# Mabel Normand

Amabel Ethelreid Normand (November 9, 1893 – February 23, 1930), better known as Mabel Normand, was an American silent film actress, comedienne, director and screenwriter. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in their Keystone Studios films, and at the height of her career in the late 1910s and early 1920s had her own film studio and production company, the Mabel Normand Feature Film Company. On screen, she appeared in twelve successful films with Charlie Chaplin and seventeen with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, sometimes writing and directing (or co-writing and directing) films featuring Chaplin as her leading man.
Normand's name was repeatedly linked with gun violence, including the 1922 murder of her friend, director William Desmond Taylor, and the non-fatal 1924 shooting of Courtland S. Dines by Normand's chauffeur, Joe Kelly. After police interrogation, she was ruled out as a suspect in Taylor's murder. Normand was a very heavy smoker who may have suffered lung cancer, and/or a recurrence of tuberculosis in 1923, which led to a decline in her health, an early retirement from films in 1926 and her death in 1930 at age 36.

## Early life and career

Amabel Ethelreid Normand was born in New Brighton, New York (before it was incorporated into New York City as part of Staten Island) on November 9, 1893. She took her name from her father's only sibling, who had died before her birth in 1892. Normand's mother, Mary "Minnie" Drury, of Providence, Rhode Island, was of Irish heritage; while her father, Clodman "Claude" George Normand, was French Canadian, with his ancestral lineage dating back to Normandy in France and their surname originally being LeNormand or Le Normand.
For a short time at the start of her career, Normand worked for Vitagraph Studios in New York City for $25 per week, but Vitagraph founder Albert E. Smith admitted she was one of several actresses about whom he made a mistake in estimating their "potential for future stardom." Normand's intensely beguiling lead performance in the 1911 dramatic short film Her Awakening, directed by D. W. Griffith, drew her attention and led to her meeting director Mack Sennett while at Griffith's Biograph Company. The two subsequently embarked on a chaotic relationship. Sennett later brought Normand to California when he founded Keystone Studios in 1912.
Normand appeared with Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in many short films. She played a key role in starting Chaplin's film career and acted as his leading lady and mentor in a string of films in 1914, collaborating with him as a director, co-director or co-writer. Chaplin had considerable initial difficulty adjusting to the demands of film acting, and his performance suffered for it. After his first film appearance in Making a Living, Sennett felt he had made a costly mistake. However, Normand persuaded Sennett to give Chaplin another chance, and she and Chaplin appeared together in a dozen subsequent films, almost always as a couple in the lead roles. At the start of 1914, Chaplin first played his Tramp character in Mabel's Strange Predicament, although it wound up being the second Tramp film released; Normand directed Chaplin and herself in the film. Later that year, Normand starred with Chaplin and Marie Dressler in Tillie's Punctured Romance, the first feature-length comedy.
Normand is credited as being the first film star to receive a pie thrown in the face.
Normand opened her own film company in partnership with Sennett in 1916, based in Culver City, California. She lost the company in 1918 when its parent company, Triangle Film Corporation, experienced a massive shakeup which also had Sennett lose Keystone Studios and establish his own independent company. In 1918, as her relationship with Sennett came to an end, Normand signed a $3,500-per-week contract with Samuel Goldwyn. Around that same time, Normand allegedly had a miscarriage (or stillbirth) with Goldwyn's child.

## Scandals
### Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle trials

Arbuckle, Normand's co-star in many films, was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for manslaughter in the 1921 death of actress Virginia Rappe. Although Arbuckle was acquitted, the scandal damaged his career and his films were banned from exhibition for a short time. Since she had made some of her most notable works with him, much of Normand's output was withheld from the public as a result. Arbuckle later returned to the screen as a director and actor, but did not attain his previous popularity despite being exonerated in court.

