Marie Dressler

Marie Dressler
Dressler in 1930
Born	Leila Marie Koerber (1868-11-09)November 9, 1868 Cobourg, Ontario,Canada
Died	July 28, 1934(1934-07-28)(aged 65) Santa Barbara, California,U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Citizenship	Canada United States
Occupations	Actress comedian
Years active	1886–1934
Spouses	George Hoeppert ​ ​ (m.1894;div.1906)​ James Henry Dalton ​ ​ (m.1907; died 1921)​
Children	1 (adopted)

Leila Marie Koerber(November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934), known by herstage nameMarie Dressler,was a Canadian stage and screen actress, comedian, and earlysilent filmandDepression-erafilm star.

After leaving home at the age of 14, Dressler built a career on stage in traveling theatre troupes, where she learned to appreciate her talent in making people laugh. In 1892, she started a career onBroadwaythat lasted into the 1920s, performing comedic roles that allowed her to improvise to get laughs. She soon transitioned into screen acting and made several shorts, but mostly worked in New York City on stage. During World War I, along with other celebrities, she helped sellLiberty bonds.

In 1914, she played the title role in the first full-length screen comedy,Tillie's Punctured Romance(1914), oppositeCharlie ChaplinandMabel Normand.In 1919, she helped organize the first union for stage chorus players. Her career declined in the 1920s, and Dressler was reduced to living on her savings while sharing an apartment with a friend.

In 1927, she returned to films at the age of 59 and experienced a remarkable string of successes. For her performance in the comedy filmMin and Bill(1930), Dressler won theAcademy Award for Best Actress.She died ofcancerin 1934.

Early life

Dressler was born Leila Marie Koerber on November 9, 1868,inCobourg,Ontario.She was one of the two daughters of Anna (néeHenderson), a musician, and Alexander Rudolph Koerber (1826–1914), a German-born former officer in theCrimean War.Leila's elder sister, Bonita Louise Koerber (1864–1939), later married playwrightRichard Ganthony.

Her father was a music teacher in Cobourg and the organist at St. Peter's Anglican Church, where as a child Marie would sing and assist in operating the organ.According to Dressler, the family regularly moved from community to community during her childhood. It has been suggested by Cobourg historian Andrew Hewson that Dressler attended a private school, but this is doubtful if Dressler's recollections of the family's genteel poverty are accurate.

The Koerber family eventually moved to the United States, where Alexander Koerber is known to have worked as a piano teacher in the late 1870s and early 1880s inBay CityandSaginaw(both inMichigan) as well asFindlay, Ohio.Her first known acting appearance, when she was five, was asCupidin a church theatrical performance inLindsay, Ontario.Residents of the towns where the Koerbers lived recalled Dressler acting in many amateur productions, and Leila often irritated her parents with those performances.

Stage career

Dressler left home at the age of 14 to begin her acting career with the Nevada Stock Company, telling the company she was actually 18.The pay was either $6 or $8 per week,and Dressler sent half to her mother.At this time, Dressler adopted the name of an aunt as her stage name.According to Dressler, her father objected to her using the name of Koerber. The identity of the aunt was never confirmed, although Dressler denied that she adopted the name from a store awning. Dressler's sister Bonita, five years older, left home at about the same time. Bonita also worked in the opera company.The Nevada Stock Company was a travelling company that played mostly in the American Midwest. Dressler described the troupe as a "wonderful school in many ways. Often a bill was changed on an hour's notice or less. Every member of the cast had to be a quick study".Dressler made her professional debut as a chorus girl named Cigarette in the playUnder Two Flags,a dramatization of life in the Foreign Legion.

She remained with the troupe for three years, while her sister left to marry playwright Richard Ganthony. The company eventually ended up in a small Michigan town without money or a booking. Dressler joined the Robert Grau Opera Company, which toured the Midwest, and she received an improvement in pay to $8 per week, although she claimed she never received any wages.

Dressler ended up inPhiladelphia,where she joined the Starr Opera Company as a member of the chorus. A highlight with the Starr company was portraying Katisha inThe Mikadowhen the regular actress was unable to go on, due to a sprained ankle, according to Dressler.She was also known to have played the role of Princess Flametta in an 1887 production inAnn Arbor, Michigan.She left the Starr company to return home to her parents in Saginaw. According to her, when the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company came to town, she was chosen from the church choir by the company's manager and asked to join the company. Dressler remained with the company for three years, again on the road, playing roles of light opera.

She later particularly recalled specially the role of Barbara inThe Black Hussars,which she especially liked, in which she would hit abaseballinto the stands.Dressler remained with the company until 1891, gradually increasing in popularity. She moved to Chicago and was cast in productions ofLittle Robinson CrusoeandThe Tar and the Tartar.After the touring production ofThe Tar and the Tartarcame to a close, she moved to New York City.

In 1892, Dressler made her debut on Broadway at theFifth Avenue TheatreinWaldemar, the Robber of the Rhine,which only lasted five weeks.She had hoped to become an operatic diva or tragedienne, but the writer ofWaldemar,Maurice Barrymore,convinced her to accept that her best success was in comedy roles.Years later, she appeared in motion pictures with his sons,LionelandJohn,and became good friends with his daughter, actressEthel Barrymore.In 1893, she was cast as the Duchess inPrincess Nicotine,where she met and befriendedLillian Russell.

Dressler now made $50 per week, with which she supported her parents. She moved on into roles in1492 Up to Date,Girofle-Girofla,andA Stag Party, or A Hero in Spite of HimselfAfterA Stag Partyflopped, she joined the touringCamille D'ArvilleCompany on a tour of the Midwest inMadeleine, or The Magic Kiss,as Mary Doodle, a role giving her a chance to clown.

Music forThe Lady Slavey(1896)
Dressler had her first starring role as household servant Flo Honeydew, a role she performed for four years.

In 1896, Dressler landed her first starring role as Flo inGeorge Lederer's production ofThe Lady Slaveyat theCasino Theatreon Broadway, co-starring British dancer Dan Daly. It was a great success, playing for two years at the Casino. Dressler became known for her hilarious facial expressions, seriocomic reactions, and double takes. With her large, strong body, she could improvise routines in which she would carry Daly, to the delight of the audience.

Dressler's success enabled her to purchase a home for her parents onLong Island.TheLady Slaveysuccess turned sour when she quit the production while it toured in Colorado. The Erlanger syndicate blocked her from appearing on Broadway, and she chose to work with the Rich and Harris touring company.Dressler returned to Broadway inHotel Topsy TurvyandThe Man in the Moon.

She formed her own theatre troupe in 1900, which performedGeorge V. Hobart'sMiss Prinntin cities of the northeastern U.S.The production was a failure, and Dressler was forced to declare bankruptcy.In 1901 she starred asAnna of Austria, Queen of Spainin the Broadway musical comedyThe King's Carnival.

In 1904, she signed a three-year, $50,000 contract with the Weber and Fields Music Hall management, performing lead roles inHiggledy-PiggledyandTwiddle Twaddle.After her contract expired she performed vaudeville in New York, Boston, and other cities. Dressler was known for her full-figured body, andbuxomcontemporaries included her friends Lillian Russell,Fay Templeton,May IrwinandTrixie Friganza.Dressler herself was 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) tall and weighed 200 pounds (91 kg).

In 1907, she met James Henry "Jim" Dalton. The two moved to London, where Dressler performed at thePalace Theatre of Varietiesfor $1500 per week. After that, she planned to mount a show herself in theWest End.In 1909, with members of the Weber organization, she staged a modified production ofHiggeldy Piggeldyat theAldwych Theatre,renaming the productionPhilopoenaafter her own role. It was a failure, closing after one week. She lost $40,000 on the production, a debt she eventually repaid in 1930.She and Dalton returned to New York. Dressler declared bankruptcy for a second time.

She returned to the Broadway stage in a show calledThe Boy and the Girl,but it lasted only a few weeks. She moved on to perform vaudeville atYoung's Pierin Atlantic City for the summer. In addition to her stage work, Dressler recorded forEdison Recordsin 1909 and 1910. In the fall of 1909, she entered rehearsals for a new play,Tillie's Nightmare.The play toured inAlbany,Chicago, Kansas City, and Philadelphia, and was a flop. Dressler helped to revise the show, without the authors' permission, and in order to keep the changes she had to threaten to quit before the play opened on Broadway. Her revisions helped make it a big success there. Biographer Betty Lee considers the play the high point of her stage career.

Dressler continued to work in the theater during the 1910s, and toured the United States during World War I, sellingLiberty bondsand entertaining theAmerican Expeditionary Forces.American infantrymen in France named both a street and a cow after Dressler. The cow was killed, leading to "Marie Dressler: Killed in Line of Duty" headlines, about which Dressler (paraphrasingMark Twain) quipped, "I had a hard time convincing people that the report of my death had been greatly exaggerated."

