Marie Dressler

Birthday: November 9, 1868 in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada

Birth Name: Leila Marie Koerber

Height: 170 cm

Once you saw her, you would not forget her. Despite her age and weight, she became one of the top box office draws of the sound era. She was 14 when she joined a theater group and she went on to work on stage and in light opera. By 1892, she was on Broadway and she later became a star comedienne on the vaudeville circuit. In 1910, she had a hit with 'Tillie's Nightmare' which Mack Sennett adapted to film as Le roman comique de Charlot et Lolotte (1914) with Charles Chaplin. Marie took top billing over a young Chaplin, but her film career never took off and by 1918, she was out of films and out of work. Her role in the chorus girls' strike of 1917 had her blacklisted from the theaters. In 1927, MGM screenwriter Frances Marion got her a small part in The Joy Girl (1927) and then a co-starring lead with Polly Moran in The Callahans and the Murphys (1927) (which was abruptly withdrawn from circulation thanks to objections of Irish-American groups over its depiction of gin-guzzling Irish). Her career stalled and the 59-year old actress found herself no longer in demand. In the late 1920s she had been largely forgotten and reduced to near-poverty. Despite her last film being a financial disaster, Irving Thalberg, somewhat incredibly, sensed her potential was determined to re-build her into a star. It was a slow return in films but her popularity continued to grow. But it was sound that made her a star again. Anna Christie (1930) was the movie where Garbo talks, but everyone noticed Marie as Marthy. In an era of Harlow, Garbo and Crawford, it was homely old Marie Dressler that won the coveted exhibitor's poll as the most popular actress for three consecutive years. In another film from the same year, Min and Bill (1930) she received a best actress Oscar for her dramatic performance. She received another Academy Award nomination for Emma (1932). She had more success with Les invités de huit heures (1933) and Tugboat Annie (1933). In 1934, cancer claimed her life. Hide

[on winning the Best Actress Award for Min and Bill (1930)] Like an old Model-T Ford, I had to be cr Show more [on winning the Best Actress Award for Min and Bill (1930)] Like an old Model-T Ford, I had to be cranked up. I was scared stiff. Hide

If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics? If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics?

I'm too homely for a prima donna and too ugly for a soubrette. I'm too homely for a prima donna and too ugly for a soubrette.

Any fact is better established by two or three good testimonies than by a thousand arguments. Any fact is better established by two or three good testimonies than by a thousand arguments.

By the time we hit fifty, we have learned our hardest lessons. We have found out that only a few thi Show more By the time we hit fifty, we have learned our hardest lessons. We have found out that only a few things are really important. We have learned to take life seriously, but never ourselves. Hide

You're only as good as your last picture. You're only as good as your last picture.

Old age is an insult. It's like being smacked. Old age is an insult. It's like being smacked.

Marie Dressler's FILMOGRAPHY

as Actor (7)

Garbo

Zelig

Thats Entertainment, Part II

Anna Christie (1930)

Dinner at Eight

The Hollywood Revue of 1929

Min and Bill