Fine Silent Film Star Madge Bellamy Vintage 1920s Edwin Bower Hesser Photograph
Item History & Price
ITEM: This is a stunning, 1920s, vintage and original photograph of silent film actress Madge Bellamy. Photographed by Edwin Bower Hesser, this is an enchanting portrait of the star showing off her doll-like eyes and heart-shaped lips. This photo comes from Bellamy's personal archive and was stored in a close friend's collection since the star's death in 1990.
Delicately pretty, Madge Bellamy was a charming silent screen heroine popular in the 1920s in mostly light fare. Bellamy...'s most important film is arguably the landmark John Ford Western, The Iron Horse (1924). She continued on into the early days of the sound period (probably her best remembered feature from this period is the 1932 haunting low-budget horror film, White Zombie), but her status quickly waned.
Photograph measures 8" x 10" on a matte double weight paper stock with the photographer's ink stamp on verso.
Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
More about Madge Bellamy:
Madge was born as Margaret Philpott in Texas. She got her start in theater working with a stock company in Denver. Put under a personal contract by a Broadway producer, Madge got her big break when she replaced Helen Hayes in the Broadway play "Dear Brutus". Her success as a stage actress led to her being signed by Fox Pictures. After appearing in a number of movies in the early 20's, Madge was best remembered for her performances in 'Lorna Doone (1922)' and 'The Iron Horse (1924)'. A strong will contrasted the screen image of innocence and led to disagreements over roles by the late 20's. Madge had been cast in a number of movies each year and was in Fox's first dialogue feature 'Mother Knows Best (1928)'. But her refusal to work in the film 'The Trial of Mary Dugan', which was bought expressly for her, led to her contract with Fox being terminated. It would be 3 years until she returned to the screen in the cult favorite 'White Zombie (1932)' with Bela Lugosi, but her career was not going anywhere as Madge was just one of those old silent stars. For the next few years, she appeared in a small number of low budget films and by 1936 her film career was over. In 1943, she would again appear in the headlines when she shot her lover, millionaire A. Stanford Murphy after he jilted her to marry another woman. She did marry two other men, Carlos Bellamy, whose last name she kept, and then to Logan F. Metcalf. Both marriages ended in divorce. She has no children.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana
Delicately pretty, Madge Bellamy was a charming silent screen heroine popular in the 1920s in mostly light fare. Bellamy...'s most important film is arguably the landmark John Ford Western, The Iron Horse (1924). She continued on into the early days of the sound period (probably her best remembered feature from this period is the 1932 haunting low-budget horror film, White Zombie), but her status quickly waned.
Photograph measures 8" x 10" on a matte double weight paper stock with the photographer's ink stamp on verso.
Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
More about Madge Bellamy:
Madge was born as Margaret Philpott in Texas. She got her start in theater working with a stock company in Denver. Put under a personal contract by a Broadway producer, Madge got her big break when she replaced Helen Hayes in the Broadway play "Dear Brutus". Her success as a stage actress led to her being signed by Fox Pictures. After appearing in a number of movies in the early 20's, Madge was best remembered for her performances in 'Lorna Doone (1922)' and 'The Iron Horse (1924)'. A strong will contrasted the screen image of innocence and led to disagreements over roles by the late 20's. Madge had been cast in a number of movies each year and was in Fox's first dialogue feature 'Mother Knows Best (1928)'. But her refusal to work in the film 'The Trial of Mary Dugan', which was bought expressly for her, led to her contract with Fox being terminated. It would be 3 years until she returned to the screen in the cult favorite 'White Zombie (1932)' with Bela Lugosi, but her career was not going anywhere as Madge was just one of those old silent stars. For the next few years, she appeared in a small number of low budget films and by 1936 her film career was over. In 1943, she would again appear in the headlines when she shot her lover, millionaire A. Stanford Murphy after he jilted her to marry another woman. She did marry two other men, Carlos Bellamy, whose last name she kept, and then to Logan F. Metcalf. Both marriages ended in divorce. She has no children.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana
