Mary Philbin's life should be a lesson to domineering parents. Mary was born on July 16, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois, to John Philbin and his first wife and namesake, Mary. The child was regarded as a little beauty from an early age and her mother was exceedingly proud of her and loved to show her off. Howevr, unlike her gregarious mother (who many...
Her role in the 1924/5/9/30 silent film version of "The Phantom of the Opera" starring Lon Chaney
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Fact
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She was a very religious person in real life, and after her career ended she never stopped attending the church she was raised in.
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Originally intended to become a stage actress.
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Of Irish lineage from both her parents
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Although she couldn't sing--much to her chagrin--she could play the piano and pipe organ with expertise. In fact, her favorite hobbies were acting, dancing and music (which was her personal favorite).
Studied classical dancing as a young girl before she was discovered.
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WAMPAS Baby Star of 1922.
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According to film historian Scott MacQueen, Mary was engaged in the late 1920s to Paul Kohner, an associate of the Laemmle "crew" and later assistant producer of such Philbin movies as The Man Who Laughs (1928). Mary broke off the engagement at the request of her parents, as she was Irish Catholic and Kohner was a Czech Jew. While he went on to enjoy a successful marriage and career as a Hollywood agent, Mary was out of pictures within a few years. Sadly, she never married and spent much of her life looking after her parents, living with them in a house on Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood that Mary had bought with her film earnings. However, they never forgot each other. Shortly after Paul's death in 1988, workers cleaning out his office at his agency found Mary's love letters close at hand in his desk, more than 60 years later. Similarly, Philbin sobbed at the news of Kohner's death in a 1989 interview.
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