Editing Constance Talmadge

{{Short description|American actress (1898–1973)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2010}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Constance Talmadge
| image              = Constance Talmadge, film actress (SAYRE 4378).jpg
| caption            = Talmadge in 1919
| birth_name         = Constance Alice Talmadge
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1898|4|19|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Brooklyn, New York]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1973|11|23|1898|4|19|mf=y}}
| death_place        = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| death_cause        = 
| resting place      = [[Hollywood Forever Cemetery]]
| occupation         = Actress
| years_active       = 1914–1929
| spouse             = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|John Pialoglou|1920|1922|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Alastair Mackintosh|1926|1927|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Townsend Netcher|1929|1939|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Walter Michael Giblin|1939|1964|end=d.}}
}}
| relatives          = [[Natalie Talmadge]] (sister)<br>[[Norma Talmadge]] (sister)
}}
'''Constance Alice Talmadge''' (April 19, 1898 &ndash; November 23, 1973) was an American [[silent film]] star. She was the sister of actresses [[Norma Talmadge|Norma]] and [[Natalie Talmadge]].

==Early life==
Talmadge was born on April 19, 1898, in [[Brooklyn, New York]], to poor parents, Margaret L. "Peg" and Frederick O. Talmadge. Her father was an [[alcoholism|alcoholic]], and left them when she was still very young. Her mother made a living by doing laundry. When a friend recommended Talmadge's mother use older sister Norma as a model for title slides in flickers,{{clarify|reason=What are flickers?|date=January 2023}} which were shown in early [[Nickelodeon (movie theater)|nickelodeons]], Peg decided to do so. This led all three sisters into acting careers.<ref name="goldensilents.com">[http://www.goldensilents.com/stars/constancetalmadge.html Profile], goldensilents.com; accessed August 27, 2014.</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Constance Talmadge on photoplay magazine june 1919.jpg|thumb|left|On the cover of Photoplay magazine, 1919]]

She began making films in 1914, in a [[Vitagraph Studios|Vitagraph]] comedy short, ''In Bridal Attire'' (1914). Her first major role was as the Mountain Girl and [[Margaret of Valois|Marguerite de Navarre]] in [[D.W. Griffith]]'s ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916).

Griffith re-edited ''Intolerance'' repeatedly after its initial release, and even shot new scenes long after it was in distribution. Grace Kingsley found Talmadge in her dressing room at the Fine Arts Studio, in [[Los Angeles]], in the midst of making up for some new shots.

"Did you really drive those galloping brutes of horses?" asked Kingsley.

"Indeed I did," said Talmadge. "Two women sat behind me at the Auditorium the other night. They said, 'Of course she never really drove those horses herself. Somebody doubled for her.' Know what I did? I turned around and told them, 'I wish I could show you my knees, all black and blue even yet from being cracked up against the dashboard of that chariot!'" {{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

[[File:Constance Talmadge by Treichler.jpg|thumb|Drawing of actress Constance Talmadge by Treichler, page 40 of the December 1921 ''Screenland''.]]
So popular was Talmadge's portrayal of the tomboyish Mountain Girl, Griffith released in 1919 the [[Babylon]]ian sequence from ''Intolerance'' as a new, separate film called ''The Fall of Babylon.'' He refilmed her death scene to allow for a happy ending.

Her friend [[Anita Loos]], who wrote many screenplays for her, appreciated her "humour and her irresponsible way of life".<ref>From Anita Loos's Biography on ''Il Cinema - Grande Storia Illustrata'', Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Novara</ref> Over the course of her career, Talmadge appeared in more than 80 films, often in comedies such as ''[[A Pair of Silk Stockings (film)|A Pair of Silk Stockings]]'' (1918), ''[[Happiness a la Mode]]'' (1919), ''[[Romance and Arabella]]'' (1919), ''[[Wedding Bells (1921 film)|Wedding Bells]]'' (1921), and ''[[The Primitive Lover]]'' (1922).
[[File:Constance Talmadge (Mar 1923).png|thumb|Constance Talmadge (1923)]]
Talmadge, along with her sisters, was heavily billed during her early career. According to her 1923 ''Blue Book of the Screen'' biography, she was "5'5" tall, 120&nbsp;lbs, with blonde hair and brown eyes, ... an outdoor girl who loved activities."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://silentgents.com/BTalmadgeC.html |title=Constance Talmadge |access-date=2006-07-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506214038/http://silentgents.com/BTalmadgeC.html |archive-date=2006-05-06 }}</ref>

When Talmadge was asked by a writer for ''Green Book'' magazine what sort of stories she wanted to do in 1920, she said: 
<blockquote>Although no less than sixty manuscripts are submitted to me every week, it is exceedingly difficult to get exactly the kind of comedy I especially want. I want comedies of manners, comedies that are funny because they delight one’s sense of what is ridiculously human in the way of little everyday commonplace foibles and frailties – subtle comedies, not comedies of the slap stick variety.

