# Mae Marsh

Mae Marsh (born Mary Warne Marsh; November 9, 1894 – February 13, 1968) was an American film actress whose career spanned over 50 years.

## Early life

Mae Marsh was born Mary Warne Marsh in Madrid, New Mexico Territory, on November 9, 1894. She was one of seven children of Mae T. (née Warne) and Stephen Charles Marsh. By 1900, the Marsh family had moved to El Paso, Texas, where Mary's father worked as a bartender. Mae's father died in 1901, and the following year, her mother married William Hall, a native of Virginia. The family later moved to California, where Mae attended Convent of the Sacred Heart School in Hollywood as well as public school.
A frequently told story of Marsh's childhood is "Her father, a railroad auditor, died when she was four. Her family moved to San Francisco, California, where her stepfather was killed in the great earthquake of 1906. Her great-aunt then took Mae and [her older sister] Marguerite to Los Angeles, hoping her show business background would open doors for jobs at various movie studios needing extras."$^{:113}$ However, her father, S. Charles Marsh, was a bartender, not a railroad auditor, and he was alive at least as late as June 1900, when Marsh was nearly six. Her stepfather, oil-field inspector William Hall, could not have been killed in the 1906 earthquake, as he was alive, listed in the 1910 census, living with her mother and sisters.
Marsh worked as a salesgirl and loitered around the Hollywood sets and locations while her older sister worked on a film, observing the progress of her sister's performance. She first started as an extra in various movies, and played her first substantial role in the film Ramona (1910) at the age of 15.
“I tagged my way into motion pictures,” Marsh recalled in The Silent Picture. “I used to follow my sister Marguerite to the old Biograph studio and then, one great day, Mr. Griffith noticed me, put me in a picture and I had my chance. I love my work and though new and very wonderful interests have entered my life, I still love it and couldn't think of giving it up.”$^{:114}$

## Career rise

Marsh worked with D. W. Griffith in small roles at Biograph when they were filming in California and in New York. Her big break came when Mary Pickford, resident star of the Biograph lot and a married woman at that time, refused to play the bare-legged, grass-skirted role of Lily-White in Man's Genesis. Griffith announced that if Pickford would not play that part in Man's Genesis, she would not play the coveted title role in his next film, The Sands of Dee. The other actresses stood behind Pickford, each refusing in turn to play the part, citing the same objection.
Years later, Marsh recalled in an interview in The Silent Picture: “...and he called rehearsal, and we were all there and he said, ‘Well now, Miss Marsh, you can rehearse this.’ And Mary Pickford said ‘What!’ and Mr. Griffith said ‘Yes, Mary Pickford, if you don't do what I tell you I want you to do, I'm going to have someone else do The Sands of Dee. Mary Pickford didn't play Man's Genesis so Mae can play The Sands of Dee.’ Of course, I was thrilled, and she was very much hurt. And I thought, ‘Well it's all right with me. That is something.’ I was, you know, just a lamebrain.”$^{:117}$
Working with Mack Sennett and D. W. Griffith, she was a prolific actress, sometimes appearing in eight movies per year and often paired with fellow Sennett protégé Robert Harron in romantic roles.

### The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Marsh, in the memoir Screen Acting (1921), recalled her performance as “ Little Sister” in the “cellar scene” in which Union cavalry invade the Cameron family plantation in The Birth of a Nation, an example of her “counter-dramatic” acting:
   It was a matter of some moment of how [my character] the Little Sister would be affected. I can hear your average director: “Roll your eyes” he would say, “Cry! Drop to your knees in terror!” In other words, it would be the same old stuff...
   Mr. Griffith, when he came to the cellar scene, asked me if there had been a time in my life when I had been filled with terror:
   “Yes,” I said.
   “What did you do?” he inquired.
   “I laughed,” I answered.
   He saw the point immediately. “Good” he said, “let’s try it.”
   It was the hysterical laugh of the little girl in the cellar...that was far more effective than rolling the eyes or weeping would have been.”

