Mary Astor (1906-1987) Part One of Three

This is my contribution to the Mary Astor Blogathon, hosted by Dorian and Ruth. For the full list of participants and their wonderful reviews of Mary's films,just click on the banner on my sidebar or you can also find it HERE..

*Since this is a rather long bio on the lovely Ms. Astor, I will be doing it in three parts. This first part will cover Mary's childhood, her start in acting, how she was discovered, the friendships she developed with her co-stars, studio moguls early on which would propel her to fame.  The second and third parts will cover her career as it peaked, the scandals that plagued her life, her alcoholism and motherhood, marriages, to the end of her life. And of course I'll feature her Hollywood homes throughout the years.

**Also, I don't usually go into such great detail about a stars childhood but with Mary Astor, it really does allow us to understand her struggles in later years, and what she went through early on.

The doe eyed beauty, was born Lucille Langhanke to working class parents in Quincy Illinois. Though sadly, she felt throughout her childhood that she was in her parents way, an inconvenience and a burden. Especially to her father who she would later describe as a frustrated and embittered man who ruled their home with an iron hand at all times.

An only child, her first home in Quincy was a small flat above a saloon. A very lonely time for Lucille but she would find her first bit of happiness when the family rented a large Victorian farmhouse in the country when she was just seven years old. While they would only live at this residence for four years, it was here that Lucille found real peace and adventure on the vast twelve acres. Of course these adventures were for one, since she was not allowed friends her own age to stop by to play. The very few times that she was allowed to visit a neighbors home, she would find herself in trouble after reports that she was too noisy or nervous around other children.

When not attending the country schoolhouse with its two rooms, Lucille spent her days exploring the woods, and the nearby creek where she would daydream about a life where the father wasn't always angry and frustrated by her mere presence. A life where she could laugh, gossip and play dress-up with little girls her own age. Of course she had her dear mother, who could be funny and quite sarcastic when not worried about the head of the households disapproving lectures. There was no time for play, as this was a working farm. Well, one of fathers get rich schemes. This time it was raising chickens when he wasn't writing German teaching manuals. (Her father was a teacher but he spent his off time thinking up easy ways to make a fortune. Luckily for him his daughter was photogenic and talented but lets not get ahead of ourselves.)

With the beginning of WWI, the Langhanke's found themselves struggling to make ends meet, like many others during that time. No longer being able to sustain the farm, they moved back to Quincy into a very small home. (Later in life, Mary would describe it as a 'brick box', the ugliest house on the street.)

It was here where Lucille would learn to play the piano at her fathers insistence, a 'task' that she deplored but one that she did to please him. At 11 years of age, she just dreamed of finishing high school then hopefully going away to college. Perhaps ambitious thoughts for a child but this would be her way of escaping the physical and mental abuse at the hands of her father.

It was also during this time that D.W. Griffith's moving picture, Birth of a Nation was being shown in every small movie house across the country. To Lucille's delight, her parents were enamored with what they saw on the screen and attending the movies became the family ritual every Friday afternoon.

Her father took these outings to the theater very seriously, as he studied each actor, their faces, gestures. Lucille would soon realize that this was all part of his "Great Idea".

Olga Petrova, Clara Kimball Young, Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish would become the families favorite actresses with Mary Pickford failing to impress the Langhankes. She was dismissed as insipid and lacking depth.  As Lucille's father studied the faces and mannerisms of these actresses before him, it was quickly decided that little Lucille would become an actress as well. Whatever it took! Her parents began doing research, spending hours each day on ways to get their meal ticket discovered. (She must have felt relieved to finally feel wanted and not just an annoyance.) Thus, The Great Idea was born.

Lucille's parents started buying every movie magazine they could afford, first to clip the coupons for free perfume, and beauty item samples. It was while clipping these coupons that her mother noticed a full page ad promoting a beauty contest.  One of many contests during that time from movie studios, in the hopes of finding talented young females from across the country. All you needed was a photograph and a stamp. The rest was up to fate and catching someones eye, of course!

During this time, with motion pictures in the early phases, all films were being shot in New York. With Lucille's father determined to get her face in front of anyone of any importance where movie making was concerned the most important and only thing to do was up and relocate closer to the action. The furniture and anything of value was sold but unfortunately it wasn't enough to get them to New York so the family settled for Chicago for the time being.

The family settled into a small apartment on East-Forty seventh street. Lucille was told that it was only temporary as it was certain she would win the contest and they would be off to New York. Even when days turned into months, her father would not accept a job teaching as he needed to be ready to leave in a moments notice when that letter came in the mail.  Times were hard and they struggled to get by during this time. Financially and emotionally, as each month that passed, her father grew more irritable and frustrated. It was taking way to long for The Great Idea to garner results and the big payday.

As the months turned into years, Lucille's mother managed to find work teaching English Literature and Drama at an exclusive private school where she managed to get her daughter enrolled, not only in their school full time but in a drama class on weekends. A welcome escape for Lucille and one she really took to. All while father spent his days answering 'sucker ads' when not making a few dollars here and there, painting signs for department store windows.

As her acting skills developed over the next two years, and her confidence grew, there were many opportunities to get up on stage, a small stage, as the drama school held productions all around Chicago in parks, auditoriums and for soldiers and their families.  Lucille was having fun and she was becoming quite the actress as she approached the age of 13. Also a time when she started noticing boys and they noticed her with those big brown eyes and that unforgettable smile.  She was quite polished by now and sophisticated for her age.