WithMabel NormandandCharles ChaplininTillie's Punctured Romance

After the war, Dressler returned to vaudeville in New York, and toured in Cleveland and Buffalo. She owned the rights to the playTillie's Nightmare,the play upon which her 1914 movieTillie's Punctured Romancewas based. Her husband Jim Dalton and she made plans to self-finance a revival of the play. The play fizzled in the summer of 1920, and the production was disbanded. In 1919, during theActors' Equitystrike in New York City, theChorus Equity Associationwas formed and voted Dressler its first president.

Dressler accepted a role inCinderella on Broadwayin October 1920, but the play failed after only a few weeks. She signed on for a role inThe Passing Show of 1921,but left the cast after only a few weeks. She returned to the vaudeville stage with the Schubert Organization, traveling through the Midwest. Dalton traveled with her, although he was very ill fromkidney failure.He stayed in Chicago while she traveled on toSt. LouisandMilwaukee.He died while Marie was in St.Louis, and Marie then left the tour. His body was claimed by his ex-wife, and he was buried in the Dalton plot.

After failing to sell a film script, Dressler took an extended trip to Europe in the fall of 1922. On her return she found it difficult to find work, considering America to be "youth-mad" and "flapper-crazy". She busied herself with visits to veteran hospitals. To save money she moved into the Ritz Hotel, arranging for a small room at a discount. In 1923, Dressler received a small part in a revue at the Winter Garden Theatre, titledThe Dancing Girl,but was not offered any work after the show closed. In 1925, she was able to perform as part of the cast of a vaudeville show which went on a five-week tour, but still could not find any work back in New York City.The following year, she made a final appearance on Broadway as part of an Old Timers' bill at thePalace Theatre.

Early in 1930, Dressler joinedEdward Everett Horton's theater troupe in Los Angeles to play a princess inFerenc Molnár'sThe Swan,but after one week, she quit the troupe. Later that year she played the princess-mother ofLillian Gish's character in the 1930 film adaptation of Molnar's play, titledOne Romantic Night.

Film career

The Scrublady(1917)

Dressler had appeared in two shorts as herself, but her first role in a feature film came in 1914 at the age of 44. In 1902, she had met fellow CanadianMack Sennettand helped him get a job in the theater. After Sennett became the owner of his namesake motion picture studio, he convinced Dressler to star in his 1914 silent filmTillie's Punctured Romance.The film was to be the first full-length, six-reel motion picture comedy. According to Sennett, a prospective budget of $200,000 meant that he needed "a star whose name and face meant something to every possible theatre-goer in the United States and the British Empire."

The movie was based on Dressler's hitTillie's Nightmare.She claimed to have castCharlie Chaplinin the movie as herleading man,and was "proud to have had a part in giving him his first big chance."Instead of his recently inventedTrampcharacter, Chaplin played a villainous rogue. Silent film comedianMabel Normandalso starred in the movie.Tillie's Punctured Romancewas a hit with audiences, and Dressler appeared in twoTilliesequels and other comedies until 1918, when she returned tovaudeville.

In 1922, after her husband's death, Dressler and writers Helena Dayton and Louise Barrett tried to sell a script to the Hollywood studios, but were turned down. The one studio to hold a meeting with the group rejected the script, saying all the audiences wanted is "young love". The proposed co-star of Lionel Barrymore orGeorge Arlisswere rejected as "old fossils".In 1925, Dressler filmed a pair of two-reel short movies in Europe for producer Harry Reichenbach. The movies, titled theTravelaffs,were not released and were considered a failure by both Dressler and Reichenbach. Dressler announced her retirement from show business.

Marie Dressler inPhotoplaymagazine in 1930

Greta Garboand Marie Dressler inAnna Christie(1930)

Lobby card forTugboat Annie(1933) withWallace Beery

Marie Dressler on the cover ofTime(August 7, 1933)

In early 1927, Dressler received a lifeline from directorAllan Dwan.Although versions differ as to how Dressler and Dwan met, including that Dressler was contemplating suicide, Dwan offered her a part in a film he was planning to make in Florida. The film,The Joy Girl,an early color production, only provided a small part as her scenes were finished in two days, but Dressler returned to New York upbeat after her experience with the production.

