Editing Betty Compson

{{short description|American actress (1897–1974)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{for|the actress who married NYC Mayor Jimmy Walker|Betty Compton}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Betty Compson
| image              = Betty Compson in The Docks of New York (1928 film). Directed by Josef von Sternberg.jpg
| caption            = Publicity photo, 1927
| birth_name         = Eleanor Luicime Compson
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1897|3|19}}
| birth_place        = [[Beaver, Utah]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1974|4|18|1897|3|19}}
| death_place        = [[Glendale, California]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[San Fernando Mission Cemetery]]
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[James Cruze]]|1924|1930|end=divorce}}
* {{marriage|Irving Weinberg|1933|1937|end=divorce}}
* {{marriage|Silvius Jack Gall|1944|1962|end=died}}
}}
| years_active       = 1915–1948
| occupation         = Actress
| signature          = File:Betty Compson signature 1921.png
}}
'''Betty Compson''' (born '''Eleanor Luicime Compson'''; March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974) was an American actress and film producer who got her start during Hollywood's silent era. She is best known for her performances in ''[[The Docks of New York]]'' and ''[[The Barker]]'', the latter of which earned her an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]].

==Early life==
Compson was born on March 19, 1897,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Scott |title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. |date=2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476625997 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=%22Eleanor%20Luicime%20Compson%22&pg=PA150 |access-date=January 10, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> the daughter of Virgil and Mary ({{nee}} Rauscher) Compson,<ref name="oi">{{cite web |last1=Stephenson |first1=William |title=Compson, Betty |url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1802341?rskey=V6Huzo&result=55 |website=Oxford Index |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=January 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110025612/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1802341?rskey=V6Huzo&result=55 |archive-date=January 10, 2018}}</ref> in [[Beaver, Utah]], at a mining camp. Her father was a mining engineer, a gold prospector, and a grocery store proprietor, and her mother was a maid in homes and in a hotel.<ref name="oi" />

Compson graduated from Salt Lake High School.<ref name="bd">{{cite book |last1=Katchmer |first1=George A. |title=A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses |date=2009 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476609058 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnGeCQAAQBAJ&q=%22Betty%20Compson%22%20actress&pg=PA69 |access-date=January 10, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Her father died when she was young, and she obtained employment as a violinist at 16 at a theater in Salt Lake City.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/betty-compson/ |title=Betty Compson |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=April 24, 2016}}</ref>

==Career==
Playing in [[vaudeville]] sketches with touring circuits, Compson was noticed by Hollywood producers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.goldensilents.com/stars/bettycompson.html |title=© Betty Compson, Silent and Sound Movie Star - goldensilents.com |website=www.goldensilents.com |access-date=April 24, 2016}}</ref> While touring, she was discovered by comedic producer [[Al Christie]] and signed a contract with him.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wagner |first1=Kristen Anderson |title=Comic Venus: Women and Comedy in American Silent Film |date=2018 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=9780814341032 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUo9DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Eleanor%20Luicime%20Compson%22&pg=PT312 |access-date=January 10, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Her first silent film, ''Wanted, a Leading Lady'', was in November 1915.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bits of News for Movie Fans |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16410566/betty_compson/ |work=Star Tribune |date=November 7, 1915 |location=Minnesota, Minneapolis |page=35 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=January 9, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>

She made 25 films in 1916 alone, although all of them were shorts for Christie with the exception of one feature, ''Almost a Widow''.<ref name="silentfilm.org">Muller, Eddie. 2012. San Francisco Silent Film Festival: ''The Docks of New York'' Retrieved April 28, 2018. http://www.silentfilm.org/archive/the-docks-of-new-york</ref> She continued this pace of making numerous short films well into the middle of 1918 when after a long apprenticeship with Christie, she started making features exclusively. Compson's star began to rise with the release of the 1919 feature ''[[The Miracle Man (1919 film)|The Miracle Man]]'' (1919) for [[George Loane Tucker]]. Paramount signed Compson to a five-year contract with the help of Tucker.
[[File:Betty Compson 1.JPG|left|thumb|upright|Compson in ''Photoplay'' (July 1920)]]
Her popularity allowed her to establish her own production company, which provided her creative control over screenplays and financing.<ref name="silentfilm.org"/> Her first movie as producer was ''[[Prisoners of Love (1921 film)|Prisoners of Love]]'' (1921). She played the role of Blanche Davis, a girl born to wealth and cursed by her inheritance of physical beauty. Compson selected [[Arthur Rosson|Art Rosson]] to direct the feature. The story was chosen from a work by actress and writer Catherine Henry.

