Mabel Normand, of Irish and French descent, was one of the most influential early movie pioneers. She made her name with the starring role as the daughter in D.W. Griffith's 1911 "The Awakening."
She teamed with Mack Sennett to create the Keystone Kops, inventing the car chase. She also invented the pie-in-the-face routine, smashing a cre…
Mabel Normand, of Irish and French descent, was one of the most influential early movie pioneers. She made her name with the starring role as the daughter in D.W. Griffith's 1911 "The Awakening."
She teamed with Mack Sennett to create the Keystone Kops, inventing the car chase. She also invented the pie-in-the-face routine, smashing a cream pie into Fatty Arbuckle's face in 1913. She was also the first woman to get a pie in the face.
She made Charlie Chaplin a star, training him in acting, inventing his tramp character in 1914, and writing, directing and starring as his leading lady in his early films.
For a time she had her own studio at 4319 Effie St. in East Hollywood. It's still there today, still used by the movie industry. It has a 60-by-100 foot stage and 10 dressing rooms, with offices, scene docks, and property rooms.
Homage was paid to her in the movie "Sunset Boulevard," Gloria Swanson's character being named Norma Desmond, a pastiche of her name and that of her lover director William Desmond Taylor.
We have a photo of my great-grandmother with Mabel Normand, Mary Pickford and Anne Morrow (before she married Charles Lindbergh) at some social function at Pickfair. The architect who originally designed that house, A.H. Cogswell, was employed by one of my relatives to design a number of upscale houses for his properties in Los Angeles. Cogswell designed many of the lovely Swiss Chalet-style Craftsman homes that were once a hallmark of L.A.
Mabel Normand, of Irish and French descent, was one of the most influential early movie pioneers. She made her name with the starring role as the daughter in D.W. Griffith's 1911 "The Awakening."
She teamed with Mack Sennett to create the Keystone Kops, inventing the car chase. She also invented the pie-in-the-face routine, smashing a cream pie into Fatty Arbuckle's face in 1913. She was also the first woman to get a pie in the face.
She made Charlie Chaplin a star, training him in acting, inventing his tramp character in 1914, and writing, directing and starring as his leading lady in his early films.
For a time she had her own studio at 4319 Effie St. in East Hollywood. It's still there today, still used by the movie industry. It has a 60-by-100 foot stage and 10 dressing rooms, with offices, scene docks, and property rooms.
Homage was paid to her in the movie "Sunset Boulevard," Gloria Swanson's character being named Norma Desmond, a pastiche of her name and that of her lover director William Desmond Taylor.
We have a photo of my great-grandmother with Mabel Normand, Mary Pickford and Anne Morrow (before she married Charles Lindbergh) at some social function at Pickfair. The architect who originally designed that house, A.H. Cogswell, was employed by one of my relatives to design a number of upscale houses for his properties in Los Angeles. Cogswell designed many of the lovely Swiss Chalet-style Craftsman homes that were once a hallmark of L.A.
Well, I digress.