PEARL WHITE : AMERICAN STAGE AND FILM STAR : PERILS OF PAULINE : RPPC

Pearl White (1889-1938) was an American actress of film and stage. She started her career on the stage at just 6 years old in the play, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. At thirteen years of age she was a bareback rider for a circus. She dropped out of high school to join a touring stage company. Next she worked as a singer in Cuba and South America. She made her appearances in dance halls and casinos. In 1910, her voice began to fail and she began to appear in silent films, including many popular serials. Her nickname was “Queen of the Serials’. She did the majority of her own stunts in these film serials. She is known well for her role in “The Perils of Pauline”. She was often cast in the role of an athletic heroine, rather than the more typical, innocent young woman. As a result of her appearances in “The Perils of Pauline”, she was soon earning $1,750 per week. She increased her star power as she appeared in other serials. In these films she flew airplanes, raced cars, and did other action hero feats. By 1919 White moved on to more dramatic roles. She appeared in ten drama films for Fox Film Corporation. She finished her career by taking roles in European films, and finally, appearing on the European stage. While performing in London, she earned three thousand dollars a week. At the time of her retirement (1924), White had banked two million dollars. She then began investing. Her investments included a hotel, a night club, and a stable of race horses. White was married twice, each time, for short duration to actors. White died of liver failure, possibly due to her history of heavy drinking. Her drinking may have been attributable to her problems with pain stemming from a spinal injury occurring during her stunt days. The IMDb site credits white with 228 film appearances between 1910 and 1924. This real photo film star photo was published by Cinemagazine (Paris Edition). The card is part of the “Les Vedettes de Cinema” (Stars of the Cinema) series (No.,55). White’s postcard photo portrait was taken by the celebrated photographer, Alfred Noyer. The card has a closed pin hole at it’s center bottom and is in overall fair condition (see scans).

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Buy this Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #5024

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$12.68

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Buy this Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes International shipping outside the US) #5024

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Published in: on March 16, 2023 at 7:41 pm  Leave a Comment  
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FERN ANDRA : SILENT FILM ACTRESS POSES WITH HER BORZOI

This vintage real photo postcard features American silent film actress, Fern Andra (1893-1974). Andra was one of Germany’s most popular actresses in German silent film. She also worked as a film director, script writer, and producer. The pretty smiling Miss Andra poses with a Borzoi dog. She was born in Watseka, Illinois. Her father died when she was five years-old and her mother remarried. Fern’s step-dad was a vaudeville actor, circus performer and tight-rope walker. By age four, Fern was part of a tight-rope act. She later trained in dance and singing. In 1899, at age six, she made her first film, a version of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. She continued to perform with the circus and toured the United States, Canado, and Europe. She was a member of a famous troupe of wire artists. In Berlin, she took acting lessons from Max Reinhardt, prominent film and theater director. She appeared in several of his plays and films. In 1913, she acted in her first German film. In 1915, she was in her first Austrian film. Some believe Andra was an Allied spy in World War I. To deal with these rumors, she married a Prussian Baron. At some point, she stated that she actually was spying for the allies. This was her first marriage. He was killed in the war. Her second marriage was to a professional boxer. Her appearance in the film “Genuine” (1920) caused a great stir. In this horror film, she wore a costume that was simply, her painted body. She continued to make films in Europe but by the mid 1920’s, her popularity waned in Germany. In 1922, she was widely reported as being killed in a plane crash. In fact, she, and her companion, director Geog Bluen, survived the crash but according to one article, died the next day. However, the pilot, a former World War I fighter pilot and brother of the “Red Baron”, was killed. By 1928, Andra was working in the United Kingdom and the United States. She also expanded her acting to radio and television. Andra was married four times. She was widowed two times and divorced two times. Her fourth marriage, to a General, lasted about 35 years. She had no children. The IMDb gives Andra 51 acting credits between 1913 and 1930. She is also credited as a writer, producer, and director. An interesting side note is that when she was working as a producer, she interacted with a young German playwright named Josef Goebbels. Interestingly, she did propaganda broadcasts into Germany for the allies during World War II. Fern Andra died at age 80, in South Carolina. The stamp box of this postcard has an interesting story. “NBC” (Neue Bromsilber Convention) was a price cartel established in 1909 that continued until the 1930’s. The purpose of the cartel was to ensure that the minimum price charged for postcards was kept at a sufficiently profitable level. A number of postcard publishing companies joined the cartel in an effort to stave off the effect of competition on the pricing of postcards. This postcard is part of a series (no.131/1). The logo for the motion picture company, “Film Sterne” ,can be seen in the lower left hand corner of the image. SOLD

Published in: on November 2, 2020 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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