### Intolerance (1916)

D. W. Griffith's cinematic handling of the courtroom episode in Intolerance, in particular his use of close-ups for “dramatic intensity,” are widely recognized. According to film historian Paul O’Dell, “Mae Marsh gave to Intolerance one of her most memorable” portrayals, identifying her role as the “Dear One” as integral to the film's success:
   Much more mention should be made of the performance of Mae Marsh, which in this scene reaches one of its many peaks. Sir Alexander Korda included her performance as one of the most outstanding pieces of acting in the silent film era, and June Berry rated her playing of the Dear One as only second to Falconetti’s Joan of Arc (1928).
Mae Marsh, in her 1923 memoir Screen Acting, comments on her struggle to fully deliver the sequence: “The hardest dramatic work I ever did was the courtroom scene in Intolerance. We retook the scenes on four different occasions. Each time I gave to the limit of my vitality and ability. I put everything into my portrayal that was in me...”
Marsh signed a lucrative contract with Samuel Goldwyn worth $2,500 per week after Intolerance, but none of the films she made with him were particularly successful. After her marriage to Lee Arms, a publicity agent for Goldwyn, in 1918, her film output decreased to about one per year.
She starred in the 1918 film Fields of Honor. Marsh's last notable starring role was as a flapper for Griffith in The White Rose (1923) with Ivor Novello and Carol Dempster. She re-teamed with Novello for the film version of his hit stage play The Rat (1925).
In 1955, Marsh was awarded the George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.

## Sound films

Marsh returned from retirement to appear in sound films and played a role in Henry King’s remake of Over the Hill (1931). She gravitated toward character roles, and worked in this manner for the next several decades. Marsh appeared in numerous popular films, such as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1932) and Little Man, What Now? (1934). She was co-starred with Henry B. Walthall again in Bachelor of Arts (1934). She also became a favorite of director John Ford, appearing in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), 3 Godfathers (1948), and The Searchers (1956).
Marsh has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 1600 Vine Street.

## Personal life and death

Marsh married Louis Lee Arms, Samuel Goldwyn's publicity agent, in Manhattan on September 21, 1918. The couple, who had four children, remained together for 50 years, until 1968, when Mae died from a heart attack at Hermosa Beach, California. Louis died at the age of 101 on June 11, 1989. They are buried together in Section 5 at Pacific Crest Cemetery in Redondo Beach, California.