I enjoy making people laugh. Secondly, because this type of work comes easiest and most naturally to me, I am not a highly emotional type. My sister could cry real tears over two sofa cushions stuffed into a long dress and white lace cap, to look like a dead baby, and she would do it so convincingly that 900 persons out front would weep with her. That is real art, but my kind of talent would lead me to bounce that padded baby up and down on my knee with absurd grimaces that would make the same 900 roar with laughter.
</blockquote>

With the advent of [[talkie]]s in 1929, Talmadge left [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]. Her sister Norma did make a handful of appearances in talking films, but for the most part the three sisters retired all together, investing in [[real estate]] and other business ventures. Only a few of her films survive today.<ref name="goldensilents.com"/>

==Personal life==
[[File:Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge by Witzel.jpg|thumb|Norma and Constance Talmadge]]
She was married four times; all the unions were childless:

*Her first marriage, to John Pialoglou (1893–1959), a Greek tobacco importer, occurred in 1920 at a double wedding with [[Dorothy Gish]] and [[James Rennie (actor)|James Rennie]]; she divorced Pialoglou two years later. Her marriage to him, a Greek subject, caused her to lose her natural-born U.S. citizenship; following her divorce, she had to apply for U.S. naturalization.<ref>"Movie Queen Again Becomes U.S. Citizen", page 12, The Atlanta Constitution, December 6, 1925</ref><ref>"Connie Talmadge Becomes Citizen", page 2, ''The Ogden Standard-Examiner'', December 5, 1925</ref>
*She married Scottish soldier Alastair William Mackintosh (grandfather of author [[Edward St Aubyn]]) in February 1926, divorcing him in 1927 on grounds of adultery.<ref>{{cite news |title=Film Actress's Divorce Suit |work=[[The Times]] |page=9 |date=29 September 1927 }}</ref>
*She married Townsend Netcher in May 1929, divorcing in 1939.<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 6, 1939|title=Gets Divorce|work=Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78527204/january-6-1939/|access-date=June 22, 2021}}</ref>
*She married Walter Michael Giblin in 1939. This marriage lasted until his death on May 1, 1964.

Talmadge's mother fostered the belief she might one day return to films. "Success and fame cast a spell that can never been quite shaken off", her mother said in her autobiography. "A woman, because of her love, may say, and in the fervor of the moment believe, that she is ready to give up her chosen work. But there is sure to come a time when keen longing and strong regret for her lost career dominate over the more placid contentments of love and marriage. Then unhappiness and friction ensue."{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

She died of [[pneumonia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/26/archives/constance-talmadge-73-dead-a-film-star-of-the-silent-era-followed.html|title=Constane Talmadge, 73, Dead; A Film Star of the Silent Era|website=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 26, 1973 }}</ref> Along with her sister Norma, [[Mary Pickford]], and [[Douglas Fairbanks]], Talmadge inaugurated the tradition of placing her footprints in concrete outside [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]]. She left a trail of five footprints in her slab.

Her star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] is at 6300 [[Hollywood Boulevard|Hollywood Blvd]].