Later that year,Frances Marion,a screenwriter for theMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer(MGM) studio, came to Dressler's rescue. Marion had seen Dressler in the 1925 vaudeville tour and witnessed Dressler at her professional low-point. Dressler had shown great kindness to Marion during the filming ofTillie Wakes Upin 1917, and in return, Marion used her influence with MGM's production chiefIrving Thalbergto return Dressler to the screen.Her first MGM feature wasThe Callahans and the Murphys(1927), a rowdy silent comedy co-starring Dressler (as Ma Callahan) with another former Mack Sennett comedian,Polly Moran,written by Marion.

The film was initially a success, but the portrayal of Irish characters caused a protest in theIrish Worldnewspaper, protests by the American Irish Vigilance Committee, and pickets outside the film's New York theatre. The film was first cut by MGM in an attempt to appease the Irish community, then eventually pulled from release after Cardinal Dougherty of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia called MGM presidentNicholas Schenck.It was not shown again, and the negative and prints may have been destroyed.While the film brought Dressler to Hollywood, it did not re-establish her career. Her next appearance was a minor part in theFirst NationalfilmBreakfast at Sunrise.She appeared again with Moran inBringing Up Father,another film written by Marion.Dressler returned to MGM in 1928'sThe Patsyas the mother of the characters played by starsMarion DaviesandJane Winton.

Hollywood was converting from silent films, but "talkies"presented no problems for Dressler, whose rumbling voice could handle both sympathetic scenes and snappy comebacks (the wisecracking stage actress inChasing Rainbowsand the dubious matron inRudy Vallée'sVagabond Lover). Frances Marion persuaded Thalberg to give Dressler the role of Marthy in the 1930 filmAnna Christie.Garbo and the critics were impressed by Dressler's acting ability, and so was MGM, which quickly signed her to a $500-per-week contract. Dressler went on to act in comedic films which were popular with movie-goers and a lucrative investment for MGM. She became Hollywood's number-one box-office attraction, and stayed on top until her death in 1934.

She also took on serious roles. ForMin and Bill,withWallace Beery,she won the 1930–31Academy Award for Best Actress(the eligibility years were staggered at that time). She was nominated again for Best Actress for her 1932 starring role inEmma,but lost toHelen Hayes.Dressler followed these successes with more hits in 1933, including the comedyDinner at Eight,in which she played an aging but vivacious former stage actress. Dressler had a memorable bit withJean Harlowin the film:

Harlow: I was reading a book the other day.
Dressler: Reading a book?
Harlow: Yes, it's all about civilization or something. A nutty kind of a book. Do you know that the guy said that machinery is going to take the place ofeveryprofession?

Dressler: Oh my dear,that'ssomethingyouneed never worry about.

Dressler inMin and Bill

Following the release ofTugboat AnnieDressler appeared on the cover of Time in its issue dated August 7, 1933. Despite glamour actresses such asGreta Garbo,Joan Crawford,orNorma ShearerMGM's most prominent female star at the time was Dressler. The aging star consistently packed movie theaters with hits likeMin and Bill,Emma,andTugboat Annie.An exhibitors poll inside the January 1933 issue ofMotion Picture Heraldhad Dressler as the number one box office star in Hollywood.

Coming to movie stardom late, Dressler had no pretensions and a delightful sense of humor. Once, when visiting William Randolph Hearst's California palace San Simeon, a monkey pelted her with some of his excrement. Dressler responded, "Oh, a critic!".

Dressler was very grateful for her career's late resurgence. While working on two films with Wallace Beery,Tugboat AnnieandMin and Bill,she refused to take nonsense from the notorious "son of a bitch". In response to one of Beery's insults, she said, "look you silly shit, you pull one more thing like that on me and I'll have your head. On a platter. And not an expensive platter. A little, cheap, lousy, wooden platter. Like John the Baptist. With a personal note to L.B. Mayer."

Dressler's newly regenerated career came to an abrupt end when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the early 1930s. MGM studio headLouis B. Mayerlearned of Dressler's illness from her doctor (who didn't even tell Dressler of her condition). The studio chief took it upon himself to take charge of Dressler's health. To keep her home, he ordered her not to travel, forcing her to miss a charity event in New York. Although furious, Dressler complied. She only learned about her condition six months later. After some experimental cancer therapy, Dressler returned to work under limitations enforced by Mayer. For the rest of her career, the actress only worked three hours a day and had mandatory stand-ins wherever possible. Before she died in July 1934, Dressler starred in three more features, includingDinner at Eight.

