MADGE BELLAMY

Madge Bellamy was one of the top stars of the 1920s, first at Famous Players/Lasky, then at William Fox, and unlike many silent stars she had no trouble transitioning to sound (she was the star of Fox's first sound movie, Mother Knows Best). But she made the fatal error of refusing to star in a crime picture (she thought it would be bad for her image) and she was fired and it would be three years before she got another part, co-starring with Bela Lugosi in White Zombie, and her remaining film roles were in similar movies, where she was likely cast mostly for her name recognition.

She had a 1928 marriage to a stockbroker that lasted for three days! In 1943, she was accused of or shooting at her wealthy married lover, Stanwood Murphy. She was quoted as saying, "I only winged him, which is what I meant to do. Believe me, I'm a crack shot". Though the charges were eventually dropped, the scandal that ensued ended what was left of her career.

She lived in poverty for much of the remainder of her life, worked selling tools in a shop. But in the 1980s she sold her Hollywood home for big money, and she made more money from that sale than she had during all her years in films! She passed away in 1990 at the age of 90. Some of her movies include: Charlie Chan in London, The Iron Horse, Lazybones, and Lorna Doone