### William Desmond Taylor murder

Director William Desmond Taylor formed a close relationship with Normand based on their shared interest in books. Author Robert Giroux claims that Taylor was deeply in love with Normand, who had originally approached him for help in dealing with an alleged cocaine dependency, and that Taylor met with federal prosecutors shortly before his death with an offer to assist them in filing charges against her drug dealers, theorizing that this meeting caused the dealers to hire a contract killer. According to Giroux, Normand suspected the reasons for Taylor's murder but did not know the identity of the man who killed him. According to Kevin Brownlow and John Kobal in their book Hollywood: The Pioneers, the idea that Taylor was murdered by drug dealers was invented by Paramount Studios for publicity purposes.
On the night of his murder, February 1, 1922, Normand left Taylor's bungalow at 7:45 pm in a happy mood, carrying a book he had lent her. They blew kisses to each other as her limousine drove away. Normand was the last person known to have seen Taylor alive. The Los Angeles Police Department subjected Normand to a grueling interrogation but ruled her out as a suspect. Most subsequent writers have done the same. However, Normand's career had already slowed, and her reputation was tarnished. According to George Hopkins, who sat next to her at Taylor's funeral, Normand wept inconsolably.

### The Dines shooting

In 1924, Normand's chauffeur Joe Kelly shot and wounded millionaire oil broker and amateur golfer Courtland S. Dines with her pistol. In response, several theaters pulled Normand's films, which were also banned in Ohio by the state film censorship board. However, Dines was not fatally injured; he died of a heart attack in 1945, over two decades after the shooting.

## Later career and death

Normand continued making films and was signed by Hal Roach Studios in 1926 after discussions with director/producer F. Richard Jones, who had directed her at Keystone. At Roach, she made the films Raggedy Rose, The Nickel-Hopper, and One Hour Married (her last film), all co-written by Stan Laurel, and was directed by Leo McCarey in Should Men Walk Home? The films were released with extensive publicity support from the Hollywood community, including her friend Mary Pickford.
In 1926, she married actor Lew Cody, with whom she had appeared in Mickey in 1918. They lived separately in nearby houses in Beverly Hills. Normand's health was in decline due to tuberculosis. After an extended stay in Pottenger Sanitorium, she died from pulmonary tuberculosis on February 23, 1930, in Monrovia, California, at the age of 36. She was interred as Mabel Normand-Cody at Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles. The date of birth listed on her crypt is incorrect. Her mother was buried in the crypt above her crypt.

## Legacy

   “We used to go to the park with a stepladder, a bucket of whitewash, and Mabel Normand, and make a picture.” — Charlie Chaplin, recalling the early days of silent filmmaking.
Normand has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard.
Her film Mabel's Blunder (1914) was added to the National Film Registry in December 2009.
In June 2010, the New Zealand Film Archive reported the discovery of a print of Normand's film Won in a Closet (exhibited in New Zealand under its alternate title Won in a Cupboard), a short comedy previously believed lost. This film is a significant discovery, as Normand directed the film and starred in the lead role, displaying her talents on both sides of the camera.

## Cultural references

* A nod to Normand's celebrity in early Hollywood came through the name of a leading character in the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, "Norma Desmond", which has been cited as a combination of the names Mabel Normand and William Desmond Taylor. The film also frequently mentions Normand by name.
* Normand is mentioned during series 2 episode 1 of Downton Abbey by ambitious housemaid Ethel Parks. Daisy Mason (née Robinson), the kitchen maid, inquires what she is reading and Ethel responds, "Photoplay about Normand. She was nothing when she started, you know. Her father was a carpenter and they'd no money, and now she's a shining film star."
* Singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks wrote a song about the actress titled "Mabel Normand", which appears on her 2014 album 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault.

### Fictional portrayals

The 1974 Broadway musical Mack & Mabel (Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman) fictionalized the romance between Normand and Mack Sennett. Normand was played by Bernadette Peters and Robert Preston portrayed Sennett.
Normand is played by actress Marisa Tomei in the 1992 film Chaplin opposite Robert Downey, Jr. as Charles Chaplin; by Penelope Lagos in the first biopic about Normand's life, a 35-minute dramatic short film entitled Madcap Mabel (2010); and by Morganne Picard in the motion picture Return to Babylon (2013).
In 2014, Normand was played on television by Andrea Deck in series 2, episode 8 of Mr Selfridge and by Kristina Thompson in the short film Mabel's Dressing Room.
The character played by Alice Faye in Hollywood Cavalcade (1939) was reputed to have been based partly on Normand.

