
Nationality American
Other names Mabel Normand-Cody, Muriel Fortescue
Occupation Actress, director, screenwriter, producer
Years active 1910–1927
Spouse(s) Lew Cody (m. 1926)
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2. Introduction :

Amabel Ethelreid "Mabel" Normand  (November 10, 1892 – February 23, 1930) was an American silent-film actress, screenwriter, director, and producer. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in his Keystone Studios films, and at the height of her career in the late 1910s and early 1920s, had her own movie studio and production company.

Onscreen, she appeared in 12 successful films with Charlie Chaplin and 17 with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, sometimes writing and directing (or co-writing/directing) movies featuring Chaplin as her leading man.Throughout the 1920s, her name was linked with widely publicized scandals, including the 1922 murder of William Desmond Taylor and the 1924 shooting of Courtland S. Dines, who was shot by Normand's chauffeur using her pistol. She was not a suspect in either crime. Her film career declined, and she suffered a recurrence of tuberculosis in 1923, which led to a decline in her health, retirement from films, and her death in 1930 at age 37.
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3. Early life and career :

#Who's Who in the Film World, 1914

Born Amabel Ethelreid Normand in New Brighton, Richmond County, New York (before it was incorporated into New York City), she grew up in a working-class family. Her mother, Mary "Minne" Drury, of Providence, Rhode Island, was of Irish heritage, while her father was French Canadian. Her father, Clodman "Claude" Normand, was employed as a cabinetmaker and stage carpenter at Sailors' Snug Harbor home for elderly seamen. She had 5 siblings.

Before she entered films at age 16 in 1909, Normand worked as an artist's model, which included posing for postcards illustrated by Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the Gibson Girl image, as well as for Butterick's clothing pattern manufacturers in lower Manhattan.

For a short time, she worked for Vitagraph Studios in New York City for $25 per week, but Vitagraph founder Albert E. Smith admitted she was one of several actresses about whom he made a mistake in estimating their "potential for future stardom."

#In A Little Hero (1913, Dutch language edition), Collection EYE Film Institute Netherlands

Her lead performance, directed by D. W. Griffith in the dramatic 1911 short film Her Awakening, drew attention and she met director Mack Sennett while at Griffith's Biograph Company. She embarked on a topsy-turvy relationship with him; he later brought her across to California when he founded Keystone Studios in 1912. Her earlier Keystone films portrayed her as a bathing beauty, but Normand quickly demonstrated a flair for comedy and became a major star of Sennett's short films.

Normand appeared with Charles Chaplin and "Fatty" Arbuckle in many short films. She is credited as being the first film star to receive a pie thrown in the face.

She played a key role in starting Chaplin's film career and acted as his leading lady and mentor in a string of films in 1914, sometimes co-writing and directing or co-directing films with him. Chaplin had considerable initial difficulty adjusting to the demands of film acting, and his performance suffered for it. After his first film appearance in Making a Living, Sennett felt he had made a costly mistake.

#Mabel's Strange Predicament (1914), the first film in which Chaplin plays the Tramp

Most historians agree Normand persuaded Sennett to give Chaplin another chance, and she and Chaplin appeared together in a dozen subsequent films, almost always as a couple in the lead roles. In 1914, she starred with Marie Dressler and Chaplin in Tillie's Punctured Romance, the first feature-length comedy. Earlier that same year, in January/February, Chaplin first played his Tramp character in Mabel's Strange Predicament, although it wound up being the second Tramp film released; Chaplin offered an account of his experience on the film in his autobiography.

#A 1917 trading card

She opened her own company in partnership with Mack Sennett 1916. It was based in Culver City and was a subsidiary of the Triangle Film Corporation. She lost the company in 1918 when Triangle experienced a massive shake up which also had Sennett lose Keystone and establish his own independent studio. In 1918, as her relationship with Sennett came to an end, Normand signed a $3,500-per-week contract with Samuel Goldwyn. Around that same time, Normand allegedly had a miscarriage with Goldwyn's child.

