Biography for
Norma Talmadge More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

26 May 1893, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Date of Death

24 December 1957, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (stroke)

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m)

Mini Biography

Norma Talmadge was born on May 26, 1895 in Jersey City, New Jersey. The daughter of an unemployed alcoholic and his wife, Norma did not have the idyllic childhood that most of us yearn for. Mr. Talmadge up and left the family on Christmas Day and left his wife and three daughters to fend for themselves. Her mother, Peggy, took in laundry to help make ends meet. By the time she was 14, Norma took up modeling. She was successful enough that she attracted the attention of studio chiefs in New York City (where Vitagraph movie studios were located at the time). Norma landed a small role in 1909's THE HOUSEHOLD PEST. With her mother's prodding, she landed other small roles with the studio in 1910, such as UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, LOVE OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS, A DIXIE MOTHER and A BROKEN SPELL. By 1911, she was improving as an actress, so much so that she landed a good part in A TALE OF TWO CITIES. By 1913 she was Vitagraph's most promising young actress. In August of 1915, Norma and her mother left for California and the promise of success in the fledgling industry there. Her film in Hollywood was CAPTIVATING MARY CARSTAIRS. The film was a flop and the studio shut down. During this time her sister, Constance, was working for the legendary director, D.W. Griffith. Constance managed to get Norma a contract with Griffith's film company. During this eight month period Norma made seven feature films and a few shorts. After the contract ran out, the family returned to the East Coast. In 1916, she met and married Joseph Schenck. With his backing they formed their own production company which turned out a number of films, the first of which was PANTHEA. PANTHEA was a tremendous hit as likewise was Norma. In 1920, the production company was moved to Hollywood where the big hits of the day were being produced. Her company, itself, produced hits such as THE WONDERFUL THING (1921), THE ETERNAL FLAME (1922), and THE SONG OF LOVE in 1923. By 1928, Norma's popularity had begun to wane. Her role in THE WOMAN DISPUTED (1928) was a flop at the box-office. Her final film was in 1930 in DU BARRY, WOMAN OF PASSION. By then, "talkies" were all the rage and Norma's voice did not lend itself to the sound era and she was out of work. She divorced Schenck and married George Jessel. Jessel had his own radio show and Norma was added to the cast to help the sagging ratings. Norma thought this might be the chance to revive her film career. The show continued its decline and was ultimately canceled, with it the hope's of her shattered career. She was finished for good. She divorced Jessel in 1939 and married Dr. Carvel James in 1946. She remained with him until she died of a stroke on Christmas Eve, 1957 in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was 62 and had been in a phenomenal 250+ motion pictures.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson

Spouse

Dr. Carvel James	(4 December 1946 - 24 December 1957) (her death)
George Jessel	(23 April 1934 - 11 August 1939) (divorced)
Joseph M. Schenck	(20 October 1916 - 4 April 1934) (divorced)

Trivia

Daughter of Margaret Talmadge, the prototypical Hollywood stage mother.

Dark brown hair and eyes.

Sister of Natalie Talmadge & Constance Talmadge.

Fooprints of the stars started accidentally when, in 1927, she stepped into wet cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater.

In 1927, Norma and her sisters opened the Talmadge Park real estate development in San Diego, California, USA. Now known as the Talmadge district, the development contains streets named for each of the sisters. It is located about one mile southwest of the San Diego State University campus.

Talmadge Street in Hollywood, California, USA is named for Norma and her sister Constance Talmadge. It ran along the west side of Vitagraph's west coast studio where the Talmadges made some of their movies in the 1910s. The studio is now the ABC Television Center, west coast home of the American Broadcasting Company and its Los Angeles station, KABC-TV.

Another street, Norma Place in West Hollywood, California, is also named for her. The street was originally an easement road that led to the entrance of a tiny studio Norma's husband, Joseph M. Schenck, built for her when she joined his company, First National, in 1919. The studio was used solely to produce movies made by Norma's and Constance's production companies. It was abandoned in 1926 when the production company owned by Norma and her sister Constance Talmadge moved to First National's new home, the Burbank Studios (now home to Warner Brothers). The studio, too small to be properly converted to sound production, was torn down in the 1930s. Norma Place was lengthened, making it a through street, and houses were built where the old studio once stood. Dorothy Parker and her husband, Alan Campbell, lived on Norma Place for most of the years they worked in Hollywood.

Like her sisters, her grave marker gives a false date of birth (1897).

Even after they divorced, Joseph M. Schenck continued to act as her financial advisor and guide her business affairs.

Graduate of Erasmus High School, Brooklyn, NY.

According to historian Charles Lockwood, Talmadge kept her prized jewelry in brown paper bags in the kitchen ice box, next to the vegetables. She later switched to storing them in slippers, hiding rubies in red shoes, sapphires in blue shoes, emeralds in green shoes, and so on.

Personal Quotes

Director Clarence Brown once called her "the greatest pantomimist that ever drew breath. She was a natural-born comic; you could turn on a scene with her and she'd go on for five minutes without stopping or repeating herself."

Salary

Within the Law (1923)

$10,000/week

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z