## Filmography
### Shorts

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1910 | Ramona | | |
| 1910 | Serious Sixteen | | |
| 1911 | Fighting Blood | | |
| 1912 | The Siren of Impulse | | |
| 1912 | A Voice from the Deep | On Beach | Uncredited Lost film |
| 1912 | Just Like a Woman | In Club | |
| 1912 | One Is Business, the Other Crime | | |
| 1912 | The Lesser Evil | The Young Woman's Companion | |
| 1912 | The Old Actor | | |
| 1912 | When Kings Were the Law | At Court | Uncredited |
| 1912 | A Beast at Bay | The Young Woman's Friend | |
| 1912 | Home Folks | At Barn Dance | |
| 1912 | A Temporary Truce | A Murdered Settler | Uncredited |
| 1912 | Lena and the Geese | The 'Adopted' Daughter | |
| 1912 | The Spirit Awakened | The Renegade Farmhand's Sweetheart | Lost film |
| 1912 | The School Teacher and the Waif | Schoolgirl | |
| 1912 | An Indian Summer | The Widow's Daughter | Lost film |
| 1912 | Man's Genesis | Lillywhite | |
| 1912 | The Sands of Dee | Mary | |
| 1912 | The Inner Circle | | |
| 1912 | The Kentucky Girl | Belle Hopkins - Bob's Sister | Lost film |
| 1912 | The Parasite | Rose Fletcher | Lost film |
| 1912 | Two Daughters of Eve | | |
| 1912 | For the Honor of the Seventh | The Girl in Town | Lost film |
| 1912 | Brutality | The Young Woman | |
| 1912 | The New York Hat | Second Gossip | |
| 1912 | The Indian Uprising at Santa Fe | Juan | Lost film |
| 1913 | Three Friends | The Wife's Friend | Lost film |
| 1913 | The Telephone Girl and the Lady | The Telephone Girl | |
| 1913 | An Adventure in the Autumn Woods | The Girl | Lost film |
| 1913 | The Tender Hearted Boy | The Tender-Hearted Boy's Sweetheart | Lost film |
| 1913 | Love in an Apartment Hotel | Angelina Millingford, a Maid | Lost film |
| 1913 | Broken Ways | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1913 | A Girl’s Stratagem | The Young Woman | Lost film |
| 1913 | Near to Earth | One of Marie's Friends | Lost film |
| 1913 | Fate | Mother, Loving Family | |
| 1913 | The Perfidy of Mary | Mary | |
| 1913 | The Little Tease | The Little Tease, as an Adult | |
| 1913 | The Lady and the Mouse | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1913 | The Wanderer | The Other Parents' Daughter, as an Adult | |
| 1913 | His Mother's Son | The Daughter | |
| 1913 | A Timely Interception | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1913 | The Mothering Heart | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1913 | Her Mother's Oath | In Church | Lost film |
| 1913 | The Reformers | The Daughter | Lost film |
| 1913 | Two Men of the Desert | | Lost film |
| 1913 | Primitive Man | | |
| 1913 | For the Son of the House | The Young Woman | Lost film |
| 1913 | Influence of the Unknown | The Young Woman | Lost film |
| 1913 | The Battle at Elderbush Gulch | Sally Cameron | |
| 1914 | Brute Force | Lillywhite | |
| 1915 | The Victim | Mary Hastings, Frank's Wife | Lost film |
| 1915 | Big Jim's Heart | Lost film |

### Silent features

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1914 | Judith of Bethulia | Naomi | |
| 1914 | The Great Leap; Until Death Do Us Part | Mary Gibbs | Lost film |
| 1914 | Home, Sweet Home | Apple Pie Mary Smith | |
| 1914 | The Escape | Jennie Joyce | Lost film |
| 1914 | The Avenging Conscience | The Maid | |
| 1914 | Moonshine Molly | Molly Boone | Lost film |
| 1915 | The Birth of a Nation | Flora Cameron - The Pet Sister | |
| 1915 | The Outcast | The Girl of the Slums | |
| 1915 | The Outlaw's Revenge | The American lover | Lost film |
| 1915 | Her Shattered Idol | Mae Carter | |
| 1916 | Hoodoo Ann | Hoodoo Ann | |
| 1916 | A Child of the Paris Streets | Julie / the Child-Wife | |
| 1916 | A Child of the Streets | | Lost film |
| 1916 | The Wild Girl of the Sierras | The Wild Girl | Lost film |
| 1916 | The Marriage of Molly-O | Molly-O | Lost film |
| 1916 | Intolerance | The Dear One | |
| 1916 | The Little Liar | Maggie | Lost film |
| 1916 | The Wharf Rat | Carmen Wagner | Lost film |
| 1917 | Polly of the Circus | Polly | |
| 1917 | Sunshine Alley | Nell | Lost film |
| 1917 | The Cinderella Man | Marjorie Caner | |
| 1918 | Field of Honor | Marie Messereau | Lost film |
| 1918 | The Beloved Traitor | Mary Garland | |
| 1918 | The Face in the Dark | Jane Ridgeway | Lost film |
| 1918 | All Woman | Susan Sweeney | Lost film |
| 1918 | The Glorious Adventure | Carey Wethersbee | Lost film |
| 1918 | Money Mad | Elsie Dean | Lost film |
| 1918 | Hidden Fires | Peggy Murray / Louise Parke | Lost film |
| 1918 | The Racing Strain | Lucille Cameron | Lost film |
| 1919 | The Bondage of Barbara | Barbara Grey | Lost film |
| 1919 | Spotlight Sadie | Sadie Sullivan | Lost film |
| 1919 | The Mother and the Law | The Little Dear One | |
| 1920 | The Little 'Fraid Lady | Cecilia Carne | Lost film |
| 1921 | Nobody's Kid | Mary Cary | Lost film |
| 1922 | Till We Meet Again | Marion Bates | Lost film |
| 1922 | Flames of Passion | Dorothy Hawke | |
| 1923 | Paddy the Next Best Thing | Paddy | Lost film |
| 1923 | The White Rose | Bessie 'Teazie' Williams | |
| 1924 | Daddies | Ruth Atkins | |
| 1924 | Arabella | Arabella | Lost film |
| 1925 | Tides of Passion | Charity | Lost film |
| 1925 | The Rat | Odile Etrange | |
| 1928 | Racing Through | | Lost film |