#A 1918 portrait
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4. Scandals :

4,1Taylor's murder :

#Photoplay, 1921

Director William Desmond Taylor shared her interest in books, and the two formed a close relationship. Author Robert Giroux claims that Taylor was deeply in love with Normand, who had originally approached him for help in curing her cocaine dependency. According to Normand's subsequent statements to investigators, her repeated relapses were devastating for Taylor.

Giroux says that Taylor met with federal prosecutors shortly before his death and offered to assist them in filing charges against Normand's cocaine suppliers. Giroux expresses a belief that Normand's suppliers learned of this meeting and hired a contract killer to murder the director. According to Giroux, Normand suspected the reasons for Taylor's murder, but did not know the identity of the man who killed him.

According to Kevin Brownlow and John Kobal in their book Hollywood: The Pioneers, the idea that Taylor was murdered by drug dealers was invented by the studio for publicity purposes. No evidence indicates Normand was an addict, despite the fact this is often repeated as if it were established fact.

On the night of his murder, February 1, 1922, Normand left Taylor's bungalow at 7:45 pm in a happy mood, carrying a book he had lent her. They blew kisses to each other as her limousine drove away. Normand was the last person known to have seen Taylor alive. The Los Angeles Police Department subjected Normand to a grueling interrogation, but ruled her out as a suspect. Most subsequent writers have done the same. However, Normand's career had already slowed, and her reputation was tarnished. According to George Hopkins, who sat next to her at Taylor's funeral, Normand wept inconsolably.
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4.2 The Dines shooting :

In 1924, Normand's chauffeur Joe Kelly shot and wounded millionaire oil broker and amateur golfer Courtland S. Dines with her pistol.
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4.3 The Roscoe Arbuckle trials :

Normand's co-star in many films, Roscoe Arbuckle, was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for manslaughter in the death of actress Virginia Rappe. Although Arbuckle was acquitted, the scandal destroyed his career, and his films were banned from exhibition for a short time. Since she had made some of her best works with him, much of Normand's output was withheld from the public as a result.
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5. Later career and death :

#Normand in 1924

Normand continued making films and was signed by Hal Roach Studios in 1926 after discussions with director/producer F. Richard Jones, who had directed her at Keystone. At Roach, she made the films Raggedy Rose, The Nickel-Hopper, and One Hour Married (her last film), all co-written by Stan Laurel, and was directed by Leo McCarey in Should Men Walk Home? The films were released with extensive publicity support from the Hollywood community, including her friend Mary Pickford.

#Normand's crypt at Calvary Cemetery

In 1926, she married actor Lew Cody, with whom she had appeared in Mickey in 1918. They lived separately in nearby houses in Beverly Hills. However, Normand's health was in decline due to tuberculosis. After an extended stay in Pottenger Sanitorium, she died from tuberculosis on February 23, 1930 in Monrovia, California, at the age of 37. She was interred as Mabel Normand-Cody at Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles.
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6. Legacy :

#With Charles Chaplin and Marie Dressler in Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)

Mabel Normand has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard.

Her film Mabel's Blunder (1914) was added to the National Film Registry in December 2009.

In June 2010, the New Zealand Film Archive reported the discovery of a print of Normand's film Won in a Closet (exhibited in New Zealand under its alternate title Won in a Cupboard), a short comedy previously believed lost. This film is a significant discovery, as Normand directed the movie and starred in the lead role, displaying her talents on both sides of the camera.
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7. Cultural references :

This article appears to contain trivial, minor, or unrelated references to popular culture. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture, providing citations to reliable, secondary sources, rather than simply listing appearances. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2019)

#Moviegoers Roscoe Arbuckle and Mack Sennett (foreground) argue while watching Normand onscreen in Mabel's Dramatic Career (1913)

#Normand, Sennett, and Chaplin in The Fatal Mallet (1914)

A nod to Normand's celebrity in early Hollywood came through the name of a leading character in the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, "Norma Desmond", which has been cited as a combination of the names Mabel Normand and William Desmond Taylor. The film also frequently mentions Normand by name.

