Lili Damita (born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré; 10 July 1904 – 21 March 1994) was a French-American actress and singer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937.

========================================================

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, May 15, 2020.

Lili Damita - Actress & Singer

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Profile :

*Lili Damita Stars of the Photoplay, 1930

Born Liliane Marie Madeleine Carré, 10 July 1904, Blaye, Gironde, Aquitaine, France
Died 21 March 1994 (aged 89), Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Resting place Oakland Cemetery, Fort Dodge, Iowa

Other names Lily Damita, Lily Deslys
Years active 1922–1937

Spouse(s) 1. Michael Curtiz - (m. 1925; div. 1926), 2. Errol Flynn - (m. 1935; div. 1942), 3. Allen Loomis - (m. 1962; div. 1983).

Children - Sean Flynn.
------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Introduction :

Lili Damita (born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré; 10 July 1904 – 21 March 1994) was a French-American actress and singer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937.
----------------------------------------------------------------

3. Early life and education :

Lili Damita was born Liliane Marie Madeleine Carré in Blaye, France on 10 July 1904. She was educated in convents and ballet schools in several countries, including her native France, as well as Spain and Portugal. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opéra de Paris.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

4. Early career in revue, modeling and German film :

As a teenager, she was performing in popular music halls, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris. She worked as a photographic model. Offered a role in film as a prize for winning a magazine beauty competition in 1921, she appeared in several silent films before being offered her first leading role in Das Spielzeug von Paris (1925) by Hungarian-born director Michael Curtiz. She was an instant success, and Curtiz directed her in two more films: Fiaker Nr. 13 (1926) and Der goldene Schmetterling (1926). Damita continued appearing next in German productions directed by Robert Wiene (Die große Abenteuerin; 1928), G.W. Pabst (Man spielt nicht mit der Liebe; 1926) and British director Graham Cutts (The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927).
---------------------------------------------------------------

5. Hollywood career :

In 1928, Damita was invited to Hollywood by Samuel Goldwyn and made her American film debut in The Rescue. She was leased out to various studios, appearing with stars and leading men such as Maurice Chevalier, Laurence Olivier, James Cagney, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant. Her films included box office successes The Cock-Eyed World (1929), the semi-silent The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) and This Is the Night (1932).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Personal life :

*Damita and husband Errol Flynn at Los Angeles airport, 1941

In 1935, she married unknown actor Errol Flynn, who became one of Hollywood's biggest box office attractions, with whom she had a son, Sean Flynn (born 1941). Following the marriage, she retired from the screen. The couple had an acrimonious divorce in 1942. She is portrayed by Barbara Hershey in the TV film My Wicked, Wicked Ways (1985) based on Flynn's autobiography. While living in Palm Beach, Florida, Damita married Allen Loomis in 1962, a retired Fort Dodge, Iowa, dairy products manufacturer, and spent part of each year living there. They divorced in the mid-80s.

During the Cambodian Civil War (Khmer Rouge reign), her son Sean Flynn was working as a freelance photo journalist under contract to Time magazine when he and fellow journalist Dana Stone went missing on the road south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 6 April 1970. Although Damita spent an enormous amount of money searching for her son, he was never found, and in 1984 he was declared legally dead.
------------------------------------------------------------------

7. Death :

Lili Damita died of Alzheimer's disease on 21 March 1994, in Palm Beach, Florida, aged 89. She was interred in the Oakland Cemetery in Fort Dodge, Iowa, her last husband's hometown.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

8. Selected filmography :

*Promotional photo of Damita and Victor McLaglen for The Cock-Eyed World (1929)

*Damita and Gary Cooper in Fighting Caravans (1931)

Year Film Role Notes

1922 Maman Pierre
1922 La belle au bois dormant
1922 L'Empereur des pauvres Riquette
1922 La fille sauvage Henriette Villedieu

1923 Corsica

1924 Une femme dans la nuit
1924 The Clairvoyant Suzanne

1925 Prince Charming
1925 Das Spielzeug von Paris Célimène aka Susana Armad

1926 Fiaker Nr. 13
(Cab No. 13) Lilian
1926 Geheimnisse einer Seele
(Secrets of a Soul) Uncredited
1926 Der goldene Schmetterling
(The Golden Butterfly) Lilian
1926 Man spielt nicht mit der Liebe
(One Does Not Play with Love) Calixta Lost film

1927 The Queen Was in the Parlour Prinzessin Nadya von Kraya
1927 Die berühmte Frau
(The Famous Woman) Sonja Litovskaja
1928 Die große Abenteuer
(The Great Adventuress)
1928 Scandal in Paris

1929 The Rescue Lady Edith Travers Incomplete film
1929 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Camila (La Perichole) Filmed as both silent and part-talkie, only the silent version of this film survives

*1929 The Cock-Eyed World Mariana Elenita
1930 Let Us Be Gay
(Soyons gais) Kitty
1931 The Bachelor Father
(Le père célibataire) alternate language version