Movie Stars 
of the 
Roaring Twenties

Americans during the Roaring twenties saw tremendous advances occur within the movie industry. This world of entertainment was barely twenty-five years old in the early 1920s. It had progressed from poorly done "flickers," to sophisticated stories lasting as long as three hours. At first the only sounds accompanying the shows were provided by people playing a piano, right next to the screen. This changed when organ music replaced the live pianist. But then, in 1927 the Jazz Singer appeared in the theaters and brought about the end of the "silent movie" era.

There were hundreds of actors and actresses who appeared on the silent movie screens. These movie stars were watched by millions of fans, who idolized them and followed their every movement. The movie stars became famous, and wealthy, and their names were familiar to everyone. Four stars which 1927 Ohian movie goers were all familiar with, were Clara Bow, Rudolph Valentino, Lillian Gish, and Charlie Chaplin.

Lillian Gish (1893-1993) 

Lillian Gish was born in Clark County, Ohio in 1893. When she was a young girl, her father abandoned the Gish family, leaving Lillian, her sister, Dorothy, and their mother to fend for themselves. They drifted eastward, and ended up in New York City. Mrs. Gish became a backup stage dancer, and within a short period of time, both Lillian and Dorothy were being used in plays, as young children. Lillian got her first role at the age of five.

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In 1912, at the age of nineteen, Lillian Gish met the great silent screen actress, Mary Pickford, who immediately saw the teenager's ability and got her a role in the "flickers." The great movie producer, D.W. Griffith quickly hired Lillian Gish and she starred in many of his movies, including the epic silent screen picture, The Birth of a Nation.

Once Lillian Gish became a famous movie star, she often would do her own stunts, such as her dangerous scene in Way Down East, where she clung to an ice floe which was swept towards a waterfall. This hazardous stunt endeared Gish to her fans.

In 1920, at the age of twenty-seven, Lillian Gish directed her first movie, titled Remodeling Her Husband, which starred her sister, Dorothy Gish. Then, when the "talkies" replaced the silent movies, Lillian Gish survived the change, and went on to act in, and direct, another forty movies. Lillian Gish died in 1993, aged ninety-nine, having acted in more than one hundred movies.

Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926)

Rudolph Valentino was born in Castellanta, Italy. He grew up, the son of middle class parents; his father was an ex-cavalry captain who had become a veterinarian. His life changed when his father died, and he immigrated to American in 1913, at the age of eighteen. He settled in New York and worked as a gardener. Rudolph Valentino came to California, as a bit actor in The Masked Model. 

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Valentino's first movie role was in 1917, as an extra in the movie, Alimony. Two years later he landed the title role in Eyes of Youth, and from that point on, he was the heart throb of millions of movie going women. Rudolph Valentino mesmerized audiences and tangoed his way to instant celebrity. He was a tremendous dancer, and with his exotic appearance, he became a new type of leading man. He projected extraordinary sex appeal and sensitivity on the screen. Thousands of female movie goers, acting with their newfound freedoms, thanks to Flapperism, began to swoon and faint in his presence.

In 1921, at the age of twenty-six, he established himself as America's greatest lover, in the movie, The Sheik. He received fanmail by the millions in response to his passionate scenes in which he spoke with his dark eyes and body language.

Valentino appeared in many more movies during the next five years, and his shows were usually always sold out. Then, in 1926, when attending the premiere for Son of the Sheik, Valentino collapsed and died of peritonitis. The nation went into shock. There were millions of saddened movie followers who lined the streets of New York to watch Valentino's funeral procession pass by.

Clara Bow (1906 - 1965)

Clara Bow first entered the movie world when she won a beauty contest and the prize was a bit piece in a movie. However the Brooklyn raised teenager (she was fifteen) had tremendous talent and quickly earned a contract. She worked for the next three years acting in twenty-seven low budget films, making $50.00 a week. Then, in 1925, at the age of nineteen, she appeared in The Plastic Age, and became nationally famous. Clara Bow's next movies, including one called Mantrap, increased her popularity.

By the end of 1926, Clara Bow had millions of worshipers. Her round face, dark eyes, and flaming red hair attracted followers from all across America. She became the symbol of the new, modern woman. Clara Bow's vitality, sexiness, and cunning made her a powerful force in the acting world of the Roaring Twenties.

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Then, in 1927, she starred in It, a movie about a young woman who earns the love of her boss. This picture was the year's best grossing movie, and assured Bow of fame and fortune. She became known as the "It Girl," and millions of young women patterned themselves after her. Clara Bow appeared in another dozen movies in the next couple years, including the classic, Academy Award winning "Wings." 

But Clara Bow's personal life was a mess. She drank heavily, took drugs, acted wildly, and terrorized the highways with her fast and erratic driving. Scandal seemed to follow, where ever she went. Clara Bow's career took a serious dive, following Wings, and her popularity declined. She retired from acting in 1933, at the age of twenty-seven, suffering from depression, overweight, and substance abuse. Clara Bow died in 1965, living her last years in solitude and seclusion.

Charlie Chaplin (1889 - 1977)

Charlie Chaplin was born in England and grew up in a very poor family. He made his first acting appearance in a variety show when he was ten. Chaplin came to the United States and was discovered by the movie industry in 1913. At that time his main acting appearances were as a pantomime. During his first year in the flickers, he acted in thirty-five films, none doing well, or bringing him much fame.
However, in 1915 he appeared in The Tramp, and America instantly fell in love with the poor little fellow. He wore a battered hat, clothes too small for himself, and shoes way too big. The tramp was undersized and undernourished, and shuffled with a duck-walking gait, but American movie goers could not get enough of him. 

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Charlie Chaplin's comedies were incredibly successful. No one missed his films which relied on slapstick and emotional appear. Millions called him "the funniest man in the world." But he was more than just a comedian. Chaplin wrote and directed dozens of movies, and soon was earing the incredible salary of a million dollars a year.

Some of Chaplin's other movies were; The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), and The Circus (1928). He formed a motion picture company with Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, and they produced a large number of films, including one of the first million dollar movies, Modern Times. In 1940, he played both a humble Jewish barber and a German tyrant based upon Hitler, in The Great Dictator. During the 1940s and early 1950s, Chaplin's political movies got him in trouble with the United States government and, in 1952, he was ordered to leave the country. Years later, at the age of eighty-three, in 1972, he was allowed to return to the U.S. and he received an Academy Award. Chaplin returned to Switzerland and died in 1977.