The 1974 Broadway musical Mack & Mabel (Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman) fictionalized the romance between Normand and Mack Sennett. Normand was played by Bernadette Peters and Robert Preston portrayed Mack Sennett.

"Hello Mabel" is a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band released in England on their second album The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse (released as Urban Spaceman in the US.) in November 1968.

Normand is mentioned during series 2 episode 1 of Downton Abbey by ambitious housemaid Ethel Parks. Daisy Mason (née Robinson), the kitchen maid, inquires what she is reading and Ethel responds, "Photoplay about Mabel Normand. She was nothing when she started, you know. Her father was a carpenter and they'd no money, and now she's a shining film star."

Singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks wrote a song about the actress entitled "Mabel Normand", which appears on her 2014 album, 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault.
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8. Fictional portrayals :

Normand is played by actress Marisa Tomei in the 1992 film Chaplin opposite Robert Downey, Jr. as Charles Chaplin; by Penelope Lagos in the first biopic about Normand's life, a 35-minute dramatic short film entitled Madcap Mabel (2010); and by Morganne Picard in the motion picture Return to Babylon (2013).

In 2014, Normand was played on television by Andrea Deck in series 2, episode 8 of Mr Selfridge and by Kristina Thompson in the short film Mabel's Dressing Room.
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9. Filmography :

#Some of her early roles are credited as "Mabel Fortesque".

9.1 #Short films :

Year Film Role Director Co-Star Notes

1910 Indiscretions of Betty   Unknown/presumably lost

1910 Over the Garden Wall
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1911 Fate's Turning D. W. Griffith

1911 The Diamond Star

1911 A Tale of Two Cities William J. Humphrey

1911 Betty Becomes a Maid Betty

1911 Troublesome Secretaries Betty Harding Ralph Ince

1911 Picciola; or, The Prison Flower Theresa Girhardi

1911 His Mother

1911 When a Man's Married His Trouble Begins

1911 A Dead Man's Honor Helen

1911 The Changing of Silas Warner

1911 Two Overcoats

1911 The Subduing of Mrs. Nag Miss Prue

1911 The Strategy of Anne

1911 The Diving Girl The Niece

1911 How Betty Won the School Betty's Rival

1911 The Baron Mack Sennett

1911 The Squaw's Love D. W. Griffith

1911 The Revenue Man and the Girl D. W. Griffith

1911 Her Awakening The Daughter D. W. Griffith Harry Hyde

1911 The Making of a Man D. W. Griffith

1911 Italian Blood D. W. Griffith

1911 The Unveiling D. W. Griffith

1911 Through His Wife's Picture Mack Sennett

1911 The Inventor's Secret Mack Sennett

1911 Their First Divorce Case Mack Sennett

1911 A Victim of Circumstances Mack Sennett

1911 Why He Gave Up The Wife Henry Lehrman  Mack Sennett Fred Mace

1911 Saved from Himself D. W. Griffith
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1912 The Joke on the Joker Mack Sennett

1912 The Eternal Mother Mary D. W. Griffith Edwin August  Blanche Sweet

1912 Did Mother Get Her Wish? Nellie Mack Sennett

1912 The Mender of Nets D. W. Griffith Mary Pickford

1912 The Fatal Chocolate Mack Sennett

1912 The Engagement Ring Alice Mack Sennett

1912 A Spanish Dilemma Mack Sennett

1912 Hot Stuff Mack Sennett Mack Sennett

1912 A Voice from the Deep Mack Sennett

1912 Oh, Those Eyes Gladys Mack Sennett

1912 Help! Help! Mrs. Suburbanite Mack Sennett Fred Mace

1912 The Water Nymph Diving Venus Mack Sennett Mack Sennett Ford Sterling Alternative title: The Beach Flirt First Keystone comedy

