Spanish postcard. Natalie Talmadge as Virginia Canfield in Our Hospitality (John G. Blystone, Buster Keaton, 1923). Caption: 'A mis amiradores del Kursaal. Natalia Talmadge'. Editorial Fotografica, Barcelona. Souvenir for the visitors of the Salon Kursaal in Barcelona. The Kursaal was a luxurious cinema, opened in 1922.
Soviet postcard, no. 1070. Photo: Phoebus Film (Probably the Ross Verlag card, no. 1037/2, was used for this card, produced in Kiev, now Ukraine). Buster Keaton in Our Hospitality (John G. Blystone, Buster Keaton, 1923).
Italian postcard in the Le grandi Films series by Virginio Rebua, Milano, no. 897.
Not a single love letter
Natalie Talmadge was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1896. Her parents were Margaret L. "Peg" and Frederick O. Talmadge. She was the younger sister of Norma Talmadge and the older sister of Constance Talmadge, both of whom became film actresses. Natalie appeared as a favourite of the Harem in D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916), but initially, she mainly worked as a screenwriter and co-scripted Roscoe Arbuckle's Out West (1918), in which Buster Keaton also acted.
She was pushed to become an actress, but mostly had supporting parts in films of her sisters Norma and Constance, such as Yes or No? (Roy William Neill, 1920), The Love Expert (David Kirkland, 1920), and The Passion Flower (Herbert Brenon, 1921).
She also had a bit part in Keaton's The Haunted House (Eddie Cline, Buster Keaton, 1921). In her last film, the great period comedy Our Hospitality (1923), she had the female lead opposite Keaton, who was also the co-director of the film.
Talmadge married Buster Keaton in 1921, after an unusual courtship where they did not see each other for two years and did not exchange a single love letter. She offered herself to him in a letter in January of that year, writing, “I am alone now with Mother. If you still think of me, let me know." Keaton travelled east from Hollywood by train and married her. The reasons for their union have never been further explained. They had had dates, but without much involvement.
It was rumoured that it was Joseph Schenck, then the producer of the actor and husband of Norma, who influenced this merger, arguing that it would solve many problems and leave the business in the family. From their tumultuous union, two sons were born: James, born in 1922, and Robert, born in 1924.
Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 1168.
British postcard in the Pictures Portrait Gallery, no. 10/201, by Pictures Ltd., London. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
A crushing and bitter divorce
Natalie Talmadge spent prodigious sums on clothes and luxury homes in Beverly Hills. The west wing of Talmadge and Buster Keaton's villa was packed with Natalie's clothes.
After the birth of her second son, she stopped having sex with her husband, and they had separate bedrooms. Keaton signified to Natalie and her mother that he could not abstain and would find other partners. This was permitted, provided he kept it secret. He was then only 28 years old.
Some time later, Buster's career declined following the sale of his contract with Joseph Schenck to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, by which he was drastically curtailed. He now openly went out with other women and depended more and more on alcohol. Following a crushing and bitter divorce in 1932, Natalie took away Keaton's fortune and legally changed the names of her children to Talmadge in 1941, forbidding them to see their father for years.
In the following years, Talmadge had a relationship with actor Larry Kent. They lived together in a house bought for her by her sister Constance after the sale in 1933 of the Italian Villa property that Keaton had built for her. But their story did not last.
She never remarried and also became prone to alcoholism, just like her ex. Her hatred towards Keaton persisted throughout her life, and she kept refusing to talk about him. Natalie Talmadge died of cardiac arrest in 1969. She was buried in the Abbey of the Psalms in the Talmadge Room at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Spanish collector card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 163.
Finnish postcard by Korttiekeskus Kortcentralen, no. 10. Constance, Norma and Natalie Talmadge with their mother Margaret. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.
Publicity still for Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2025. Credit: AMPAS, Margaret Herrick Library, LA. Buster Keaton on the set of Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton, John G. Blystone, 1923).
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
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