Amabel Ethelreid Normand was an American silent-film actress, screenwriter, director, and producer. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in his Keystone Studios films, and at the height of her career in the late 1910s and early 1920s had her own movie studio and production company. Onscreen, she appeared in 12 successful films with Charlie Chaplin and 17 with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, sometimes writing and directing movies featuring Chaplin as her leading man. Throughout the 1920s, her name was linked with widely publicized scandals, including the 1922 murder of William Desmond Taylor and the 1924 shooting of Courtland S. Dines, who was shot by Normand's chauffeur using her pistol. She was a suspect in the first crime for a short period, but disregarded from the latter. Her film career declined, and she suffered a recurrence of tuberculosis in 1923, which led to a decline in her health, retirement from films, and her death in 1930 at age 37.
Born: | Amabel Ethelreid Normand, November 10, 1892, New Brighton, Staten Island, New York, U.S. |
Died: | February 23, 1930, Monrovia, California, U.S. |
Resting place: | Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles |
Nationality: | American |
Other names: | Mabel Normand-Cody, Muriel Fortescue |
Occupation: | Actress, director, screenwriter, producer |
Years active: | 1910–1927 |
IMDb: | Mabel Normand's IMDb |
About Mabel Normand
American actress who was also one of the first female writers, directors and producers in the film industry and appeared in Fatty and Mabel Adrift.
Before Fame
She worked as an artist's model before becoming an actress at age sixteen.
Achievement
She was questioned by police in the murder of her lover, director William Desmond Taylor. Later, however, she was ruled out as a suspect.
Family Life
She was married to actor Lew Cody from 1926 until her death in 1930.
Associations
She starred alongside silent film legend Charlie Chaplin in the 1914 film Tillie's Punctured Romance.
Information related to Mabel Normand
- Silent film producers
- American artists' models
- Hal Roach Studios actors
- Silent film comedians
- Silent film directors
- Film producers from California
- American women film producers
- Film directors from New York City