1912 The Flirting Husband Mack Sennett Ford Sterling

1912 Mabel's Lovers Mabel Mack Sennett Fred Mace Ford Sterling

1912 At Coney Island Mack Sennett Ford Sterling Fred Mace Alternative title: Cohen at Coney Island'  1912 Mabel's Adventures Mabel Mack Sennett Fred Mace  Ford Sterling

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1913 The Bangville Police Farm Girl Henry Lehrman Fred Mace  the Keystone Cops

1913 A Noise from the Deep Mabel Mack Sennett Roscoe Arbuckle  the Keystone Cops

1913 A Little Hero George Nichols Harold Lloyd

1913 Mabel's Awful Mistakes Mabel Mack Sennett Mack Sennett  Ford Sterling Alternative title: Her Deceitful Lover

1913 Passions, He Had Three Henry Lehrman Roscoe Arbuckle Alternative title: He Had Three

1913 For the Love of Mabel Mabel Henry Lehrman Roscoe Arbuckle  Ford Sterling

1913 Mabel's Dramatic Career Mabel, the kitchen maid Mack Sennett Mack Sennett  Ford Sterling Alternative title: Her Dramatic Debut'

1913 The Gypsy Queen Mack Sennett Roscoe Arbuckle

1913 Cohen Saves the Flag Rebecca Mack Sennett Ford Sterling
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1914 Mabel's Stormy Love Affair Mabel Mabel Normand

1914 Won in a Closet Mabel Normand Alternative title: Won in a Cupboard 

1914 In the Clutches of the Gang  Roscoe Arbuckle Keystone Cops Lost film

1914 Mack at It Again Mack Sennett Mack Sennett

1914 Mabel's Strange Predicament Mabel Mabel Normand Charles Chaplin Alternative title: Hotel Mixup First film with Chaplin as the Tramp although the second released.

1914 Mabel's Blunder Mabel Mabel Normand Charley Chase  Al St. John Added to the National Film Registry in 2009

1914 A Film Johnnie Mabel George Nichols Charles Chaplin  Roscoe Arbuckle

1914 Mabel at the Wheel Mabel Mabel Normans  Mack Sennett Charles Chaplin

1914 Caught in a Cabaret Mabel Mabel Normand Charles Chaplin Writer

1914 Mabel's Nerve Mabel George Nichols

1914 The Alarm Roscoe Arbuckle  Edward Dillon Roscoe Arbuckle  Minta Durfee Alternative title: Fireman's Picnic

1914 Her Friend the Bandit Mabel Mabel Normand  Charles Chaplin Charles Chaplin Lost film

1914 The Fatal Mallet Mabel Mack Sennett Charles Chaplin  Mack Sennett

1914 Mabel's Busy Day Mabel Mabel Normand Charles Chaplin  Chester Conklin Writer

1914 Mabel's Married Life Mabel Charles Chaplin Charles Chaplin Co-written by Normand and Chaplin

1914 Mabel's New Job Mabel Mabel Normand  George Nichols Chester Conklin  Charley Chase Writer

1914 The Sky Pirate Roscoe Arbuckle Minta Durfee

1914 The Masquerader Actress Charles Chaplin Uncredited

1914 Mabel's Latest Prank Mabel Mabel Normand Mack Sennett Mack Sennett  Hank Mann Alternative title: Touch of Rheumatism

1914 Hello, Mabel Mabel Mabel Normand Charley Chase Minta Durfee Alternative title: On a Busy Wire

1914 Gentlemen of Nerve Mabel Charles Chaplin Charles Chaplin  Chester Conklin Alternative titles: Charlie at the Races Some Nerve

