POSTCARD 1
POSTCARD 2
POSTCARD 3 (SOLD)
This vintage real photo postcard features actress singer Lili Damita (1904-1994). She was born Liliane Marie Madeleine Carre in Blaye, France in 1904. She was educated in convents and ballet schools in several European countries. She was a pretty and talented star actress of silent movies as well as early talkies. Her filmography includes 33 film appearances between 1922 and 1937. Damita started dancing professionally at sixteen years of age and made her film debut in 1922. As a teenager she danced in music halls and appeared in the revue of the Casino de Paris. She also worked as a photographic model. She starred in the film “The Queen was in the Parlor” (1926) by Noel Coward. She appeared with Ronald Colman in Sam Goldwyn’s film “The Rescue” (1929). Goldwyn feared that Damita’s accent would be a deterrent for success in talkies so Damita worked to change her accent and she appeared in her first talkie, “The Cockeyed World” (1929). Goldwyn eventually dropped her partially because she had been too honest with the press about her millionaire lovers. During her career, Damita worked with celebrated actors including Gary Cooper, Laurence Olivier, Cary Grant, Maurice Chevalier, and James Cagney. She had more than one marriage. Her second husband was actor Errol Flynn. They married in 1935 and were divorced seven years later. Cooper’s infidelities contributed to the dissolution of their marriage. The couple’s son, Sean Flynn, disappeared while photographing the Vietnam War, and was never found. She married again; this time to a dairy farmer named Allen Loomis. Her marriage to Loomis dissolved in 1962. In 1994 Damita died of Alzheimers disease in Palm Beach, Florida. A YouTube tribute to Lili Damita can be seen below.
Postcard 1 is part of the “Picturegoer Series (No. 375” ) and was published in London, England. Picturegoer was a British fan magazine focussing on contemporary films and the actors and actresses who performed in them. Picturegoer also published postcards. In fact, they produced over 6500 different real photo postcards on 2000 actors and actresses. Miss Damita looks quite lovely in this photo portrait.
The photograph seen on Postcard 2 was taken during the flapper era. Miss Damita’s portrait on this postcard was taken by celebrity photographer Alex Binder. This card was published by Ross Verlag as part of a series (no.1676/1). It is a white border postcard and it dates back to around the 1920’s.
Postcard 3 was formerly part of the Serge Bonnet Collection as indicated by the stamp on the reverse of the card. This card is provocative. The photo of Damita’s bare legs make the postcard risque for it’s era. This postcard was published by Ross Verlag as part of a series (No.4993/2).The postcard has the logo for Fox films in it’s lower right hand corner. SOLD
POSTCARD 1
POSTCARD 2
POSTCARD 3
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