![]() The older actor wooed the young actress, but their relationship was severely constrained by Astor's parents' unwillingness to let the couple spend time alone together Mary was only seventeen and legally underage. On loan-out to Warner Bros., she starred with him in Beau Brummel (1924). After she appeared in several more movies, John Barrymore saw her photograph in a magazine and wanted her cast in his upcoming movie. In 1923, she and her parents moved to Hollywood.Īfter appearing in several larger roles at various studios, she was again signed by Paramount, this time to a one-year contract at $500 a week. Her first feature-length movie was John Smith (1922), followed that same year by The Man Who Played God. She received critical recognition for the 1921 two-reeler The Beggar Maid. She then appeared in some movie shorts with sequences based on famous paintings. She made her debut at age 14 in the 1921 film Sentimental Tommy, but her small part in a dream sequence wound up on the cutting room floor. Silent movie career A 1924 publicity photo of Astor from Stars of the PhotoplayĪstor's first screen test was directed by Lillian Gish, who was so impressed with her recitation of Shakespeare that she shot a thousand feet of her. Her name was changed to Mary Astor during a conference among Paramount Pictures chief Jesse Lasky, film producer Walter Wanger, and gossip columnist Louella Parsons. The Albin photographs were seen by Harry Durant of Famous Players–Lasky and Astor was signed to a six-month contract with Paramount Pictures. Ī Manhattan photographer, Charles Albin, saw her photograph and asked the young girl with haunting eyes and long auburn hair whose nickname was "Rusty" to pose for him. He managed her affairs from September 1920 to June 1930. Her father then moved the family to New York City, in order for his daughter to act in motion pictures. The following year, she sent another photograph to Motion Picture Magazine, this time becoming a finalist and then runner-up in the national contest. Astor took drama lessons and appeared in various amateur stage productions. When Astor was 15, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois, with her father teaching German in public schools. ![]() In 1919, Astor sent a photograph of herself to a beauty contest in Motion Picture Magazine, becoming a semifinalist. Her piano talents came in handy when she played piano in her films The Great Lie and Meet Me in St. ![]() Astor was home-schooled in academics and was taught to play the piano by her father, who insisted she practice daily. Astor's mother, who had always wanted to be an actress, taught drama and elocution. They married on August 3, 1904, in Lyons, Kansas.Īstor's father taught German at Quincy High School until the U.S. citizen her American mother was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, and had Portuguese roots. Her German father emigrated to the United States from Berlin in 1891 and became a naturalized U.S.
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