RARE VINTAGE 1919 SILENT FILM ICON MABEL NORMAND PHOTOGRAPH SCANDALOUS FILM STAR For Sale

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Her adventures with Fatty Arbuckle were wildly popular, but they quickly became overshadowed by her personal struggles with cocaine, and her association with a number of hedonistic tinsel town scandals of 1920s Hollywood. She became one of the many early cautionary tales of the living fast and dying young to come out of Hollywood during the jazz age, and she remains a pivotal figure in the cultural imagination. This incredibly preserved vintage portrait was taken by Aaron Tycko, who is most well known for his portrait of Albert Einstein. An all-around gorgeous and captivating early Hollywood artifact.Measures 7 1/2\" x 9 1/2\" borderless on semi-gloss, double weight paper stock.We have recently acquired an extraordinary collection of antique Hollywood photographs and we are happy to combine multiple wins at no additional cost. Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from GrapefruitMoonGallery.CONDITION:This original, gelatin silver photograph is in fine condition with one crease lower left. A beautiful and exquisite antique portrait from the beginning of the film industry. Please take a moment and look over the high-quality scans within the listing for a detailed view.***************Mabel Normandwas the first great comedienne of American cinema and one the most important -- and popular -- American silent film actresses. By the time she first showed up at the Biograph studio in 1910,Normandwas already a \"Gibson Girl\" (a model for illustrator Charles Dana Gibson) and a champion swimmer, and she was not yet 18. Biograph published a photo ofNormandwith the phony name \"Muriel Fortescue,\" leading some sources to believe this her real name, but nevertheless it wasMabel Normand. She was from a French Canadian family and born on Staten Island on November 9, 1892.Normandworked for Biograph only a few months, then joined Vitagraph for about a year while the Biograph Company wintered out West. After they returned, so did she, working under the direction ofD.W. Griffith.GriffithcastNormandas the \"second girl\" in melodramas and in tomboy roles;Griffith\'s protégé,Mack Sennett, primarily made comedies and would exploitNormand\'s natural comic abilities and athleticism through casting her in the lead.A Dash Through the Clouds(1912) featuredNormandescaping with her beau in a new gadget, a Wright Brothers-styled airplane. This, and other, short comedies made bySennetthelped establishMabel Normandas a girl who could take care of herself -- willful, powerful, and seemingly without fear.Sennettbroke with Biograph to found Keystone Comedies, andNormandjoined him in California; she starred in the first Keystone, The Water Nymph, released in September 1912. Apparently, a personal relationship betweenSennettandNormandblossomed about this time as well, and though it was once the source of a popular musical, Mack and Mabel, the true nature of their relationship remains unclear.Normandwas theSennettstudio\'s most significant female star, and asSennettalso discovered and introducedGloria Swanson,Phyllis Haver,Betty Compson, andCarole Lombard, that\'s saying a lot.Normandalso began to direct in 1914, although more out of necessity than any artistic need. One reasonCharlie Chaplinwas allowed to direct so early in his Keystone career was that he objected to taking direction fromNormand, complaining about it toSennett.Normandentered into an immensely popular series of films co-starringRoscoe \"Fatty\" Arbuckleas sidekick, with titles such asFatty and Mabel Adrift(1916) andFatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition(1915) being among the best remembered. It is said that the relationship, such as it was, betweenSennettandNormandfoundered in the summer of 1915, nevertheless,Sennettdecided to produce a feature starringNormandand built the Mabel Normand Studio next door to Keystone; it was a necessary move, as the Keystone studio didn\'t have the right infrastructure to make such a film.Normandwas 24 years old at the time; the studio with her name above the gate made only one film,Mickey(1918), a sentimental melodrama in the style ofGriffith, spiced with comic touches.Mickeywas tied up in post-production so long that by the time it was released,Normandhad already leftSennettfor the Goldwyn Studio and had been working there a year.Mickey, aided by a hit song and a successful merchandising campaign, provedNormand\'s most successful film, butSennetthad lost legal control of it, and neither shared in its profits.Normand\'s sojourn to Goldwyn resulted in disappointing returns, and in 1920,Sam Goldwynwas happy to sellSennettback her contract. During this time,Normandhad become dependant on cocaine and began to suffer months-long periods of illness where she could not work. Once back atSennett, she madeMolly O\'(1921), a property more or less modeled right afterMickey; it was enormously successful. However, on February 1, 1922, directorWilliam Desmond Taylorwas shot in the back and killed, andNormandwas unfortunate enough to be the last person to see him alive. Although she had nothing to do withTaylor\'s murder, her name was added early on to a long list of suspects in the still unsolved case. Although her reputation was sullied,Normandmade one more feature withSennett,The Extra Girl(1923), which remains the most frequently seen of her films, and one of her best. Although it opened to enthusiastic crowds and good reviews, at a New Year\'s Eve party in 1923,Normandwas witness to yet another shooting, this time of playboy Courtland S. Dines, byNormand\'s chauffeur, with her gun. Dines survived, butNormand\'s reputation was mortally wounded.Although publiclySennettdeclared that he planned to continue making films withNormand, in private they agreed to end their association. In 1926,Normandmarried actorLew Codyand made five films withHal Roach. These were her last, for in February 1927Normandfell prey to her final bout with illness, which claimed her at the age of 37 after three years of slowly declining health. Though tuberculosis was given as cause, research in the late 20th century revealed thatNormandmay have died from a disease that was carried congenitally through her family line. AltogetherMabel Normandappeared in about 230 films and directed 16 of them; roughly 45 percent of her titles survive. It is not as generous a bequest as it sounds; a third of that total consists of 1914 films in which she co-starred withChaplin, and the remainder includes only two of her Goldwyn features and one Vitagraph. At her peak,Normandwas worshipped by scores of women who admired her for being wealthy, independent, fashionable, and flamboyant -- not to mention well read and eloquent in interviews. She remains one of the most captivating and unique figures among American silent-screen stars.