After completing ''[[The Woman With Four Faces]]'' (1923), Paramount refused to offer her a raise (her salary was $2,500 per week), and she refused to sign without one. Instead, she signed with a motion picture company in London. There she starred in a series of four films directed by [[Graham Cutts]], a well-known English filmmaker.

The first of these was a movie version of an English play called ''[[Woman to Woman (1923 film)|Woman to Woman]]'' (1923), the screenplay for which was co-written by Cutts and [[Alfred Hitchcock]]. Part of ''[[The White Shadow (film)|The White Shadow]]'' (in which she played a dual role), another Cutts/Hitchcock collaboration. ''Woman to Woman'' proved to be popular enough for [[Jesse Lasky]] to offer top dollar to return to Paramount.
[[File:The Barker (SAYRE 14177).jpg|thumb|right|262px|Betty Compson and [[Milton Sills]] in ''[[The Barker]]'' (1928)]]
Back in Hollywood, she starred in ''[[The Enemy Sex]]'', directed by [[James Cruze]], as well as the sound film ''[[The Great Gabbo]]'' in 1929, with [[Eric von Stroheim]]--his first sound picture. Compson and Cruze were married in 1925; they divorced in 1929.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neste |first1=Dan Van |title=The Magnificent Heel: The Life and Films of Ricardo Cortez |date=2017 |publisher=BearManor Media |page=229 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nM5ADwAAQBAJ&q=%22Betty%20Compson%22%20actress&pg=PA229 |access-date=January 10, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Her contract with Paramount was not renewed, and she decided to freelance, working with lower-budget studios such as [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]] in ''[[The Belle of Broadway]]'' and Chadwick in ''[[The Ladybird (film)|The Ladybird]]''. During this time, she was suggested as a replacement for difficult Greta Garbo in the MGM feature ''[[Flesh and the Devil]]'' opposite John Gilbert. She eventually worked for the studio with former ''The Miracle Man'' co-star [[Lon Chaney]] in ''[[The Big City (1928 film)|The Big City]]''.

In 1928, she appeared in a [[First National Pictures]] part-talkie, ''[[The Barker]]''. Her performance as manipulative carnival girl Carrie garnered her a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]],<ref>{{cite web |title=("Betty Compson" search results) |url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/search/results |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=January 10, 2018}}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> although she lost to [[Mary Pickford]] in ''[[Coquette (film)|Coquette]]''. In ''Court-Martial'', a 1928 silent film, she became the first actress to portray Old West outlaw [[Belle Starr]] on film. In the same year, she appeared in the acclaimed [[Josef von Sternberg]] film ''[[The Docks of New York]]'' in a sympathetic portrayal of a suicidal prostitute.

These films caused Compson's popularity to re-emerge, and she became a busy actress in the new talking cinema. In fact, Chaney offered her the female lead in his first talkie ''[[The Unholy Three (1930 film)|The Unholy Three]]'', but she was too busy and instead suggested friend Lila Lee. Unlike a number of other female stars of silent film, it was felt that her voice recorded exceptionally well. Although she was not a singer, she appeared in a number of early musicals in which her singing voice was dubbed.

===Later career===
[[File:Betty Compson on the cover of the 1922 March Motion Picture Classic magazine--Cover artist, Edward Mason Eggleston.jpg|thumb| Betty Compson on the cover of the 1922 March ''Motion Picture Classic'' magazine. Cover artist, Benjamin Eggleston (1867-1937).<ref>{{cite book |last=Platnick |first=Norman I. |date=February 2017 |title=Lady of Mystery: A Collector's Guide to Edward Eggleston version 3.5 |url=https://enchantmentink.com/edward.php |page=5 |quote=those Motion Picture Classic covers, published from at least July 1921 through August 1922, were actually done by Benjamin Eggleston...}}</ref>]]
Now divorced from Cruze, Compson's career continued to flourish, starring in nine films in 1930 alone. However, her last hit proved to be in ''[[The Spoilers (1930 film)|The Spoilers]]'', alongside [[Gary Cooper]]. 