## Filmography

Some of her early roles are credited as "Mabel Fortesque".
Key :
| † | Denotes a lost or presumed lost film. |

### Vitagraph

| Year | Film | Role | Director | Co-Star |
| 1910 | Indiscretions of Betty † | | | |
| 1910 | Over the Garden Wall † | | | |
| 1911 | Fate's Turning | A Diner At The Hotel | D. W. Griffith | |
| 1911 | The Diamond Star † | Guest At Dinner Party | | |
| 1911 | A Tale of Two Cities | Uncredited | William J. Humphrey | |
| 1911 | Betty Becomes a Maid † | Betty | | |
| 1911 | Troublesome Secretaries | Betty Harding | Ralph Ince | |
| 1911 | Picciola; or, The Prison Flower † | Theresa Girhardi | | |
| 1911 | His Mother † | Donald's Fiancee | | |
| 1911 | When a Man's Married His Trouble Begins † | Mabel - Jack's Wife | | James Morrison |
| 1911 | A Dead Man's Honor † | Helen | | |
| 1911 | The Changing of Silas Warner † | | | |
| 1911 | Two Overcoats † | | | |
| 1911 | The Subduing of Mrs. Nag † | Miss Prue | George D. Baker | |
| 1911 | The Strategy of Anne † | | George D. Baker | |
| 1911 | The Diving Girl † | The Niece | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace |
| 1911 | How Betty Won the School † | Betty's Rival | | Edith Storey |
| 1911 | The Baron † | The Heiress | Mack Sennett | Dell Henderson |

### Biograph

| Year | Film | Role | Director | Co-Star |
| 1911 | The Squaw's Love | Wild Flower | D. W. Griffith | Alfred Paget |
| 1911 | The Revenue Man and the Girl | | D. W. Griffith | Dorothy West |
| 1911 | Her Awakening | The Daughter | D. W. Griffith | Harry Hyde |
| 1911 | The Making of a Man † | In Second Audience | D. W. Griffith | Dell Henderson |
| 1911 | Italian Blood † | | D. W. Griffith | Charles West |
| 1911 | The Unveiling † | The Showgirl | D. W. Griffith | Robert Harron |
| 1911 | Through His Wife's Picture † | Wifey | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace |
| 1911 | The Inventor's Secret † | | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett |
| 1911 | A Victim of Circumstances † | | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace |
| 1911 | Their First Divorce Case † | Hubby's Chorine Sweetheart Uncredited Unconfirmed | Mack Sennett | |
| 1911 | Why He Gave Up † | The Wife | Henry Lehrman Mack Sennett | Fred Mace |
| 1911 | Saved from Himself | | D. W. Griffith | |
| 1912 | The Joke on the Joker † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | The Engagement Ring † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | The Eternal Mother | Mary | D. W. Griffith | Edwin August Blanche Sweet |
| 1912 | Did Mother Get Her Wish? † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | Pants and Pansies † | | Mack Sennett | Harry McCoy |
| 1912 | The Mender of Nets | | D. W. Griffith | Mary Pickford |
| 1912 | The Fatal Chocolate † | | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett |
| 1912 | Hot Stuff | | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett |
| 1912 | A Voice From The Deep † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | Oh, Those Eyes! † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | Help! Help! † | Mrs. Suburbanite | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace |
| 1912 | The Brave Hunter † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | The Fickle Spaniard | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | The Furs † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | When Kings Were The Law | (Uncredited) | D.W. Griffith | |
| 1912 | Helen's Marriage | Helen | Mack Sennett Dell Henderson | |
| 1912 | Tomboy Bessie | Bessie | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett |
| 1912 | Katchem Kate | | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace Jack Pickford |
| 1912 | Neighbors † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | A Dash Through the Clouds | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | The New Baby † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | The Tourists † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | What The Doctor Ordered † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | An Interrupted Elopement | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | Tragedy of a Dress Suit † | | Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | He Must Have a Wife † | | Mack Sennett | |

