During the late 1920s, sexy and bubbly Alice White (1904-1983) was one of Hollywood's most popular stars who received more than 30,000 fan letters a month. She was Warner Bros' blonde answer to Clara Bow, and among her film hits were Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928) and Show Girl (1928). Tabloid reports about a violent love triangle seriously damaged her reputation and her career.
Dutch postcard, no. 388.
Dutch postcard, no. 389. Alice White in Showgirl in Hollywood (Mervyn LeRoy, 1930).
Alice White was born Alva Violet White in 1904 in Paterson, New Jersey, to French and Italian parents. Her mother was Catherine 'Kate' Alexander, a chorus girl, and her father was Audley White, a paper salesman. Audley abandoned the family when she was a baby and Catherine died in 1915. Alice was raised by her Italian grandparents in New Haven, Connecticut. Her grandfather owned a fruit business.
When Alice was a teenager they moved to California where she attended Hollywood high school. After leaving school, White started to work as a secretary, but lost several jobs for being too "sexy". She also worked as a switchboard operator at the Hollywood Writers' Club, and as a script girl for director Josef von Sternberg. After clashing with von Sternberg, White left to work for Charlie Chaplin, who decided before long to place her in front of the camera.
Elizabeth Ann at IMDb: "Her short blonde hair and big lips would become her trademark. Audiences fell in love with Alice but critics were rarely impressed with her acting. It was also rumored that her singing voice was being dubbed."
Her bubbly and vivacious persona led to comparisons with Clara Bow, and she dyed her hair blonde to stop these comparisons. In his book 'Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies', Robert K. Klepper wrote: "Some critics have said that Ms. White was a second-string Clara Bow. In actuality, Ms. White had her own type of charm, and was a delightful actress in her own, unique way. Whereas Clara Bow played the quintessential, flaming redheaded flapper, Alice White was more of a bubbly, vivacious blonde."
After playing a succession of flappers and gold diggers, she attracted the attention of director and producer Mervyn LeRoy, who saw potential in her. Her screen debut was in The Sea Tiger (John Francis Dillon, 1927) with Milton Sills. She appeared as brunette Dorothy Shaw opposite Ruth Taylor's Lorelei Lee in the silent comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Mal St. Clair, 1928), co-written by Anita Loos based on her novel.
Her other early films included Show Girl (Alfred Santell, 1928), which had Vitaphone musical accompaniment but no dialogue, and its musical sequel Show Girl in Hollywood (Mervyn LeRoy, 1930), both released by Warner Brothers and both based on novels by J.P. McEvoy. In these two films, White appeared as Dixie Dugan. In October 1929, McEvoy started the comic strip Dixie Dugan with the character Dixie having a 'helmet' hairstyle and appearance similar to actress Louise Brooks.
White was featured in The Girl from Woolworth's (William Beaudine, 1929), having the role of a singing clerk in the music department of a Woolworth's store. Karen Plunkett-Powell wrote in her book 'Remembering Woolworth's: A Nostalgic History of the World's Most Famous Five-and-Dime': "First National Pictures produced this 60-minute musical as a showcase for up-and-coming actress Alice White." White was one of Hollywood's most popular actresses and according to IMDb, received more than 30,000 fan letters a month.
British postcard in the Film Shots series by Film Weekly. Photo: Paramount. Alice White and Henry Wadsworth in Luxury Liner (Lothar Mendes, 1933).
Luxury Liner (Lothar Mendes, 1933) is a kind of Grand Hotel, a multi-story drama, but now on the high seas. The film, based on a 1932 novel by Gina Kaus, is an entertaining and multifaceted look into the various classes of cruise liner society with a very talented cast. Like Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding, 1932), this pre-code drama includes birth and death, lots of sexual innuendo and a combination of comedy that drives the plot and drama that is often poignant.
British postcard in the Film Shots series by Film Weekly. Photo: Paramount. Alice White in Luxury Liner (Lothar Mendes, 1933).
Alice White left films in 1931 to improve her acting abilities. The studio claimed that she was unhappy with her salary and had become difficult to work with. White toured the vaudeville circuit. In 1933, she returned on screen in Employees' Entrance (Roy Del Ruth, 1933) with Warren William and Loretta Young. White's supporting role garnered good reviews and sent her onto the comeback trail, but her career was hurt by a scandal. In 1933 Alice and her fiance, American screenwriter Sidney 'Sy' Bartlett were accused of arranging the beating of British actor John Warburton. Alice and Warburton had a love affair that ended when he beat her so badly she required cosmetic surgery.