She appeared in more than 40 films, and achieved her greatest successes in talking pictures made during the last years of her life. The first of her two autobiographies,The Life Story of an Ugly Duckling,was published in 1924. A second book,My Own Story,"as told to Mildred Harrington", appeared a few months after her death.

Personal life

Dressler's first marriage was to an American, George Francis Hoeppert (1862 – September 7, 1929), a theatrical manager. His surname is sometimes given as Hopper. The couple married on May 6, 1894, in Grace Church Rectory, Greenville, New Jersey, as biographer Matthew Kennedy wrote, under her birth name, Leila Marie Koerber.Some sources indicate Dressler had a daughter who died as a small child, but this has not been confirmed.In 1904, Dressler adopted an incubator baby girl and named her Marie Dressler.

Dressler in 1909

Her marriage to Hoeppert gave Dressler U.S. citizenship, which was useful later in life, when immigration rules meant permits were needed to work in the United States, and Dressler had to appear before an immigration hearing.Ever since her start in the theatre, Dressler had sent a portion of her salary to her parents. Her success on Broadway meant she could afford to buy a home and later a farm on Long Island, which she shared with her parents. Dressler made several attempts to set up theatre companies or theatre productions of her own using her Broadway proceeds, but these failed and she had to declare bankruptcy several times.

In 1907, Dressler met aMainebusinessman, James Henry "Jim" Dalton, who became her companion until his death on November 29, 1921, at the Congress Hotel in Chicago from diabetes. According to Dalton, the two were married in Europe in 1908.However, according to Dressler's U.S. passport application, the couple married in May 1904 in Italy.

Dressler reportedly later learned that the "minister" who had married them inMonte Carlowas actually a local man paid by Dalton to stage a fake wedding.Dalton's first wife, Lizzie Augusta Britt Dalton, claimed he had not consented to a divorce or been served divorce papers, although Dalton claimed to have divorced her in 1905.By 1921, Dalton had become an invalid due todiabetes mellitus,and watched her from the wings in his wheelchair. After his death that year, Dressler was planning for Dalton to be buried as her husband, but Lizzie Dalton had Dalton's body returned to be buried in the Dalton family plot.

After Dalton's death, which coincided with a decline in her stage career, Dressler moved into a servant's room in the Ritz Hotel to save money.Eventually, she moved in with friend Nella Webb to save on expenses.After finding work in film again in 1927, she rented a home in Hollywood on Hillside Avenue. Although Dressler was working from 1927 on, she was still reportedly living hand to mouth. In November 1928, wealthy friends Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Neurmberg gave her $10,000, explaining they planned to give her a legacy someday, but they thought she needed the money immediately.In 1929, she moved to Los Angeles to 6718 Milner Road in Whitley Heights, then to 623 North Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills, both rentals. She moved to her final home at 801 North Alpine in Beverly Hills in 1932, a home which she bought from the estate ofKing C. Gillette.During her seven years in Hollywood, Dressler lived with her maid Mamie Cox and later Mamie's husband Jerry.

Miscellanea

Although atypical in size for a Hollywood star, Dressler was reported in 1931 to use the services of a "body sculptor to the stars",Sylvia of Hollywood,to keep herself at a steady weight.

Biographers Betty Lee and Matthew Kennedy document Dressler's long-standing friendship with actressClaire Du Brey,whom she met in 1928.Dressler and Du Brey's falling out in 1931 was followed by a later lawsuit by Du Brey, who had been trained as a nurse, claiming back wages as Dressler's nurse.

Death

On Saturday, July 28, 1934, Dressler died of cancer, aged 65, inSanta Barbara, California.After a private funeral held atThe Wee Kirk o' the Heather chapel,she was interred in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum in theForest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.

Marie Dressler's crypt in the Great Mausoleum, Forest Lawn Glendale. Note that her birth year is given as 1871.

Dressler left an estate worth $310,000, the bulk left to her sister Bonita.She bestowed her 1933 Duesenberg Model J automobile and $35,000 to her maid of 20 years, Mamie Steele Cox, and $15,000 to Cox's husband, Jerry R. Cox, who had served as Dressler's butler for four years.Dressler intended that the funds should be used to provide a place of comfort for black travelers,and the Coxes used the funds to open theCoconut Grovenight club and adjacent tourist cabins inSavannah, Georgia,in 1936, named after thenight club in Los Angeles.

