Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 – April 17, 1962)[1] was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films.
Louise Fazenda | |
|---|---|
 Fazenda in 1920 | |
| Born | June 17, 1895 Lafayette, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | April 17, 1962 (aged 66) |
| Resting place | Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1913–1939 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
| Signature | |
 | |
Early life
editFazenda was born in her maternal grandparents' house in Lafayette, Indiana,[2] the daughter of merchandise broker Joseph A. Fazenda, who was born in Mexico, and Nelda T. Schilling Fazenda, a Chicago native. She was of Portuguese, French, and Italian descent on her father's side and of German descent on her mother's.[citation needed]
The Fazenda family moved to California, where Joseph Fazenda opened a grocery store. Louise attended Los Angeles High School and St. Mary's Convent, and one of her jobs after school was delivering groceries for the family business by a horse-drawn wagon.
Career
edit
She made her first film in 1913. She gained experience with bit parts. She was best known as a character actor in silent films, playing roles such as a fussy spinster and a blacksmith.[3]
She briefly left films from 1921 to 1922 to perform vaudeville.[4] Her transition into talking pictures led to more serious roles, including the giggly fiancée in the prestige antiwar film The Road Back.[2] The Old Maid, in 1939,[3] was her last of her nearly 300 movie appearances.[5]
Marriage
editIn 1927, Fazenda married Hal B. Wallis, a producer at Warner Bros., and they remained married until her death. They had one son, Brent, who became a psychiatrist.[2]
Death
editFazenda died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Beverly Hills, California.[1] Wallis was in Hawaii making a film and left immediately for home. She was interred at the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. At her funeral, many stories were told of Fazenda's volunteer work, such as caring for children at UCLA Medical Center and taking in two children during World War II.[6]
Recognition
editFazenda has a star at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[7]
She appears in the lyrics of "Out in the Street", a rock-ballad from 1975 by hard rock band UFO. "Your comic book impersonations, Louise Fazenda and Buster Keaton"[citation needed]
Selected filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | Poor Jake's Demise | Servant | Short subject Incomplete |
| Almost an Actress | Susie | Short subject Lost film | |
| 1915 | Hogan's Romance Upset | Short subject | |
| Fatty's Tintype Tangle | Edgar's Wife | Short subject | |
| 1916 | The Marble Heart | Lost film | |
| Maid Mad | Short subject | ||
| 1917 | Maggie's First False Step | Lost film | |
| 1919 | Bullin' the Bullsheviki | ||
| Salome vs. Shenandoah | Short subject Lost film | ||
| 1920 | Down on the Farm | Louise, the Farmer's Daughter | |
| Married Life | Wife of Heckler at Theatre | ||
| 1921 | A Small Town Idol | Theatregoer | |
| 1922 | Bright Eyes | the Golfer | Short subject |
| The Beauty Shop | Cremo Panatella | Lost film | |
| Bow Wow | the Country Girl | Lost film | |
| Quincy Adams Sawyer | Mandy Skinner | Lost film | |
| The Beautiful and Damned | Muriel | Lost film | |
| 1923 | The Fog | Millie Richards | Lost film |
| The Spider and the Rose | Dolores | Lost film | |
| Main Street | Bea Sorenson | Lost film | |
| Mary of the Movies | Cameo Uncredited Incomplete film | ||
| The Spoilers | Tilly Nelson | ||
| Tea: With a Kick! | Lost film | ||
| The Gold Diggers | Mabel Munroe | Incomplete film | |
| The Wanters | Mary | Lost film | |
| The Old Fool | Dolores Murphy | Lost film | |
| 1924 | The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln | Sally, a Country Girl | Incomplete film |
| The Galloping Fish | Undine | ||
| True as Steel | Miss Leeds | Incomplete film | |
| Listen Lester | Arbutus Quilty | ||
| Being Respectable | Deborah Carpenter | ||
| This Woman | Rose | ||
| The Lighthouse by the Sea | Flora Gale | ||
| 1925 | The Night Club | Carmen | |
| Cheaper To Marry | Flora | ||
| The Price of Pleasure | Stella Kelly | Lost film | |
| Déclassé | Mrs. Walton | ||
| A Broadway Butterfly | Cookie Dale | Lost film | |
| Grounds for Divorce | Marianne | Incomplete film, missing reel 3 | |