### Sound

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1931 | Over the Hill | Ma Shelby | |
| 1932 | Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm | Aunt Jane | |
| 1932 | That's My Boy | Mom Scott | |
| 1933 | Alice in Wonderland | Sheep | |
| 1934 | Little Man, What Now? | Wife of Karl Goebbler | |
| 1935 | Bachelor of Arts | Mrs. Mary Barth | |
| 1935 | Black Fury | Mrs. Mary Novak | |
| 1936 | Hollywood Boulevard | Carlotta Blakeford | |
| 1939 | Drums Along the Mohawk | Pioneer Woman | Uncredited |
| 1939 | Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence | Empire State Building Tourist | Uncredited |
| 1939 | Swanee River | Mrs. Jonathan Fry | Uncredited |
| 1940 | The Man Who Wouldn't Talk | Mrs. Stetson | |
| 1940 | The Grapes of Wrath | Muley's Wife | Uncredited |
| 1940 | Four Sons | Townswoman | Uncredited |
| 1940 | Young People | Maria Liggett | |
| 1941 | Tobacco Road | County Clerk's Assistant | Uncredited |
| 1941 | The Cowboy and the Blonde | Office Worker | Uncredited |
| 1941 | For Beauty's Sake | Night Manager | Uncredited |
| 1941 | Belle Starr | Preacher's Wife | Uncredited |
| 1941 | Great Guns | Aunt Martha | |
| 1941 | Swamp Water | Mrs. McCord | Uncredited |
| 1941 | How Green Was My Valley | Miner's Wife | Uncredited |
| 1941 | Remember the Day | Teacher | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Blue, White and Perfect | Mrs. Bertha Toby | |
| 1942 | Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake | Mrs. Purdy | Uncredited |
| 1942 | It Happened in Flatbush | Aunt Mae, Team Co-Owner | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Tales of Manhattan | Molly | Robinson sequence |
| 1942 | Just Off Broadway | Autograph Seeker | Uncredited |
| 1942 | The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe | Mrs. Phillips | Uncredited |
| 1942 | The Man in the Trunk | Mrs. Inge | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Quiet Please, Murder | Miss Hartwig | Uncredited |
| 1943 | The Meanest Man in the World | Old Lady | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Dixie Dugan | Mrs. Sloan | |
| 1943 | The Moon Is Down | Villager | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Tonight We Raid Calais | French Townswoman | Uncredited |
| 1943 | The Song of Bernadette | Madame Blanche - Townswoman | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Jane Eyre | Leah | Uncredited |
| 1944 | The Fighting Sullivans | Neighbor of Mrs. Griffin | Uncredited |
| 1944 | Buffalo Bill | Arcade Customer | Uncredited |
| 1944 | Sweet and Low-Down | Apartment House Tenant | Uncredited |
| 1944 | In the Meantime, Darling | Emma | Uncredited |
| 1945 | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | Tynmore Sister | Uncredited |
| 1945 | State Fair | Ring-Toss Spectator | Uncredited |
| 1945 | The Dolly Sisters | Annie | Uncredited |
| 1945 | Leave Her to Heaven | Fisherwoman | Uncredited |