Legacy

Dressler in 1908

Dressler's birth home in Cobourg, Ontario, is known as Marie Dressler House and is open to the public. The home was converted to a restaurant in 1937 and operated as a restaurant until 1989, when it was damaged by fire. It was restored, but did not open again as a restaurant. It was the office of the Cobourg Chamber of Commerce until its conversion to its current use as a museum about Dressler and as a visitor information office for Cobourg.Each year, the Marie Dressler Foundation Vintage Film Festival is held, with screenings in Cobourg and inPort Hope, Ontario.A play about the life of Marie Dressler called "Queen Marie" was written byShirley Barrieand produced at 4th Line Theatre in 2012 and Alumnae Theatre in 2018.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dressler has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fameat 1731Vine Street,added in 1960.AfterMin and Bill,Dressler and Beery added their footprints to the cement forecourt ofGrauman's Chinese Theatrein Hollywood, with the inscription "America's New Sweethearts, Min and Bill."

Canada Post,as part of its "Canada in Hollywood" series, issued a postage stamp on June 30, 2008, to honour Marie Dressler.

Dressler is beloved in Seattle. She played in two films based on historical Seattle characters.Tugboat Annie(1933) was loosely based onThea Foss,of Seattle. Likewise Hattie Burns, inPolitics(1931), was based onBertha Knight Landes,the first woman to become mayor of Seattle.

Dressler's 152nd birthday was commemorated in aGoogle Doodleon November 9, 2020.

Stage

Note: The list below is limited to New York/Broadway theatrical productions

Broadwaycredits of Marie Dressler

Date	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
October 18, 1897 – November 6, 1897	Courted Into Court	Dottie Dimple
April 24, 1899 – November 4, 1899	The Man in the Moon	Viola Alum
December 25, 1900 – November 19, 1901	Miss Prinnt	Helen Prinnt
May 13, 1901 – June 6, 1901	The King's Carnival	Anne
September 9, 1901 – October 12, 1901	The King's Carnival	Anne
February 5, 1902 – June 4, 1902	The Hall of Fame	Lady Oblivion
September 6, 1902 – October 4, 1902	King Highball	Ex-Queen Tarantula
October 20, 1904 – March 25, 1905	Higgledy-Piggledy	Philopena Schnitz
January 5, 1905 – Closing date unknown	The College Widower	Tilly Buttin
August 26, 1905 – September 9, 1905	Higgledy-Piggledy	Philopena Schnitz
January 1, 1906 – June 2, 1906	Twiddle-Twaddle	Matilda Grabfelder
May 31, 1909 – June 19, 1909	The Boy and the Girl	Gladys De Vine
May 5, 1910 – Dec 1911	Tillie's Nightmare	Tillie Blobbs
November 21, 1912 – January 11, 1913	Roly Poly	Bijou Fitzsimmons
November 21, 1912 – January 11, 1913	Without the Law	Merry Urner
March 10, 1913 – March 15, 1913	Marie Dressler's "All Star Gambol"	Self	Dressler wrote it, staged it, and did the scenic and costume designs
December 28, 1914 – Mar 1915	A Mix-up	Self	Also directed
November 6, 1916 – April 28, 1917	The Century Girl
December 29, 1920 – May 28, 1921	The Passing Show of 1921	Frances Belasco Starr Mrs. Hopwood
January 24, 1923 – May 12, 1923	The Dancing Girl	Multiple roles

