Editing Irving Thalberg (section)

==== Marie Dressler ====
Thalberg also realized that old stars few had heard of could be made into new ones. [[Marie Dressler]], a fifty-nine-year-old early [[vaudeville]] and movie star, who had played the top-billed lead, above [[Charles Chaplin]] and [[Mabel Normand]]), in the first feature-length comedy, ''[[Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914 film)|Tillie's Punctured Romance]]'' (1914), was unable to get any roles in films after leaving show business for some years, finally working as a maid. MGM screenwriter [[Frances Marion]] suggested to Thalberg that she might fit well in a starring role for a new film, and was surprised that he knew of her prior successes. Thalberg approved of using her without a screen test and offered his rationale:
{{blockquote|My theory is that anybody who once hits the bull's-eye—it doesn't matter in what profession—has the brains and stamina to stage a comeback. So I figure that a woman who held the spotlight for so many years has been the victim of bad writing—and probably a lot of bad advice.<ref name=Vieira-1 />{{rp|72}}}}

By 1932, shortly before she died, Dressler was the country's number one box office star.