Jeanie MacPherson explained

Jeanie MacPherson
Birth Name:Abbie Jean Macpherson
Birth Date:18 May 1886
Birth Place:Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting Place:Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Awards:Hollywood Walk of Fame
Occupation:Actress, screenwriter, director
Notable Works:Her collaborations with director Cecil B. DeMille
Yearsactive:1908–1917 (acting)
1913–1946 (screenwriting)

Abbie Jean MacPherson (May 18, 1886[1] – August 26, 1946) was an American silent actress, writer and director. She is known for her collaborations with directors D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, and was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Early life

Abbie Jean MacPherson[1] was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a wealthy family of European (Spanish, Scottish and French) descent.[2] Her parents were John S. MacPherson and Evangeline C. Tomlinson.[1] As a teenager, she was sent to Mademoiselle DeJacque's school in Paris, but returned to the United States when her family could no longer afford the fees.[2]

MacPherson earned a degree from the Kenwood Institute in Chicago and began working as a dancer and stage performer. MacPherson began her theatrical career as part of the chorus in the Chicago Opera House. Over the next few years, she took singing lessons and worked several theater-related jobs.

Film career

MacPherson made her film debut in the 1908 film The Fatal Hour, directed by D. W. Griffith. She acted in many controversial roles in which she portrayed characters of ethnicities other than her own; due to her dark hair, she was often cast in Gypsy or Spanish roles. From 1908 to 1917, she amassed 146 acting credits. She saw her time with Griffith as her "first glimmer of the possibilities in the new industry [and] from those days on [she had] seen a variety of attitudes toward the scriptwriters."[3]

After working with Griffith, MacPherson began working with the Universal Company, where she starred in more prominent roles.[4] In 1913, she wrote, directed and starred in The Tarantula, about a Spanish-Mexican girl, known as the Tarantula, who seduced men before killing them. With this film, she became the youngest director in motion picture history. The Tarantula is the only film she directed.

MacPherson continued working for the Universal Company for two years, until her failing health caused her to leave. Upon her recovery, MacPherson began working for Lasky Studios; however, she quickly sought out Cecil B. DeMille to see if she could act in his films. He told her, "I am not interested in star MacPherson, but I am in writer MacPherson"; and from that point on, she focused on writing.

DeMille and MacPherson formed a partnership that some scholars consider to be one of the industry's most influential and long-lasting. MacPherson wrote the scripts for 30 of DeMille's next 34 films. Some of their most notable collaborations are Rose of the Rancho (1914) starring Bessie Barriscale, The Girl of the Golden West starring Mabel Van Buren, The Cheat (1915) starring Sessue Hayakawa, The Golden Chance (1915) starring Wallace Reid, Joan the Woman (1916) starring Geraldine Farrar, A Romance of the Redwoods (1917) with Mary Pickford, The Little American again starring Pickford, and The Woman God Forgot (1917) again starring Farrar.

In 1921, MacPherson told a reporter, "I shall always be grateful for Mr. DeMille's assistance. He is a hard taskmaster, and he demands that a thing shall be perfect... It was hard, but it taught me that anything worth doing at all was worth doing perfectly."

MacPherson believed that motion picture owed its psychology to D. W. Griffith and its dramatic picture scenario construction to DeMille.[3] [4] In 1927, she became a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[4]

Personal life

MacPherson and DeMille's relationship was met with speculation for years. DeMille's niece, Agnes de Mille, later confirmed that MacPherson was one of her uncle's three mistresses.[5] MacPherson was a pilot and sought to take daily flights. She was the only woman to pilot the plane of Ormer Locklear.[4]

In 1946, MacPherson became ill with cancer while researching Unconquered (1947), a historical drama, and had to stop work.[2] She died that August in Los Angeles at age 60 and was buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6150 Hollywood Blvd.[4]

Filmography

As Performer

YearFilmsCreditNotes
1909Schneider's Anti-Noise CrusadePerformerShort
1910A Mohawk's WayPerformerShort
1911Fisher FolksPerformerShort
1915The Black BoxPerformerSerial

As Writer

YearFilmsCreditNotes
1913The Sea UrchinScenarioShort
also performer
1913Red Margaret, MoonshinerScenarioShort
1914The LieScenarioShort
1914The Desert's StingScenarioShort
also performer
1914The TrapScenarioShort
also performer
1915Chimmie Fadden Out WestScreenplay
1915CarmenScenarioco-written with William DeMille
1915TemptationScenarioco-written with Hector Turnbull & C.B. DeMille
1915The CaptiveStoryco-written with C. B. DeMille
1915The CheatScenarioco-written with Hector Turnbull
1916The Golden ChanceStoryco-written with C.B. DeMille
1916The Love MaskStory
1916The Trail of the Lonesome PineStorycredited as Jeanne MacPherson,
co-written with C.B. DeMille
1916The Dream GirlScenario
1916The Heart of Nora FlynnScenarioco-written with Hector Turnbull
1916Joan the WomanScenarioco-written with William DeMille
1917The Little AmericanStory & Scenarioco-written with C.B. DeMille
1917The Woman God ForgotStoryco-written with William DeMille
1917The Devil-StoneScenarioco-written with Beatrice deMille & Leighton Osmun
1917A Romance of the RedwoodsStoryco-written with C.B. DeMille
1918Old Wives for NewScenarioco-written with C.B. DeMille
1918Till I Come Back to YouScenario
1918The Whispering ChorusScenario
1919For Better, For WorseScenarioco-written with William DeMille
1919Don't Change Your HusbandScenario
1919Male and FemaleScenario
1920Something to Think AboutStory
1921The Affairs of AnatolScenario
1921Forbidden FruitStory
1922Saturday NightStory & Scenario
1922ManslaughterAdaptation
1923Adam's RibScenario
1923The Ten CommandmentsScenario
1924TriumphAdaptation
1925The Golden BedScreenplay
1925The Road to YesterdayAdaptation
1926Red DiceAdaptation
1926Her Man o' WarScenarioco-written with Charles A. Logue
1926Young AprilAdaptationco-written with Douglas Z. Doty
1927The King of KingsStory & Continuity
1929DynamiteDialogue
1929The Godless GirlStoryco-written with Ernest Pascal
1930Madam SatanScreenplay
1933The Devil's Brother Adaptation
1935The Crusades Treatment
1938The Buccaneer Adaptation
1941Land of Liberty Narration
1948Unconquered Scenario

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Abbie Jean Macpherson - Massachusetts Births. FamilySearch. May 20, 2016.
  2. Clark. Randall. 1986. American Screenwriters. Dictionary of Literary Biography. 44. 2nd. 185.
  3. Casella, Donna. Feminism and the Female Author: The Not So Silent Career of the Woman Scenarist in Hollywood - 1896-1930, tandfonline.com; accessed December 19, 2016.
  4. "Lowry, Carolyn. The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen"
  5. Web site: Jeanie Macpherson profile. Women Film Project. December 2, 2014.