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German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6609/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Fox. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
Beautiful and seductive French actress Lily Damita (1904-1994) appeared in 33 French, Austrian, and Hollywood films between 1922 and 1937. Her marriage with Errol Flynn was rather tempestuous and led to her nickname 'Dynamita'.
Lily (also Lili) Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré in Blaye, France (north of Bordeaux), on 10 July 1904 (according to her birth certificate). She was educated in convents and ballet schools in several European countries, including France, Spain, and Portugal. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opéra de Paris. By the age of 16, she was performing in popular music halls, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris under the name Lily Deslys. She also worked as a photographic model. Then a life of mundanity started. When in Biarritz, the Spanish King wanted to be presented to that 'damita dal maillo rojo' (that little lady in the red bathing costume). Lily liked the compliment so much that she kept her nickname and appeared under the name Damita del Rojo. In 1921 she won a beauty contest by the journal Cinémagazine. The French company Société Cinématographique offered her a role in the silent film La belle au bois dormant/Sleeping Beauty (Stéphane Passet, 1922). She was praised for her beauty and freshness in this film. Soon other French films followed, including the serial L'Empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1922), La Voyante/The Clairvoyant (Leon Abrams, Louis Mercanton, 1923) with the legendary Sarah Bernhardt, and the drama Corsica (René Carrère, Vanina Casalonga, 1923).
Lily Damita went to Vienna to act next to Max Linder in Der Zirkuskönig but left the role to Vilma Banky. Instead, she played in Mihaly Kertesz' (the later Michael Curtiz) Das Spielzeug von Paris/Red Heels (1925), which was a huge international success. At the time, she was reportedly engaged to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, grandson of the ex-Kaiser. Count Kolowrat, the owner of the Viennese Sascha Film, made her a fabulous offer, partly at the instigation of the prince: directors to choose by herself, scripts written especially for her, and ways to turn her into one of Europe's biggest film stars. Thus happened. Lily's films may not have reached canonical film history but they were huge hits at the box office. They included Fiaker Nr. 13/Cab Nr. 13 (1926) and Der goldene Schmetterling/The Golden Butterfly (1926), both directed by Michael Curtiz. The latter film, based on a story by P.G. Wodehouse and largely shot in London, probably contained one of Lily's best performances. She and Curtiz married in 1925 and divorced a year later. Damita continued appearing in European productions directed by G. W. Pabst (Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe/One Does Not Play with Love; 1926), British director Graham Cutts (The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927), and Robert Wiene (Die Grosse Abenteuerin/The Amateur Adventure; 1928).
After several Hollywood offers, it was MGM mogul Sam Goldwyn who took Lily Damita to California to perform in The Rescue (Herbert Brenon, 1929) with Ronald Colman, and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929, Charles Brabin), which were rather tedious. Things went better when Lily played a siren of the tropics in The Cock-Eyed World (Raoul Walsh, 1929) opposite Victor McLaglen. In the meantime, sound cinema had arrived. Lily didn't master English too well, so she was put in French versions of American films before dubbing became normal. She was cast with the young Gary Cooper in the early western Fighting Caravans (Otto Brower, David Burton, 1931), and with the young Laurence Olivier in Friends and Lovers (Victor Schertzinger, 1931). She returned to France and played a young adventuress in On a Vole un Homme/Man Stolen (1933) from the great Max Ophüls. According to Hal Erickson at All Movie, this lighthearted romance was "gorgeously photographed on the French Riviera and other such eye-catching locations". On a Vole un Homme was the first of a brace of films produced in France by Erich Pommer on behalf of Hollywood's Fox Films. In 1935 Lily married an unknown actor who would become Hollywood's biggest box office attraction, Errol Flynn. She reportedly retired without complaints, but their marriage was rather tempestuous, hit the press, and finished in divorce in 1942. In 1970, their only son Sean Flynn, a 28-year-old photojournalist for Time Magazine and a dead ringer for his father, went missing in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. He was captured by Khmer Rouge guerrillas. Despite the huge investments by Lily, he was never found and in 1984 he was declared legally dead. Lily married three times, the last time to retired dairy owner Allen Loomis (1962-1983). All three marriages ended in divorce. In 1994, Lily Damita died of Alzheimer's disease in Palm Beach, Florida, aged 89. In March 2010 media reported that remains, which may be those of Sean Flynn (1941-1970), have been found in a mass grave in Cambodia. Tests were scheduled to be conducted on the jaw and femur bone found and were handed over to the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh. However, the results, released 30 June 2010, by JPAC, showed the remains were not those of Sean Flynn.
Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Le dive del silenzio), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Helen Kennedy (Daily News), C. Parker (Starlet Showcase), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
SEAN (SEDUCTIVELY)
You’re not interupting! Please, join us.
PAYAL (SARCASTICALLY)
Nope, not at all.
Kodak Disposable - July, 2012
my lips (edited in photoshop. but only a little bit ;D )
I used that photo in my last design-project, my final practical exam...
A stunning maiden with fiery red hair, clad in a sexy Blue Jean Overalls ensemble, poses confidently and seductively by a tranquil turquoise-blue river. The clear afternoon sunlight casts a radiant glow on the sky and a majestic ancient bridge.
Character: Poison Ivy
Anime Iowa - 2015
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