==Filmography==
[[File:Norma Talmadge & Constance Talmadge - Dec 1920 EH.jpg|thumb|Advertisement promoting films with Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge, on page 9 of the December 25, 1920 ''Exhibitors Herald''.]]
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
! colspan=5 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Short Subject
|- align="center"
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Film
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Status
|-
| rowspan=14| 1914 || ''Buddy's First Call'' || Grace Forster || ||
|-
| ''The Maid from Sweden'' || Marie Cook || ||
|-
| ''Our Fairy Play'' || Helen Payne - the Actress || ||
|-
| ''The Moonstone of Fez'' || Winifred Osborne || ||
|-
| ''Uncle Bill'' || Gladys || ||
|-
| ''Buddy's Downfall'' || Lily - the City Flirt || ||
|-
| ''The Mysterious Lodger'' || Lucy Lane || ||
|-
| ''Father's Timepiece'' || Marjorie Stillwell || ||
|-
| ''The Peacemaker'' || Kitty Grey || ||
|-
| ''The Evolution of Percival'' || Mildred || ||
|-
| ''In Bridal Attire'' || Mary || ||
|-
| ''Fixing Their Dads'' || Florence || ||
|-
| ''[[The Egyptian Mummy]]'' || Florence Hicks || ||
|-
| ''Forcing Dad's Consent'' || Connie Boggs || ||
|-
| rowspan=18|1915 || ''[[In the Latin Quarter]]'' || Manon || || '''Incomplete'''
|-
| ''Billy's Wager'' || Connie || ||
|-
| ''The Green Cat'' || Constance || ||
|-
| ''The Young Man Who 'Figgered'' || Nan Tubbs || ||
|-
| ''Burglarious Billy'' || Nellie || ||
|-
| ''A Study in Tramps'' || Mary Stretch || ||
|-
| ''The Master of His House'' || Mrs. Greene || ||
|-
| ''The Lady of Shalott'' || Minor Role || ||
|-
| ''The Boarding House Feud'' || Connie Drexel || ||
|-
| ''The Vanishing Vault'' || Connie || ||
|-
| ''Spades Are Trumps'' || Ella Cunningham || ||
|-
| ''Bertie's Stratagem'' || Letty Grey || ||
|-
| ''Insuring Cutey'' || Cutey's Bride || ||
|-
| ''Billy the Bear Tamer'' || Constance || ||
|-
| ''A Keyboard Strategy'' || Mrs. Walter Gibson || ||
|-
| ''Can You Beat It?'' || Dill - Pike's Wife || ||
|-
| ''Beached and Bleached'' || || ||
|-
| ''The Little Puritan'' || Corinne || ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1916 || ''The She-Devil'' || || ||
|-
|''{{ill|The Matrimaniac|cy||fi|Mamman vallan alla (vuoden 1916 elokuva)}}'' || Marna Lewis || || '''Extant'''
|-
|- align="center"
! colspan=5 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film
|- align="center"
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Title
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Status
|-
|rowspan=2|1915 || ''Captivating Mary Carstairs'' || Bit Part || Uncredited || 
|-
| ''Georgia Pearce'' || || ||
|-
|rowspan=3|1916 || ''[[The Missing Links (film)|The Missing Links]]'' || Laura Haskins || || '''Lost'''
|-
| ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' || [[Margaret of Valois|Marguerite de Navarre]] / The Mountain Girl || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''The Microscope Mystery'' || Jessie Barton || || 
|-
|rowspan=5|1917 || ''[[A Girl of the Timber Claims]]'' || Jessie West || ||
|-
| ''[[Betsy's Burglar]]'' || Betsy Harlow || || '''Lost'''
|-
| ''[[The Lesson (1917 film)|The Lesson]]'' || Helen Drayton || ||
|-
| ''[[Scandal (1917 film)|Scandal]]'' || Beatrix Vanderdyke || ||
|-
| ''[[The Honeymoon]]'' || Helen Drayton || || '''Lost'''
|-
|rowspan=8|1918 || ''[[The Studio Girl]]'' || Celia Laird || ||
|-
| ''[[The Shuttle (film)|The Shuttle]]'' || Bettina Vandepoel || ||
|-
| ''[[Up the Road with Sallie]]'' || Sallie Waters || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[Good Night, Paul]]'' || Mrs. Richard || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[A Pair of Silk Stockings (film)|A Pair of Silk Stockings]]'' || Mrs. Molly Thornhill || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[Sauce for the Goose]]'' || Kitty Constable || || '''Unknown'''
|-
| ''[[Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots]]'' || Mrs. Leffingwell || || '''Unknown'''
|-
| ''[[A Lady's Name]]'' || Mabel Vere || || '''Incomplete'''
|-
|rowspan=7|1919 || ''[[Who Cares? (1919 film)|Who Cares?]]'' || Joan Ludlow || || '''Lost'''
|-
| ''[[Romance and Arabella]]'' || Arabella Cadenhouse || || '''Lost'''
|-
| ''[[Experimental Marriage]]'' || Suzanne Ercoll || || '''Unknown'''
|-
| ''[[The Veiled Adventure]]'' || Geraldine Barker || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[Happiness a la Mode]]'' || Barbara Townsend || || '''Unknown'''
|-
