CLARINE SEYMOUR

Clarine Seymour was born in 1898 and she was an actress solely from 1917 to 1920, and she is completely forgotten today. But that would not be the case had she not had terribly bad luck. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and when she was 19, her father had to close his successful business because he became very ill, which forced her to seek work. She was hired by the Thanhouser Film Company, which led her to a role in a Pearl White serial at Pathe. She then had successful roles in comedies, and in 1919, D.W. Griffith hired her to star in The Girl Who Stayed at Home and True Heart Susie, and to appear opposite Lillian Gish in Scarlet Days. The following year, she starred in The Idol Dancer, which was a very big success, and Griffith signed her to a 4 year contract, intending to have her star in Way Down East. However, halfway through filming that movie, she was stricken with "an intestinal ailment", and she was operated on and returned to work, but shockingly passed away, and she was only 21 years old. There were rumors that her operation was actually for an abortion, and that she caught pneumonia filming Way Down East (in the freezing temperatures), but those are only rumors. Mary Hay took over her role in Way Down East, and the footage with Clarine Seymour was not used. One wonders what would have happened had she not passed away so young, and on the verge of major stardom.