As the years passed in Chicago, Lucille's father continued to enter her photo in every beauty contest he could find and each time they were notified that she was a runner-up. By 1920, he decided it was time to move on to New York now that they had a bit of money saved and Lucille could finish her high school education at home. He knew with all of his being that Lucille would be summoned by some studio mogul at any time and he needed to have her in New York and ready when that day came.  So off they went!

Now situated in a small two bedroom apartment on 110th street, father could now focus on getting Lucille her big break in motion pictures. He wrote letters, made phone calls, to the editor of Motion Picture Magazine until it finally paid off. Lucille was granted an interview with Eugene Brewster. A date and time was set for them to meet at his estate in Roslyn where a screen test was set up for several young hopefuls. (These days, her father would have probably ended up in jail for harassment and stalking!)

Mr. and Mrs. Brewster had their mansion and it's grounds turned into a mini movie set with makeup artists and costumes at the ready. Young men were given lines to read opposite the young hopefuls who were all doing their best to steady their nerves and comprehend what this day might mean for their future if lucky enough to be chosen.

Lucille was introduced to Charles Albin, the famous fashion, society photographer who was filming the young hopefuls that day. A chance meeting that would lead to a very long friendship between them. Albin felt she had a "Madonna quality" and she was enamored with the fact that he had worked with her idol, Lillian Gish.

At the end of the day, father and his tenacious drive for "Fame and Fortune" paid off. Lucille was soon on her way out to D.W. Griffith's studio at Mamaroneck. He had built the studio which sat on 28 acres on Orienta Point after the success of Birth of a Nation. It was here that he would continue to make films with the Gish sisters and other stars over the next five years before heading out west.

D.W.Griffith's movie studio at Mamaroneck New York. Where Mary Astor would film her first screen test in 1920. The studio covered 28 acres of the old Henry Flagler Estate.

As Lucille and her parents arrived at Mamaroneck, they expected to meet D.W. Griffith but it was Lillian Gish who greeted them instead. She was a big help to our young starlet that day, showing her how to apply mascara and how to use the grease paint before sitting herself in a chair to guide the cameramen and the lighting crew as the days shooting progressed. They didn't meet D.W. that day but here was her movie idol, showing her the ropes and going out of her way to make her feel at ease, comfortable. Surely that was a good sign.

After the long day of shooting, there was nothing left to do but return to their cramped little apartment and await the phone call that would come at any time. A contract would be offered and father could finally relax, at least for a day or two. His hard work and dedication had finally paid off, or had it?

The family got word that Lucille was passed over for someone else. No explanation was given and all calls to the studio were ignored. Just like that, they were back to square one and they had no idea what went wrong. After a few tears, Lucille managed to gather herself and as the weeks passed she was being dragged all over New York to every casting office that her father could get her in the door to. This daily routine went on for months until it was decided that Mr. Langhanke needed to find real work before the family starved.

Having adapted a book into a screenplay and thinking he could peddle German translation of some movie scripts to the local studios, he set his mind on his next get rich quick scheme. One that would finally pay off. He was given a meeting at Famous Players Lasky Studios in New York. It just so happened that he had one of Lucille's publicity photos with him that day.  Mr. Durant in the front office wanted to meet the beautiful young girl in the photograph so Lucille was quickly summoned.

When she arrived at their offices, she was greeted by Jesse Lasky, Walter Wanger and Louella Parsons.  Things moved very quickly from there. Within an hour of their meeting, Lucille was shuttled off to do some clothes shopping and to get her hair done. By the end of the day she was signed to a six month contract at Famous Lasky Players for sixty dollars a week. It was also during this time that the publicity department got busy in finding Lucille Langhanke a new name. Mary Astor was chosen and a star was born.

Mary was instructed to show up for work at the Astoria studio. An overwhelmingly large block of buildings. (The studio was only a year old when Mary began working there.) Since she wasn't of legal age, her mother had to accompany her each day. A task that her mother was more than thrilled to do since she was also a huge movie fan and getting the opportunity to meet the stars face to face was a dream come true.

Mary could not believe that her matinée idols like Mae Murray, Rudolph Valentino and May McAvoy would be working just a few feet away from her. Of course she wasn't allowed to speak to any of the 'stars' but just knowing that they were in the near vicinity of where she was being given the studio tour and introduced to the different departments assigned to making her a star, was more than she could have imagined. What any 15 year old girl from Quincy, Illinois could have imagined, I'm sure.

An aerial view of the Famous Lasky Players Studio in Astoria, New York. Now home to the Museum of the Moving Image. A must see museum for anyone interested in old cinema and artifacts used in the early motion picture process.

Since it's 3:30 a.m, I think I'll stop here. I shall do my best to get Part Two up tomorrow night after work then Part Three on Saturday. (I know, you thought the Blogathon was over on Friday and it is. I'm just trying to make sure there isn't a ton of reading all at once. So feel free to check back for the rest at your convenience.)

I know that my main priority is to get started on all of the wonderful entries in the Mary Astor Blogathon. I've been working such late hours that I haven't even gotten started but I promise to get to all of them before the weekend is over.  Until then, thanks so much for reading Part One.

All the best!
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