Editing Richard Barthelmess (section)

==Career==
Russian actress [[Alla Nazimova]], a friend of the family, was taught English by Caroline Barthelmess.<ref>''A Pictorial History of the Silent Screen'' by Daniel Blum, ca. 1953, p. 111.</ref> Nazimova convinced Richard Barthelmess to try acting professionally,{{Citation needed |date=February 2024}} and he made his debut screen appearance in 1916 in the serial ''[[Gloria's Romance]]'' as an uncredited extra. He also appeared as a supporting player in several films starring [[Marguerite Clark]].
 
[[File:Barth07.jpg|thumb|190px|right|With [[Lillian Gish]] in the 1920 release ''[[Way Down East]]'']]
His next role, in ''War Brides'' opposite Nazimova, attracted the attention of director [[David Wark Griffith|D.W. Griffith]], who offered him several important roles, finally casting him opposite [[Lillian Gish]] in ''[[Broken Blossoms]]'' (1919) and ''[[Way Down East]]'' (1920). He founded his own production company, Inspiration Film Company, together with Charles Duell and [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]]. One of their films, ''[[Tol'able David]]'' (1921), in which Barthelmess starred as a teenage mailman who finds courage, was a major success. In 1922, ''[[Photoplay]]'' described him as the "idol of every girl in America."<ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Shadow Stage |url=https://archive.org/stream/phojun22chic#page/n197/mode/2up |journal=[[Photoplay]] |location=New York |publisher=Photoplay Publishing Company |date=February 1922 |access-date=September 3, 2015 }}</ref>

[[File:Richard Barthelmess - Mar 1922 Silverscreen.jpg|thumb|160px|right|upright|''Silverscreen'' magazine, 1922]]
Barthelmess had a large female following during the 1920s. An admirer wrote to the editor of ''Picture-Play Magazine'' in 1921:<blockquote>Different fans have different opinions, and although [[Wallace Reid]], [[Thomas Meighan]], and [[Niles Welch]] are mighty fine chaps, I think that Richard Barthelmess beats them all. Dick is getting more and more popular every day, and why? Because his wonderful black hair and soulful eyes are enough to make any young girl adore him. The first play I saw Dick in was ''Boots''—[[Dorothy Gish]] playing the lead. This play impressed me so that I went to see every play in which he appeared—''[[Three Men and a Girl]],'' ''[[Scarlet Days]],'' ''[[The Love Flower]],'' and ''[[Broken Blossoms]],'' in which I decided that Dick was my favorite. I am looking forward to ''[[Way Down East]]'' as being a great success, because I know Dick will play a good part.<ref>G. C. (1921). [https://archive.org/stream/pictureplaymagaz14unse#page/n127/mode/2up "What the Fans Think"] ''Picture-Play Magazine''</ref></blockquote>

Barthelmess soon became one of Hollywood's higher paid performers,{{Citation needed |date=May 2024}} starring in such classics as ''[[The Patent Leather Kid]]'' in 1927 and ''[[The Noose (film)|The Noose]]'' in 1928; he was nominated for Best Actor at the first [[Academy Awards]] for his performance in both films. In addition, he won a special citation for producing ''[[The Patent Leather Kid]]''.

With the advent of the sound era, Barthelmess remained a star for a number of years. He played numerous leads in talkie films, most notably ''[[Son of the Gods]]'' (1930), ''[[The Dawn Patrol (1930 film)|The Dawn Patrol]]'' (1930), ''[[The Last Flight (1931 film)|The Last Flight]]'' (1931), ''[[The Cabin in the Cotton]]'' (1932) and ''[[Heroes for Sale (film)|Heroes for Sale]]'' (1933). He was able to choose his own material and often played in controversial or socially conscious films.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Berumen|first=Frank Javier Garcia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pkK9DwAAQBAJ&q=richard+barthelmess+warner+bros+1935&pg=PT83|title=American Indian Image Makers of Hollywood|date=2019-11-20|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-7813-9|language=en}}</ref> However, his popularity began to wane in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/richard-barthelmess-p4323|title=Richard Barthelmess &#124; Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos}}</ref>  He became too old for the boyish leads he usually played.  In his later films (between 1939 and his retirement in 1942), he turned towards [[Character actor|character roles]] – most notably, his supporting role as the disgraced pilot and husband of [[Rita Hayworth]]'s character in ''[[Only Angels Have Wings]]'' (1939).

===Post-acting career===
Barthelmess failed to maintain the stardom of his silent film days and gradually left entertainment. He enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II, and served as a lieutenant commander, stationed at [[Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard]]. He never returned to film, preferring to live off his real estate investments.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Menefee|first=David W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9QJWDwAAQBAJ&q=richard+barthelmess+retirement&pg=PA1888|title=The First Male Stars: Men of the Silent Era|date=2007-10-20|publisher=BearManor Media|language=en}}</ref>