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September 08, 2008
Anita Page: Last Star of Silent Films, 1910 - 2008
Anita Page, Our Modern Maidens, 1929.
A moment of silence, please.
Anita Page, the legendary actress, passed away in her sleep on Saturday morning.
Anita Page, the last surviving star of the silent movies, has died at the age of 98 in Los Angeles.
Page’s career spanned 84 years – and her lasting fame endured despite a 60-year career break forced upon the actress at the height of her fame after she refused to sleep with a studio boss.
She had started out as an extra in 1924 and broke into the big time with a powerful performance in the 1928 silent melodrama Our Dancing Daughters, alongside Joan Crawford.
The combination of Page, who played to perfection the manipulative, amoral fortune-hunter trying to snare a husband, with the noble and virtuous Crawford was such a success that the two were paired up again in 1929 in the silent Our Modern Maidens and Our Blushing Brides, a talkie, in 1930.
But Page’s fraught relationship with her co-star caused palpable tension at MGM. She said that she ended up “loathing Joan”, whom she accused of trying to attack her physically.
Page’s daughter, Linda Sterne, said that her mother had been good friends with Jean Harlow, and during the 1930s had lived as a guest in a California castle owned by the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, – himself immortalized in Citizen Kane.
“She was the best mother I could have,” she said. “She was wonderful.”
To read the complete article, please click here.
Anita Page checks her make-up.
The Anita Page, The Official Website
Anita Page by George Hurrell, 1930. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini wrote numerous love letters to Page and finally proposed marriage.
Here's a story and series of interviews with Anita Page from 2000.
Anita Page and Clark Gable in The Easiest Way, 1931.
Q & A with Anita Page, The Last Silent Film Star.
Director Harry Beaumont asked Anita Page: “Are you starting to believe your own publicity?”
Page immediately responded, “Of course, aren't you?”
Anita Page was a vital and magnetic actress, our last living link to silent films. RIP.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at September 8, 2008 08:27 AM
Comments
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Was that her signature expression? It's a keeper. She had a soft beauty. Kind of a girl next door but prettier.
Posted by: Alice at September 8, 2008 04:28 PM
Alice:
I'm not sure that's Page signature expression, but she was, for a while, known as the most beautiful woman in the movies.
In "Broadway Melody" which won the Academy Award for best film, she comes across as a cute American girl, lively and adorable.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 8, 2008 04:54 PM
Too bad I never heard of Anita Page before today. What a classy lady. May she rest in peace.
What a shame that the studio boss put his own caprice (or simple lust for power) before the studio's profits, even if he couldn't be bothered to care about a lady's integrity. He sounds like the total opposite of class.
Posted by: Rahel at September 9, 2008 04:04 AM
Eve Golden had a wonderful interview with Page in her book "Golden Images." Page had an interesting comment about her career at MGM:
"I was getting so much publicity, my agent did a very dreadful thing: He said 'you've got to demand more money' - he didn't ask for better parts, darn it! But you're not supposed to ask for more money after one year, and he made it all sound like it must be done! We won our point, they paid the money, but we didn't get that I would get starring roles, and that was the most important thing. Mayer said to me, 'I can make you the biggest star in three pictures - and I can kill Garbo in three pictures - and I'll never lift another finger to help you.' He snapped his fingers. The power was there. . .I was getting the second highest fan mail on the lot, after Greta Garbo. The whole thing was my agent, who wanted the extra money. If only he'd left me alone. That's what happened to me."
Posted by: Christopher at September 9, 2008 07:27 AM
Rahel:
Anita Page retired from films so early in her career that she was quickly forgotten except by a handful of movie lovers.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at September 9, 2008 08:54 AM
Christopher:
Thanks so much for providing the great quote from the mighty Ms. Golden's book. My copy is so worn the binding is falling apart.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at September 9, 2008 08:57 AM
Page was a delightful screen presence, both in the old silents and the early talkies. Even when she was playing the bad girl, she had a lovely, fresh quality. I hope that she had not only a long life, but a wonderful one.
Posted by: Bookworm at September 10, 2008 08:57 PM