| |
|
 |
|
 1895 - 1990 (95 years)
-
| Name |
Jean PAIGE |
| Born |
3 Jul 1895 |
Paris, Illinois, USA  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Died |
15 Dec 1990 |
Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Person ID |
I16173 |
Young Kent Ancestors |
| Last Modified |
11 May 2018 |
| Family |
Albert Edward SMITH, b. 4 Jun 1874, Faversham, Kent, England , d. 1 Aug 1958, Hollywood, California, U.S.A. (Age 84 years) |
| Married |
14 Dec 1920 |
California, USA |
| Divorced |
Yes, date unknown |
| Notes |
|
| Children |
|
| Last Modified |
20 Mar 2022 |
| Family ID |
F4940 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
-
| Notes |
- Silent film star
Paige was born in Paris, Illinois and raised on her father's farm there. She developed a love for horses while living there.
Paige made twenty-one films in a career which began in 1917 and concluded in 1924. Her films include Blind Man's Holiday (1917), The Darkest Hour (1919), The Birth of a Soul (1920), Black Beauty (1921), The Prodigal Judge (1922), Captain Blood (1924), and Daring Hearts (1919). She came to prominence in a Vitagraph film called Too Many Crooks (1919). As Charlotte Brown she made a star part out of a bit part. Jean never appeared on stage and had no experience in movies prior to becoming a Vitagraph leading woman. Her first screen appearance came in O.Henry features on two reels. Her role in Too Many Crooks led Vitagraph president Albert E. Smith to elevate her position at the film studio. Eventually she married Smith.
She died in Los Angeles, California in 1990.
Selected filmography
The Count and the Wedding Guest (1918)
Schools and Schools (1918)
The Fortune Hunter (1920)
Black Beauty (1921)
References
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin Daily Tribune, Jean Paige, Monday, June 6, 1921, Page 13.
Woodland, California Daily Democrat, Jean Paige, Wednesday, May 18, 1921, Page 5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actress Jean Paige was known as Lucile O’Hair to her Edgar County fans
BY:
NANCY ZEMAN
nzeman@prairiepress.net
Long before Paris and Edgar County could lay claim to Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, Paris was known as the birthplace for a silent film leading lady whose society wedding at the family farm made news around the world.
Lucile Beatrice O’Hair — later known as Jean Paige — was born July 3, 1895, and raised on the family farm located 10 miles southwest of Paris, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wigfall S. O’Hair. According to her biography, Paige was “a brunette silent screen leading lady” with Vitagraph from 1917 until 1924. Paige, her biographers wrote, “had a strict religious upbringing and was trained for acting at Kings School of Oratory, Elocution and Dramatic Culture in Pittsburgh.”
She had appeared in several minor roles in silent film before coming to prominence in “Too Many Crooks” in 1919.
“As Charlotte Brown, she made a star part out of a bit part,” her biographers wrote. While her acting was praised by Albert E. Smith, president of Vitagraph, who elevated her to leading lady after “Too Many Crooks,” many in the silent film community argued she was “rather undynamic.”
On Dec. 14, 1920, however, Jean Paige married Smith in a ceremony at the home of her parents.
Smith was considered as one of the pioneers of the movie industry and was one of the founders of Vitagraph in 1898.
In the book “Two Wheels and a Crank,” Smith wrote he became fascinated with motion pictures after dropping a nickel into a big box and “taking a peek,” as he called it. Smith takes ownership to inventing the motion picture projector and helped expand the new medium into a multi-million dollar industry.
The couple was married before “a company of 50 relatives and intimate friends of the bride.” A harpist from Indianapolis played the wedding march and other music prior to the wedding.
“The bride was charming in a simple, white satin gown with real lace trimmings,” a newspaper account said. “Her tulle veil, entraine, was caught to the coiffure with real orange blossoms. Her shower bouquet was orchids and gardenias.”
Following the wedding, the couple, accompanied by friends and business associates, left for New York in Smith’s private rail car. The couple returned to Paris to spend the holidays with the O’Hair family before leaving for California. Smith, the article stated, was planning to build “a magnificent home on a 75-acre knob overlooking the Pacific Ocean.”
Jean Paige graduated from Paris High School in 1915 and after studying in Pittsburgh, earned a contract with the Vitagraph Company. The story indicated the star had recently been cast in a special film project, “Black Beauty,” which was to be released in January, playing opposite of James Morrison of Mattoon.
“She will continue her work in motion pictures at a salary of $1,000 a week,” the article noted.
Smith presented his bride with wedding gifts, including a Cadillac sedan and “an exquisite piece of jewelry set with diamonds.”
“Since her arrival in Paris a week ago, Mrs. Smith’s many friends have had the pleasure of admiring her engagement ring, a square diamond set in platinum, which, it is said, was purchased at a cost of $5,000. The platinum guard is also set with diamonds.”
Smith sold Vitagraph Studios to Warner Brothers in 1925 and with his wife, retired. She never acted in film again.
The couple continued to visit Paris and relatives, traveling by Smith’s private coach, which was set off on a siding in the Paris depot. The elaborate rail car was the talk of the Paris community.
In 1948, Smith was presented an honorary Oscar at the annual ceremony of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood. The inscription on the base of the Oscar reads: “One of the small group of pioneers whose belief in a new medium, and whose contributions to its development, blazed the trail along which the motion picture has progressed, in their lifetime, from obscurity to world-wide acclaim.”
His book, “Two Reels and a Crank,” his dedicated to Lucile, his wife’s given name. Smith died in 1958. Lucile died in 1990 in Los Angeles.
[Source: https://www.prairiepress.net/history/paris%E2%80%99-silent-film-starlet]
|
|
|
|