1914 His Trysting Place Mabel, The Wife Charles Chaplin Charles Chaplin

1914 Shotguns That Kick Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Arbuckle Al St. John

1914 Getting Acquainted Ambrose's Wife Charles Chaplin Charles Chaplin Phyllis Allen
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1915 Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day Mabel Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Arbuckle

1915 Mabel and Fatty's Simple Life Mabel Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Arbuckle Alternative title: Mabel and Fatty's Simple Life

1915 Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco Mabel Mabel Normand  Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Arbuckle

1915 Mabel and Fatty's Married Life Mabel Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Arbuckle

1915 That Little Band of Gold Wifey Roscoe Arbuckle Uncredited  Alternative title: For Better or Worse

1915 Wished on Mabel Mabel Mabel Normand Roscoe Arbuckle

1915 Mabel's Wilful Way Mabel Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Arbuckle

1915 Mabel Lost and Won Mabel Mabel Normand Owen Moore  Mack Swain

1915 The Little Teacher The Little Teacher Mack Sennett Roscoe Arbuckle, Mack Sennett Alternative title: A Small Town Bully
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1916 Fatty and Mabel Adrift Mabel Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Arbuckle  Al St. John Alternative title: Concrete Biscuits

1916 He Did and He Didn't The Doctor's Wife Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Arbuckle  Al St. John
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1926 The Nickel-Hopper Paddy, the nickel hopper F. Richard Jones  Hal Yates

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1927 Should Men Walk Home? The Girl Bandit Leo McCarey Eugene Pallette  Oliver Hardy

1927 One Hour Married Jerome Strong Creighton Hale  James Finlayson

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9.2 #Feature films :

Year Film Role Director Co-Star Notes

1914 Tillie's Punctured Romance Mabel Mack Sennett Marie Dressler  Charles Chaplin Feature-Length film,  First feature-length comedy

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1918 Dodging a Million Arabella Flynn George Loane Tucker Tom Moore

1918 The Floor Below Patricia O'Rourke Clarence G. Badger Tom Moore

1918 Joan of Plattsburg Joan George Loane Tucker

1918 Back to the Woods Stephanie Trent George Irving Herbert Rawlinson

1918 Peck's Bad Girl Minnie Penelope Peck Charles Giblyn Earle Foxe

1918 The Venus Model Kitty O'Brien Clarence G. Badger Rod La Rocque Feature-length film, unknown/presumably lost

1918 A Perfect 36 Mabel Charles Giblyn Rod La Rocque Feature-length film

1918 Mickey Mickey F. Richard Jones James Young Feature-length film
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1919 Sis Hopkins Sis Hopkins Clarence G. Badger John Bowers Feature-length film

1919 When Doctors Disagree Millie Martin Victor Schertzinger Walter Hiers Feature-length film

1919 Upstairs Elsie MacFarland Victor Schertzinger Cullen Landis Feature-length film

1919 Jinx The Jinx Victor Schertzinger Feature-length film, unknown/presumably lost

1919 The Pest Jigs Christy Cabanne Feature-length film, lost

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1920 Pinto Pinto Victor Schertzinger Cullen Landis Feature-length film

1920 What Happened to Rosa Rosa Victor Schertzinger Feature-length film

1920 The Slim Princess Princess Kalora Victor Schertzinger Tully Marshall Feature-length film

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1921 Molly O' Molly O' F. Richard Jones George Nichols Feature-length film

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1922 Oh, Mabel Behave Innkeeper's Daughter Mack Sennett Mack Sennett, Ford Sterling

1922 Head Over Heels Tina Paul BernVictor Schertzinger Raymond Hatton   Adolphe Menjou Feature-length film

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1923 Suzanna Suzanna F. Richard Jones George Nichols Feature-length film, incomplete (two reels are missing)

1923 The Extra Girl Sue Graham F. Richard Jones George Nichols Feature-length film

1926 Raggedy Rose Raggedy Rose Richard Wallace Carl Miller, Max Davidson
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