### Keystone

| Year | Film | Role | Director | Co-Star | Notes |
| 1912 | Cohen Collects a Debt | | Mack Sennett | Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | The Water Nymph | Diving Venus | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Ford Sterling | Alternative title: The Beach Flirt First Keystone comedy |
| 1912 | The New Neighbor † | | Mack Sennett | | |
| 1912 | Riley and Schultz | | Mack Sennett | | |
| 1912 | The Beating He Needed † | | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | Pedro's Dilemma † | | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Fred Mace Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | Ambitious Butler † | | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Fred Mace Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | The Flirting Husband † | | Mack Sennett | Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | At Coney Island † | | Mack Sennett | Ford Sterling Fred Mace | Alternative title: Cohen at Coney Island |
| 1912 | At It Again † | Mrs. Smith | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Fred Mace Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | Mabel's Lovers † | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace Ford Sterling Alice Davenport | |
| 1912 | The Deacon's Troubles † | | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | A Temperamental Husband † | Gladys | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | Mr. Fix-It | Mabel | Mack Sennett | | |
| 1912 | The Rivals † | Mabel | Mack Sennett | | |
| 1912 | A Desperate Lover † | | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace | |
| 1912 | Brown's Séance † | Mrs. Brown | Fred Mace | Fred Mace Alice Davenport | |
| 1912 | Pat's Day Off † | Bridget, Pat's Wife | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace Alice Davenport Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | A Family Mixup † | A Wife | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Fred Mace | |
| 1912 | A Midnight Elopement † | | Mack Sennett | | |
| 1912 | Mabel's Adventures | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace Ford Sterling | |
| 1912 | The Drummer's Vacation † | | Mack Sennett | | |
| 1912 | The Duel † | Mabel | Mack Sennett | | |
| 1912 | Mabel's Stratagem | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Fred Mace Alice Davenport Mack Sennett | |
| 1912 | Kings Court † | | | | |
| 1913 | The Bangville Police | Farm Girl | Henry Lehrman | Fred Mace the Keystone Cops | |
| 1913 | A Noise from the Deep | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Roscoe Arbuckle the Keystone Cops | |
| 1913 | A Little Hero | | George Nichols | | |
| 1913 | Mabel's Awful Mistakes † | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Ford Sterling | Alternative title: Her Deceitful Lover |
| 1913 | Passions, He Had Three † | | Henry Lehrman | Roscoe Arbuckle | Alternative title: He Had Three |
| 1913 | For the Love of Mabel † | Mabel | Henry Lehrman | Roscoe Arbuckle Ford Sterling | |
| 1913 | Mabel's Dramatic Career | Mabel, the kitchen maid | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Ford Sterling | Alternative title: Her Dramatic Debut |
| 1913 | The Gypsy Queen † | | Mack Sennett | Roscoe Arbuckle | |
| 1913 | Cohen Saves the Flag | Rebecca | Mack Sennett | Ford Sterling | |
| 1914 | Mabel's Stormy Love Affair † | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Alice Davenport | |
| 1914 | Won in a Closet | | Mabel Normand | | Alternative title: Won in a Cupboard |
| 1914 | In the Clutches of the Gang † | | | Roscoe Arbuckle Keystone Cops | |
| 1914 | Mack at It Again † | | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett | |
| 1914 | Mabel's Strange Predicament | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Charles Chaplin | Alternative title: Hotel Mixup First film with Chaplin as the Tramp although the second released. |
| 1914 | Mabel's Blunder | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Charley Chase Al St. John | Added to the National Film Registry in 2009 |
| 1914 | A Film Johnnie | Mabel | George Nichols | Charles Chaplin Roscoe Arbuckle | |