Warburton told the press that Alice and Sy hired thugs to disfigure him. A grand jury in Los Angeles decided not to charge Bartlett or White; however, the bad publicity hurt Alice's career. Although White married Sidney Bartlett in 1933, her reputation was tarnished and she appeared only in supporting roles after this.
She appeared the next year in the comedy-crime film Jimmy the Gent (Michael Curtiz, 1934), starring James Cagney and Bette Davis. In one scene White was famously slapped by Cagney. Jimmy the Gent did well at the box office, and the critical response was positive as well. In 1936 she suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalised for two months. In 1937, she filed for divorce from Bartlett claiming he "stayed away from home" and was awarded $65 per week in alimony.
By 1938, her name was at the bottom of the cast lists. White married film writer John Roberts in 1940. They divorced in 1949 in Los Angeles. In court she said he "threw things and wasn't very nice". The following year, she sued him over unpaid alimony. White made her final film appearance in the Film Noir Flamingo Road (Michael Curtiz, 1949) starring Joan Crawford and Zachary Scott. Eventually, White resumed working as a secretary.
For many years she lived with musician William Hinshaw. She never had any children. In 1957 she fell off a ladder and landed on a pair of scissors. This freak accident left her blinded for several months. When she recovered she was offered a small role on The Ann Sothern Show. From then on,White stayed out of the spotlight but she continued to answer the fan mail she received.
In 1983, Alice White died of complications from a stroke in Los Angles at age 78. She was buried at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood. White has a star at 1511 Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 468. Photo: First National.
Small, British collectors card in the Film Stars series by Player's Cigarettes, no. 48. Photo: Warner - First National. Text at the back side of the card: "Alice White was born in Patterson, New Jersey, on July 25th, 1907, of French and Italian parents. Her mother, a former chorus girl, died when Alice was only three years of age. After her education at Roanoke College, in Virginia, Alice White took a secretarial course at the Hollywood High School, and later obtained a job as a a script clerk in a studio. She obtained an engagement, making her film debut in The Sea Tiger. She won stardom, then for a time was not seen on the screen. She returned in Employees' Entrance, and her latest successes include Jimmy the Gent, A Very Honourable Guy and Gift of Gab."
Sources: Elizabeth Ann (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
Dutch postcard, no. 388.
Dutch postcard, no. 389. Alice White in Showgirl in Hollywood (Mervyn LeRoy, 1930).
A bubbly, vivacious blonde
Alice White was born Alva Violet White in 1904 in Paterson, New Jersey, to French and Italian parents. Her mother was Catherine 'Kate' Alexander, a chorus girl, and her father was Audley White, a paper salesman. Audley abandoned the family when she was a baby and Catherine died in 1915. Alice was raised by her Italian grandparents in New Haven, Connecticut. Her grandfather owned a fruit business.
When Alice was a teenager they moved to California where she attended Hollywood high school. After leaving school, White started to work as a secretary, but lost several jobs for being too "sexy". She also worked as a switchboard operator at the Hollywood Writers' Club, and as a script girl for director Josef von Sternberg. After clashing with von Sternberg, White left to work for Charlie Chaplin, who decided before long to place her in front of the camera.
Elizabeth Ann at IMDb: "Her short blonde hair and big lips would become her trademark. Audiences fell in love with Alice but critics were rarely impressed with her acting. It was also rumored that her singing voice was being dubbed."
Her bubbly and vivacious persona led to comparisons with Clara Bow, and she dyed her hair blonde to stop these comparisons. In his book 'Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies', Robert K. Klepper wrote: "Some critics have said that Ms. White was a second-string Clara Bow. In actuality, Ms. White had her own type of charm, and was a delightful actress in her own, unique way. Whereas Clara Bow played the quintessential, flaming redheaded flapper, Alice White was more of a bubbly, vivacious blonde."
After playing a succession of flappers and gold diggers, she attracted the attention of director and producer Mervyn LeRoy, who saw potential in her. Her screen debut was in The Sea Tiger (John Francis Dillon, 1927) with Milton Sills. She appeared as brunette Dorothy Shaw opposite Ruth Taylor's Lorelei Lee in the silent comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Mal St. Clair, 1928), co-written by Anita Loos based on her novel.
