Mary Astor was the star of American silent and sound cinema for just over 20 years, from 1920 to 1941. Throughout her life, she starred in 140 films and received one Oscar. In her life there were numerous novels, litigation with her parents and husband, four divorces, an addiction to alcohol, an attempt to commit suicide and even a change of religion.
Childhood and early years Mary Astor
Mary Astor, née Lucille Vasconcellos Langhanke, was born on May 3, 1906 in Quincy, USA to German immigrant Otto Ludwig Langhanke and American Helen Mary Vasconcelos, with Portuguese and Irish roots. The girl's father taught German and was engaged in poultry farming until he took up his daughter's career.
From a young age, the girl learned to play the piano and had a beautiful voice. Her father independently taught Mary to sing and play a musical instrument, however, being hot-tempered by nature, he often punished his daughter with a ruler if she was wrong in the notes. The child's parents realized that their only daughter had a chance to apply herself in show business and both supported this idea.
Otto and Helen wanted a better future for their daughter and sent their daughter to participate in various beauty contests, sent photographs of the young beauty to the editorial office of magazines. Mary Astor was very lucky when her photographs reached Paramount Pictures, and at the age of 14, Mary was invited to Hollywood and signed to a contract with her. Parents completely controlled the life of a teenager, constantly accompanying the young actress to the studio and back.
Career in Hollywood
The very first silent film in the career of an aspiring actress was the short film "Scarecrow" of 1920, in which she got a very small role.
The young actress quickly became recognizable, Mary Astor's income grew. If in 1922 the actress received $ 60 a week, then the next year this figure increased to $ 750.
In 1924, Mary Astor played the female lead Lady Margery Alvenly in the historical melodrama Pretty Boy Brummel. The male role went to the famous American actor and heartthrob of those times, John Barrymore. The film was enthusiastically received by the audience, the heroes of the romantic movie came to their liking, and the name Mary Astor became popular.
The love story of the main characters transported into reality, Barrymore and Astor began to meet (from 1924 to 1925).
At the end of the 1920s, the era of talkies came. Thanks to her natural vocal abilities, Mary Astor was among the rare lucky women who successfully switched to sound film projects.
The melodrama "Red Dust" (1933) with Clark Gable, the comedy "City of Harmony" (1933), the drama "Iron Man" (1935) and the melodrama "The Prisoner of Zenda Fortress" (1937) were at the peak of popularity in the actress's career, and made Mary Astor is the star of Hollywood black and white cinema.
In 1941, Mary Astor received her first and only Oscar for her supporting role in the love drama The Great Lies, in which the famous Bette Davis won the role of the main character. After that, Mary Astor's career began to decline, which was largely influenced by the constant high-profile headlines in newspapers related to her personal life.
In 1964, the last film with the participation of the American actress was released, the crime drama "Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte", in which Mary Astor got an insignificant role, and the main character of the heroine Charlotte departed from the aged but respected Bette Davis.
Throughout her career, Mary Astor has starred in 140 silent short and sound feature films.
In 1959, Mary Astor tried her hand at writing and published an autobiography that became popular. In the 1970s, the actress wrote several more novels.
Mary Astor scandal with her parents
Mary Astor at the beginning of her career quickly became not only one of the most popular actresses, but also the highest paid. At the age of 19, Mary made so much money that she was able to buy a posh property in Beachwood Canyon for her parents. However, Otto and Helen considered their daughter's success their own merit and made her the only breadwinner in the family.
She paid for the maintenance of the huge mansion, the costs of maids, a gardener, a chauffeur and a limousine. When Mary Astor began to allocate less funds to finance her parents, Otto and Helen sued their daughter. Astor claimed that she gave the family $ 461,000 from 1920 to 1930, retaining only $ 24,000 for herself. As a result, the court ruled to sell the luxurious mansion, and Mary Astor was ordered to pay her parents only $ 100 a month.
Mary Astor's four failed marriages
Throughout her life, the actress was in relationships with many celebrities. Among them are Clark Gable, George S. Kaufman, Douglas Fairbanks, Irving Asher and many others.
The first husband of the actress was Hollywood director and producer Kenneth Hawkes. The marriage took place in 1928. This union was not happy and was more like a financial partnership. In 1930, tragedy struck: during the aerial filming of the film "Some People Are Dangerous", the plane with Kenneth Hawkes and his workforce crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
In 1931, the actress got married a second time. Dr. Franklin Thorne became Mary Astor's husband. The marriage was not happy again and in 1935 the couple's divorce attracted the attention of the press. Franklin Thorne sought custody of his only daughter, threatening to use his wife's personal diary in court, telling about her "love affairs". He could not get custody, and his daughter Marilyn remained with her mother.
In 1937, Mary Astor married Manuel Del Campo, a Mexican athlete, from whom she later gave birth to a son, Anthony. Seven years later, the marriage broke up again.
The fourth husband in the life of the actress was businessman Thomas Gordon Wheelock (from 1945 to 1955). The couple divorced after ten years of marriage.
The actress fell into deep depression, became addicted to alcohol, and even tried several times to commit suicide with the help of sleeping pills. In adulthood, she converted to Catholicism.
Mary Astor died at the age of 81 on September 25, 1987 from respiratory failure.