| 1946 | Johnny Comes Flying Home | Bus Passenger | Uncredited |
| 1946 | Smoky | Woman Watching Parade | Uncredited |
| 1946 | My Darling Clementine | Simpson's Sister | Uncredited |
| 1947 | The Late George Apley | Dressmaker | Uncredited |
| 1947 | Miracle on 34th Street | Woman in Santa Line | Uncredited |
| 1947 | Thunder in the Valley | Flower Vendor | Uncredited |
| 1947 | Mother Wore Tights | Resort Guest | Uncredited |
| 1947 | Daisy Kenyon | Woman Leaving Apartment | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Fort Apache | Mrs. Gates | |
| 1948 | Green Grass of Wyoming | Race Spectator | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Deep Waters | Molly Thatcher | |
| 1948 | The Snake Pit | Tommy's Mother | Uncredited |
| 1948 | 3 Godfathers | Mrs. Perley Sweet | |
| 1949 | A Letter to Three Wives | Miss Jenkins | Uncredited |
| 1949 | Impact | Mrs. King | |
| 1949 | It Happens Every Spring | Greenleaf's Maid | Uncredited |
| 1949 | The Fighting Kentuckian | Sister Hattie | |
| 1949 | Everybody Does It | Higgins - the Borlands' Maid | Uncredited |
| 1950 | When Willie Comes Marching Home | Mrs. Clara Fettles | Uncredited |
| 1950 | The Gunfighter | Mrs. O'Brien | Uncredited |
| 1950 | My Blue Heaven | Maid | Uncredited |
| 1950 | The Jackpot | Mrs. Woodruff in Photo | Uncredited |
| 1951 | The Model and the Marriage Broker | Talkative Patient | Uncredited |
| 1952 | The Quiet Man | Father Paul's Mother | Uncredited |
| 1952 | Night Without Sleep | Maid | Uncredited |
| 1953 | The Sun Shines Bright | G.A.R. Woman at the Ball | |
| 1953 | Titanic | Woman to Whom Norman Gave His Seat | Uncredited |
| 1953 | Powder River | Townswoman | Uncredited |
| 1953 | A Blueprint for Murder | Anna Swenson - Lynne's Housekeeper | Uncredited |
| 1953 | The Robe | Jerusalem Woman Aiding Demetrius | Uncredited |
| 1954 | A Star Is Born | Malibu Party Guest | Uncredited |
| 1955 | Prince of Players | Witch in 'Macbeth' | Uncredited |
| 1955 | The Tall Men | Emigrant | Uncredited |
| 1955 | The Girl Rush | Casino Patron | Uncredited |
| 1955 | Good Morning, Miss Dove | Woman in Bank | Uncredited |
| 1955 | Hell on Frisco Bay | Mrs. Cobb - Steve's Landlady | Uncredited |
| 1956 | While the City Sleeps | Mrs. Manners | |
| 1956 | The Searchers | Dark Cloaked Woman at Fort Guarding Deranged Woman | Uncredited |
| 1956 | Girls in Prison | 'Grandma' Edwards | |
| 1956 | Julie | Hysterical Passenger | |
| 1957 | The Wings of Eagles | Nurse Crumley | Uncredited |
| 1958 | Cry Terror! | Woman in Elevator | Scenes deleted Replaced by Marjorie Bennett |
| 1958 | The Last Hurrah | Mourner at Wake | Uncredited |
| 1960 | Sergeant Rutledge | Mrs. Nellie Hackett | Uncredited |
| 1960 | From the Terrace | Sandy's Governess | Uncredited |
| 1961 | Two Rode Together | Hanna Clegg | Uncredited |
| 1963 | Donovan's Reef | Family Council Member | Uncredited |
| 1964 | Cheyenne Autumn | Woman | Uncredited |