| ''[[A Temperamental Wife]]'' || Billie Billings || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[A Virtuous Vamp]]'' || Gwendolyn Armitage / Nellie Jones || Also produced || '''Extant'''
|-
|rowspan=6|1920 || ''[[Two Weeks (1920 film)|Two Weeks]]'' || Lillums Blair || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[In Search of a Sinner]]'' || Georgianna Chadbourne || || '''Unknown'''
|-
| ''[[The Love Expert]]'' || Babs || Also produced || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[The Perfect Woman (1920 film)|The Perfect Woman]]'' || Mary Blake || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[Good References]]'' || Mary Wayne || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[Dangerous Business (1920 film)|Dangerous Business]]'' || Nancy Flavelle || || '''Lost'''
|-
|rowspan=4|1921 || ''[[Mama's Affair (1921 film)|Mama's Affair]]'' || Eve Orrin || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[Lessons in Love (1921 film)|Lessons in Love]]'' || Leila Calthorpe || || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[Wedding Bells (1921 film)|Wedding Bells]]'' || Rosalie Wayne || || '''Lost'''
|-
| ''[[Woman's Place]]'' || Josephine Gerson || || '''Extant'''
|-
|rowspan=3|1922 || ''[[Polly of the Follies]]'' || Polly Meacham || Also produced|| '''Lost'''
|-
| ''[[The Primitive Lover]]'' || Phyllis Tomley || Also produced || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[East Is West (1922 film)|East Is West]]'' || Ming Toy || Also produced|| '''Extant'''
|-
|rowspan=2|1923 || ''[[Dulcy (1923 film)|Dulcy]]'' || Dulcy || || '''Lost'''
|-
| ''[[The Dangerous Maid]]'' || Barbara Winslow || || '''Extant'''
|-
|rowspan=3|1924 || ''[[The Goldfish]]'' || Jennie Wetherby || || '''Incomplete'''
|-
| ''[[Her Night of Romance]]'' || Dorothy Adams || Also produced || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter]]'' || Herself || || '''Lost'''
|-
|rowspan=3|1925 || ''[[Learning to Love]]'' || Patricia Stanhope || || '''Incomplete'''
|-
| ''[[Seven Chances]]'' || Girl in Car || Uncredited || '''Extant'''
|-
| ''[[Her Sister from Paris]]'' || Helen Weyringer / La Perry || || '''Extant'''
|-
| 1926 || ''[[The Duchess of Buffalo]]'' || Marian Duncan || Also produced || '''Extant'''
|-
|rowspan=2|1927 || ''[[Venus of Venice]]'' || Carlotta || Also produced|| '''Incomplete'''
|-
| ''[[Breakfast at Sunrise]]'' || Madeleine || Also produced|| '''Extant'''
|-
| 1929 || ''[[Venus (1929 film)|Venus]]'' || Princess Beatrice Doriani || || '''Unknown'''
|}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*''The Griffith Actresses.'' By Anthony Slide. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1973.
*''The Talmadge Sisters.'' By Margaret L. Talmadge. New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1924.
*''The Quality You Need Most.'' By Constance Talmadge in ''Green Book Magazine,'' April, 1914.
* 1900 United States Federal Census, Brooklyn Ward 8, Kings, New York; Roll T623_1047; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 109.
* 1910 United States Federal Census, Brooklyn Ward 29, Kings, New York; Roll  T624_982; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 933; Image: 948.
* 1920 United States Federal Census, Manhattan Assembly District 15, New York, NY; Roll  T625_1212; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 1061; Image: 877.
* 1905 New York State Census for Kings County, Brooklyn, New York.
* U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925, Ancestry.com.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Portal|Biography|Film}}

*[https://archive.org/stream/photoplayvolume11112chic#page/612/mode/2up Bio]
*{{IMDb name|0848226}}
*{{Find a Grave|2056|Constance Talmadge}}
*[https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-constance-talmadge-and-norma-talmadge/ Talmadge Sisters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224034304/https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-constance-talmadge-and-norma-talmadge/ |date=December 24, 2017 }} at the Women Film Pioneers Project
*[http://silentladies.com/PTalmadgeC.html Constance Talmadge at Silent Ladies]
*[http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=810 Photographs of Constance Talmadge and bibliography]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talmadge, Constance}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:American silent film actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in California]]
[[Category:Women film pioneers]]