Filmography

Films of Marie Dressler

Year	Title	Role	Notes Studio/Distributor	Ref(s)
1909	Marie Dressler	Herself	Short subject Edison Mfg. Cp.
1910	Actors' Fund Field Day	Herself	Silent documentary Vitagraph Studios
1914	Tillie's Punctured Romance	Tillie Banks, Country Girl	Keystone Studios
1915	Tillie's Tomato Surprise	Tillie Banks	Lubin Manufacturing Company
1917	Fired		Writer and director Marie Dressier Motion Picture Company Goldwyn Pictures
1917	The Scrub Lady	Tillie	Writer and director Marie Dressier Motion Picture Company Goldwyn Pictures
1917	Tillie Wakes Up	Tillie Tinkelpaw	World Film Company
1918	The Cross Red Nursesometimes calledThe Red Cross Nurse		Writer and director Marie Dressier Motion Picture Company Goldwyn Pictures
1918	The Agonies of Agnes		Writer and director Marie Dressier Motion Picture Company Goldwyn Pictures
1927	The Joy Girl	Mrs. Heath	Fox Film
1927	The Callahans and the Murphys	Mrs. Callahan	MGM
1927	Breakfast at Sunrise	Queen	Constance Talmadge
1928	The Patsy	Ma Harrington	MGM
1928	Bringing Up Father	Annie Moore	MGM
1929	Voice of Hollywood No. 1	Herself	Uncredited
1929	The Vagabond Lover	Mrs. Ethel Bertha Whitehall	RKO Pictures
1929	Dangerous Females	Sarah Bascom	Paramount Pictures
1929	Hollywood Revue of 1929	Herself	MGM
1929	The Divine Lady	Mrs. Hart	First National Pictures
1930	The Voice of Hollywood No. 14	Herself	Uncredited
1930	Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 14	Herself, at Premiere
1930	The March of Time	Herself, "Old Timer" sequence	Unfinished film, never released
1930	Anna Christie	Marthy Owens	MGM
1930	Derelict
1930	Let Us Be Gay	Mrs. 'Bouccy' Bouccicault	MGM
1930	Caught Short	Marie Jones	MGM
1930	One Romantic Night	Princess Beatrice	United Pictures Corporation
1930	The Girl Said No	Hettie Brown	MGM
1930	Chasing Rainbows	Bonnie	MGM
1930	Min and Bill	Min Divot, Innkeeper	Won-Academy Award for Best Actress MGM
1931	Jackie Cooper's Birthday Party	Herself
1931	Politics	Hattie Burns	MGM
1931	Reducing	Marie Truffle	MGM
1932	Prosperity	Maggie Warren	MGM
1932	Emma	Emma Thatcher Smith	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress MGM
1933	Going Hollywood	Herself, Premiere Clip	MGM
1933	Dinner at Eight	Carlotta Vance	MGM
1933	Tugboat Annie	Annie Brennan	MGM
1933	Broadway to Hollywood		MGM
1933	Christopher Bean	Abby	final film before her death MGM
1976	That's Entertainment, Part II		MGM
1979	Ken Murray Shooting Stars		Ken Murray Productions

Quotes

• "If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics?"
• "You're only as good as your last picture"

See also

• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees
• Other Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood

Bibliography

• Bradley, Edwin M. (2009).The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926–1931.McFarland.ISBN978-0-7864-4319-2.
• Bradley, Edwin M. (2004).The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 through 1932.McFarland.ISBN978-0-7864-2029-2.
• Kennedy, Matthew (1999).Marie Dressler: A Biography, With a Listing of Major Stage Performances, a Filmography And a Discography.McFarland.ISBN0-7864-0520-1.
• Silverman, Steven M. (1999).Funny Ladies.Harry N. Abrams, Inc.ISBN0-8109-3337-3.
• IBDB for Marie Dressler
• Lee, Betty (1997).Marie Dressler: The Unlikeliest Star.Le xing ton, Ky.:University Press of Kentucky.ISBN978-0-8131-4571-6.(subscription required)
• Rapf, Joanna E. (2010). "Marie Dressler Thief of the Talkies".Idols of Modernity: Movie Stars of the 1920s.New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. pp. 250, 250–268, 257, 261, 264.ISBN978-0-8135-4929-3.(subscription required)
• Sturtevant, Victoria (October 2010).A Great Big Girl Like Me: The Films of Marie Dressler.Urbana, Il.:University of Illinois Press.ISBN978-0-252-09262-6.(subscription required)
• Wagner, Kristen Anderson (March 5, 2018).Comic Venus: Women and Comedy in American Silent Film.Detroit. MI: Wayne State University Press.ISBN978-0-8143-4103-2.(subscription required)

External links

• Marie DressleratIMDb
• Marie Dressler Museum
• Marie Dressler Foundation
• InterviewinVanity Fair,October 11, 1902
• Marie Dresslerat Women Film Pioneers Project
• Marie Dresslerat theInternet Broadway Database
• Cylinder recordingsatCylinder Audio Archive,University of California Library

Images

• 1922 passport photo
• Ephemeraat Virtual History
• Marie Dressler sneezing, c.1900
• EphemeraatNew York Public Library
• 1908 portraitatWashington University Libraries(archived)
• 1911 still fromTillie's Nightmareat Washington University Libraries (archived)
• 1917 still fromTillie the Scrub Ladyat Washington University Libraries (archived)