| The Love Hour | Jenny Tibbs | Lost film | |
| Compromise | Hilda | Lost film | |
| Bobbed Hair | Sweetie | ||
| Hogan's Alley | Dolly | ||
| 1926 | The Bat | Lizzie Allen | |
| Footloose Widows | Flo | ||
| Miss Nobody | Mazie Raleigh | Lost film | |
| The Passionate Quest | Madame Mathilde | Lost film | |
| Tin Gods | Lost film | ||
| Millionaires | Reba, Esther's Sister | Lost film | |
| The Old Soak | Annie | Lost film | |
| The Lady of the Harem | Yasmin | Lost film | |
| Ladies at Play | Aunt Katherine | Lost film | |
| 1927 | Finger Prints | Dora Traynor | Lost film |
| The Red Mill | Gretchen | ||
| The Gay Old Bird | Sisseretta Simpkins | ||
| Babe Comes Home | Laundry Girl | Lost film | |
| Cradle Snatchers | Susan Martin | Incomplete film, missing reels 3 and 4 | |
| Simple Sis | Sis | Lost film | |
| A Sailor's Sweetheart | Cynthia Botts | Incomplete film | |
| A Texas Steer | Mrs. Ma Brander | Lost film | |
| Ham and Eggs at the Front | Cally Brown | ||
| 1928 | Tillie's Punctured Romance | Tillie, a Runaway | Lost film |
| Domestic Troubles | Lola | Lost film | |
| Pay as You Enter | Mary Smith | Lost film | |
| Vamping Venus | Maggie Cassidy / Circe | Lost film | |
| Five and Ten Cent Annie | Annie | Lost film A fragment exists | |
| Heart to Heart | Aunt Katie Boyd | ||
| The Terror | Mrs. Elvery | Lost film | |
| Noah's Ark | Hilda/Tavern Maid | Film survives as a partially restored 108 minute version; the original 138 minute version is lost | |
| Outcast | Mable | ||
| Riley the Cop | Lena Krausmeyer | ||
| Taxi 13 | Uncredited | ||
| 1929 | Stark Mad | Mrs. Fleming | Lost film |
| The Desert Song | Susan | ||
| House of Horror | Louise | Lost film | |
| Hot Stuff | Aunt Kate | ||
| On With the Show | Sarah | ||
| Hard to Get | Ma Martin | ||
| The Show of Shows | in 'Recitations' Sketch | ||
| The Broadway Hoofer | Jane | ||
| 1930 | No, No, Nanette | Sue Smith | Incomplete film |
| Wide Open | Agatha Hathaway | ||
| Loose Ankles | Sarah Harper | ||
| High Society Blues | Mrs. Granger | ||
| Spring Is Here | Emily Braley | ||
| Bride of the Regiment | Teresa, the Maid | Lost film A 20-second fragment exists | |
| Rain or Shine | Frankie | ||
| Leathernecking | Hortense | ||
| Viennese Nights | Gretl Kruger | ||
| 1931 | Gun Smoke | Hampsey Dell | |
| Misbehaving Ladies | Aunt Kate Boyd | ||
| Newly Rich | Maggie Tiffany | ||
| The Mad Parade | Fanny Smithers | ||
| The Cuban Love Song | Elvira | ||
| 1932 | Racing Youth | Daisy Joy | |
| Once in a Lifetime | Helen Hobart | ||
| The Unwritten Law | Lulu Potts | ||
| 1933 | Hunting Trouble | Walter's Wife | Short subject |
| Alice in Wonderland | White Queen | ||
| 1934 | Caravan | Governess Bessie Opitz | |
| Wonder Bar | Mrs. Pratt | ||
| 1935 | The Winning Ticket | Nora Tomasello | |
| The Casino Murder Case | Becky | ||
| Broadway Gondolier | Flaggenheim | ||
| Bad Boy | Mrs. Harris – Landlady | ||
| The Widow from Monte Carlo | Rose Torrent | ||
| 1936 | Colleen | Alicia Ames | |
| Doughnuts and Society | Kate Flannagan | ||
| I Married a Doctor | Bea Sorenson | ||
| 1937 | Ready, Willing, and Able | Clara Heineman | |
| The Road Back | Angelina | ||
| Ever Since Eve | Abbie Belldon | ||
| Merry-Go-Round of 1938 | Mrs. Penelope Updike | ||
| First Lady | Mrs. Lavinia Mae Creevey | ||
| 1938 | Swing Your Lady | Sadie | |
| Down on the Farm | Aunt Ida | ||
| 1939 | The Old Maid | Dora |
References
edit- ^ a b Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-7864-5019-0.
- ^ a b c "Louise Fazenda, star of silent films, dies". Journal & Courier. Lafayette, Indiana. April 18, 1962. p. 1. Retrieved May 29, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Kriebel, Bob. "West Lafayette native didn't plan movie career". Journal and Courier. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
- ^ Death takes Louise Fazenda of silent films. The Los Angeles Times. April 18, 1962. p. 35 and p. 42. Retrieved May 29, 2018 – via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Our New Hero: Louise Fazenda". Silver Screenings. January 15, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
- ^ "Louise Fazenda's good deeds live after her". Los Angeles Times. April 21, 1962. p. 10. Retrieved May 29, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Louise Fazenda". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
External links
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