Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 866. Photo: Triangle-Keystonefilm.
Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 867. Photo: Apeda N.Y. / Triangle-Keystone Films.
British Real Photograph postcard by Rotary Photo, London, no. S.66-3. Photo: Moody, N.Y.
French postcard in the Les Vedettes de Cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 78. Photo: Goldwyn Pictures.
A beautiful woman with a talent for comedy
Mabel Normand was born Amabel Ethelreid Normand in New Brighton, Richmond County, New York (before it was incorporated into New York City) in 1892. Her father, Clodman "Claude" George Normand was employed as a cabinetmaker and stage carpenter at Sailors' Snug Harbor home for elderly seamen. Her mother was Mary "Minne" Drury. Mabel had 5 siblings, although only two survived into adulthood, the rest succumbing to tuberculosis.
Normand was a model before her career as an actress. This included posing for postcards illustrated by Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the Gibson Girl image, as well as for Butterick's clothing pattern manufacturers in lower Manhattan. She became an actress in 1910 at the Eastcoast, at Vitagraph and Biograph.
Her intensely beguiling lead performance, directed by D. W. Griffith in the short drama Her Awakening (1911), drew attention while at the Biograph Company. She met director Mack Sennett and they embarked on a topsy-turvy relationship. In 1912, Sennett took her to his new studio, Keystone in California.
At the start, Normand was primarily portrayed in films as a beautiful woman, but soon her talent for comedy was spotted. She became a highly popular comedienne in shorts with Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle. She is credited as being the first film star to receive a pie thrown in the face.
Normand played a key role in starting Chaplin's film career and defended Chaplin before Sennett, when the latter was initially not convinced of Chaplin's acting qualities. Mabel acted as his leading lady and mentor in a string of films in 1914, sometimes co-writing and directing or co-directing films with him.
In 1914, she starred with Marie Dressler and Chaplin in Tillie's Punctured Romance (Mack Sennett, 1914), the first feature-length comedy. Earlier that same year, Chaplin first played his Tramp character in Mabel's Strange Predicament (Mabel Normand, 1914), although it wound up being the second Tramp film released. Normand directed Chaplin and herself in the film.
In 1916, Normand opened with Sennett her own company at Culver City, as a subsidiary of Triangle. When Triangle collapsed in 1918 it also took down Mabel's company and also caused Sennett to lose Keystone. In 1918 also the affair of Normand with Sennett ended.
British postcard, no. 31. Photo: American Biograph. Mabel Normand as Muriel Fortescue, the name which was given to her for British audiences by the MPSA Motion Picture Sales Agency. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.
British postcard in the series "Keystone cards presented with Home Weekly". Photo: Keystone Film. Mabel Normand in The Sea Nymphs (Mack Sennett, 1914). Caption: Mabel as a sea nymph.
American postcard by Keystone cards, presented with Home Weekly. Photo: Keystone Film. Publicity still for Fatty's Wine Party (Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, 1914) with Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand. Caption: A Ticklish Moment.
Chinese postcard, no. 4. Photo: Hartsook Photo, S.F. - L.A. / Keystone Film. Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand in Fatty and Mabel Adrift (Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, 1916).
The Murder of William Desmond Taylor
Mabel Normand got a new contract with Samuel Goldwyn. Yet her popularity and health declined. Normand became unhappy and became addicted to alcohol and drugs. Director William Desmond Taylor noticed this and tried to help her. This led to a relationship.
In 1922, William Desmond Taylor was killed, 15 minutes after Normand left the house. Since the murder was never unraveled, Normand was suspected by the police. There was also speculation that Normand's cocaine sellers may have been involved, as Taylor had repeatedly helped her to get off her drug addiction and wanted to file charges against her suppliers.
Many suspects of the murder are known but despite a confession of actress Margaret Gibson on her deathbed, the case is still open. Kevin Brownlow and John Kobal in their book 'Hollywood: The Pioneers' claim there is no real proof of Normand's drug addiction and the idea that Taylor was murdered by drug dealers was invented by the studio for publicity purposes.
Mabel Normand became involved in another scandal when her driver Joe Kelly (also an ex-criminal) shot millionaire oil broker and amateur golfer Courtland S. Dines, one of Normand's lovers with Normand's gun. Normand was hated by the media, several theatres pulled Normand's films, and her films were banned in Ohio by the state film censorship board. In 1923, she decided to end her career.
Still, she got a second chance when Hal Roach Studios offered her a contract in 1926. At Roach, she made the short comedies Raggedy Rose (Richard Wallace, 1926), The Nickel-Hopper (F. Richard Jones, Hal Yates, 1926), and One Hour Married (Jerome Strong, 1926). All were co-written by Stan Laurel. She was also directed by Leo McCarey in Should Men Walk Home? (1927) with Creighton Hale and Oliver Hardy. She received a lot of publicity, but her scandals from her past resurfaced and Normand's career was now definitively destroyed.
In 1930, Mabel Normand died of tuberculosis at the age of 37. She was married in 1926 to actor Lew Cody, with whom she had appeared in the film Mickey (F. Richard Jones, James Young, 1918). She was interred as Mabel Normand-Cody at Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles. Cody died four years after Normand because of a heart attack.
British postcard in the Novelty Series, no. D6-14. Photo: Keystone Films.
British postcard in the Cinema Chat series. Photo: Mishkin / Stoll Goldwyn.
British postcard in the 'Pictures' Portrait Gallery by Pictures Ltd., London, no. 120.
American postcard by Max B. Sheffer Card Co., Chicago (M.B.S.C.Co.). Photo: Mack Sennett Production / First National. Mabel Normand as Suzanna in Suzanna (F. Richard Jones, 1923).
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch, and English), and IMDb.
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