At a time when silent-era stars with faltering careers chose to retire from the screen rather than face defeat, Betty Compson kept working. She was content to play character parts in major-studio films, as well as leads in lower-budgeted, independent productions. One major film that might have scored a decisive comeback was ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939); she shot a [[Technicolor]] screen test for the role of Belle Watling, but lost the role to [[Ona Munson]]. Compson played a small role in an [[Alfred Hitchcock]] film, ''[[Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941 film)|Mr. & Mrs. Smith]]''.

That same year Compson took the lead in her least prestigious credit, ''[[Escort Girl (film)|Escort Girl]]'', a very-low-budget [[exploitation film]] about sordid partners (Compson and fellow silent-screen veteran [[Wheeler Oakman]]) operating a shady escort agency. She played the role in grand, soap-opera-queen manner, and may have accepted the role for some fast cash, reasoning that mainstream audiences would never see the picture. Only one trade paper deigned to review it: ''The Exhibitor'' rated it a "sexer for houses which can play this type of show. This one is plenty lurid. However, all the cast work hard and earnestly in their roles."<ref>''The Exhibitor'', Nov. 26, 1941, p. 900.</ref> As it happened, ''Escort Girl'' actually helped both Compson and Oakman by letting the film community know they were still active, and extending their careers into the late 1940s.

She became a familiar face at [[Monogram Pictures]], where she worked with [[Bela Lugosi]], [[Jean Parker]], [[Grace Hayes]], and [[The Bowery Boys]]. Compson's last film was the 1948 [[Hal Roach]] comedy ''[[Here Comes Trouble (1948 film)|Here Comes Trouble]]'', filmed in [[Cinecolor]]. After retiring from the screen, she began a cosmetic line and helped her husband run a business called Ashtrays Unlimited.

==Personal life==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
After her marriage with Cruze ended, Compson married two more times. Her marriage to agent/producer Irving Weinberg ended in divorce, and her marriage to Silvius Gall ended with Gall's death in 1962. She had no children.

==Death==
Compson died April 18, 1974, of a heart attack at her home in Glendale, California, aged 77. She was interred in [[San Fernando Mission Cemetery]] in San Fernando, California.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ellenberger |first1=Allan R. |title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory |date=2001 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786450190 |page=195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZraJCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Eleanor%20Luicime%20Compson%22&pg=PA195 |access-date=January 10, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Compson has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 1751 Vine Street.<ref>[http://www.walkoffame.com/betty-compson Hollywood Walk of Fame]; Retrieved January 19, 2017</ref>

==Filmography==
For main film selections see ''[[Betty Compson filmography]]''.

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Film}}
* [[List of actors with Academy Award nominations]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* [[Los Angeles Times]], ''Betty Compson Has Film Unit'', February 15, 1920, Page III1.
* Los Angeles Times, ''Betty Compson Star'', January 2, 1921, Page III20.
* Los Angeles Times, ''Flashes; Star To Travel Betty Compson Signs For London Films'', April 5, 1923, Page II7.
* Los Angeles Times, ''Ex-Film Star Betty Compson'', April 23, 1974, Page A4.
* [[Ogden, Utah]] Standard-Examiner, ''Closeup and Comedy'', Monday Evening, May 25, 1934, Page 7.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Betty Compson}}
* {{IMDb name|0173993}}
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=1806 Photographs of Betty Compson]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/puzzlemaster/5542750895/in/pool-vintage_photos_wild_women_by_nyctreeman%7Cpuzzlemaster/ 1923 passport photo](flickr.com)
* [http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/betty-compson-hard-boiled-mahoney-111189640 Compson] as she appeared in 1947's ''Hard Boiled Mahoney''

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Compson, Betty}}
[[Category:Actresses from Utah]]
[[Category:American silent film actresses]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:People from Beaver, Utah]]
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]