Her other early films included Show Girl (Alfred Santell, 1928), which had Vitaphone musical accompaniment but no dialogue, and its musical sequel Show Girl in Hollywood (Mervyn LeRoy, 1930), both released by Warner Brothers and both based on novels by J.P. McEvoy. In these two films, White appeared as Dixie Dugan. In October 1929, McEvoy started the comic strip Dixie Dugan with the character Dixie having a 'helmet' hairstyle and appearance similar to actress Louise Brooks.
White was featured in The Girl from Woolworth's (William Beaudine, 1929), having the role of a singing clerk in the music department of a Woolworth's store. Karen Plunkett-Powell wrote in her book 'Remembering Woolworth's: A Nostalgic History of the World's Most Famous Five-and-Dime': "First National Pictures produced this 60-minute musical as a showcase for up-and-coming actress Alice White." White was one of Hollywood's most popular actresses and according to IMDb, received more than 30,000 fan letters a month.
British postcard in the Film Shots series by Film Weekly. Photo: Paramount. Alice White and Henry Wadsworth in Luxury Liner (Lothar Mendes, 1933).
Luxury Liner (Lothar Mendes, 1933) is a kind of Grand Hotel, a multi-story drama, but now on the high seas. The film, based on a 1932 novel by Gina Kaus, is an entertaining and multifaceted look into the various classes of cruise liner society with a very talented cast. Like Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding, 1932), this pre-code drama includes birth and death, lots of sexual innuendo and a combination of comedy that drives the plot and drama that is often poignant.
British postcard in the Film Shots series by Film Weekly. Photo: Paramount. Alice White in Luxury Liner (Lothar Mendes, 1933).
At the bottom of the cast lists
Alice White left films in 1931 to improve her acting abilities. The studio claimed that she was unhappy with her salary and had become difficult to work with. White toured the vaudeville circuit. In 1933, she returned on screen in Employees' Entrance (Roy Del Ruth, 1933) with Warren William and Loretta Young. White's supporting role garnered good reviews and sent her onto the comeback trail, but her career was hurt by a scandal. In 1933 Alice and her fiance, American screenwriter Sidney 'Sy' Bartlett were accused of arranging the beating of British actor John Warburton. Alice and Warburton had a love affair that ended when he beat her so badly she required cosmetic surgery.
Warburton told the press that Alice and Sy hired thugs to disfigure him. A grand jury in Los Angeles decided not to charge Bartlett or White; however, the bad publicity hurt Alice's career. Although White married Sidney Bartlett in 1933, her reputation was tarnished and she appeared only in supporting roles after this.
She appeared the next year in the comedy-crime film Jimmy the Gent (Michael Curtiz, 1934), starring James Cagney and Bette Davis. In one scene White was famously slapped by Cagney. Jimmy the Gent did well at the box office, and the critical response was positive as well. In 1936 she suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalised for two months. In 1937, she filed for divorce from Bartlett claiming he "stayed away from home" and was awarded $65 per week in alimony.
By 1938, her name was at the bottom of the cast lists. White married film writer John Roberts in 1940. They divorced in 1949 in Los Angeles. In court she said he "threw things and wasn't very nice". The following year, she sued him over unpaid alimony. White made her final film appearance in the Film Noir Flamingo Road (Michael Curtiz, 1949) starring Joan Crawford and Zachary Scott. Eventually, White resumed working as a secretary.
For many years she lived with musician William Hinshaw. She never had any children. In 1957 she fell off a ladder and landed on a pair of scissors. This freak accident left her blinded for several months. When she recovered she was offered a small role on The Ann Sothern Show. From then on,White stayed out of the spotlight but she continued to answer the fan mail she received.
In 1983, Alice White died of complications from a stroke in Los Angles at age 78. She was buried at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood. White has a star at 1511 Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 468. Photo: First National.
Small, British collectors card in the Film Stars series by Player's Cigarettes, no. 48. Photo: Warner - First National. Text at the back side of the card: "Alice White was born in Patterson, New Jersey, on July 25th, 1907, of French and Italian parents. Her mother, a former chorus girl, died when Alice was only three years of age. After her education at Roanoke College, in Virginia, Alice White took a secretarial course at the Hollywood High School, and later obtained a job as a a script clerk in a studio. She obtained an engagement, making her film debut in The Sea Tiger. She won stardom, then for a time was not seen on the screen. She returned in Employees' Entrance, and her latest successes include Jimmy the Gent, A Very Honourable Guy and Gift of Gab."
Sources: Elizabeth Ann (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
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