| 1914 | Mabel at the Wheel | Mabel | Mabel Normans Mack Sennett | Charles Chaplin | |
| 1914 | Caught in a Cabaret | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Charles Chaplin | Writer |
| 1914 | Mabel's Nerve † | Mabel | George Nichols | | |
| 1914 | The Alarm † | | Roscoe Arbuckle Edward Dillon | Roscoe Arbuckle Minta Durfee | Alternative title: Fireman's Picnic |
| 1914 | Her Friend the Bandit † | Mabel | Mabel Normand Charles Chaplin | Charles Chaplin | |
| 1914 | The Fatal Mallet | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Charles Chaplin Mack Sennett | |
| 1914 | Mabel's Busy Day | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Charles Chaplin Chester Conklin | Writer |
| 1914 | Mabel's Married Life | Mabel | Charles Chaplin | Charles Chaplin | Co-written by Normand and Chaplin |
| 1914 | Mabel's New Job † | Mabel | Mabel Normand George Nichols | Chester Conklin Charley Chase | Writer |
| 1914 | The Sky Pirate † | | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle Minta Durfee | |
| 1914 | The Masquerader | Actress | Charles Chaplin | | Uncredited |
| 1914 | Mabel's Latest Prank † | Mabel | Mabel Normand Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Hank Mann | Alternative title: Touch of Rheumatism |
| 1914 | Hello, Mabel | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Charley Chase Minta Durfee | Alternative title: On a Busy Wire |
| 1914 | Gentlemen of Nerve | Mabel | Charles Chaplin | Charles Chaplin Chester Conklin | Alternative titles: Charlie at the Races Some Nerve |
| 1914 | His Trysting Place | Mabel, The Wife | Charles Chaplin | Charles Chaplin | |
| 1914 | Shotguns That Kick † | | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle Al St. John | |
| 1914 | Getting Acquainted | Ambrose's Wife | Charles Chaplin | Charles Chaplin Phyllis Allen | |
| 1914 | Tillie's Punctured Romance | Mabel | Mack Sennett | Marie Dressler Charles Chaplin | Feature-Length film First feature-length comedy |
| 1915 | Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day | Mabel | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle | |
| 1915 | Mabel and Fatty's Simple Life | Mabel | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle | Alternative title: Mabel and Fatty's Simple Life |
| 1915 | Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco | Mabel | Mabel Normand Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle | |
| 1915 | Mabel and Fatty's Married Life | Mabel | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle | |
| 1915 | That Little Band of Gold | Wifey | Roscoe Arbuckle | | Uncredited Alternative title: For Better or Worse |
| 1915 | Wished on Mabel | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Roscoe Arbuckle | |
| 1915 | Mabel's Wilful Way | Mabel | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle | |
| 1915 | Mabel Lost and Won | Mabel | Mabel Normand | Owen Moore Mack Swain | |
| 1915 | The Little Teacher | The Little Teacher | Mack Sennett | Roscoe Arbuckle, Mack Sennett | Alternative title: A Small Town Bully |
| 1916 | Fatty and Mabel Adrift | Mabel | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle Al St. John | Alternative title: Concrete Biscuits |
| 1916 | He Did and He Didn't | The Doctor's Wife | Roscoe Arbuckle | Roscoe Arbuckle Al St. John | |

### Goldwyn Feature films

| Year | Film | Role | Director | Co-Star | Notes |
| 1918 | Dodging a Million † | Arabella Flynn | George Loane Tucker | Tom Moore | |
| 1918 | The Floor Below | Patricia O'Rourke | Clarence G. Badger | Tom Moore | |
| 1918 | Joan of Plattsburg † | Joan | George Loane Tucker | | |
| 1918 | Back to the Woods † | Stephanie Trent | George Irving | Herbert Rawlinson | |
| 1918 | Peck's Bad Girl † | Minnie Penelope Peck | Charles Giblyn | Earle Foxe | |
| 1918 | The Venus Model † | Kitty O'Brien | Clarence G. Badger | Rod La Rocque | |
| 1918 | A Perfect 36 † | Mabel | Charles Giblyn | Rod La Rocque | |
| 1918 | Mickey | Mickey | F. Richard Jones James Young | | Produced by the Mabel Normand Feature Film Company and distributed by Film Booking Offices of America rather than Goldwyn |
| 1919 | Sis Hopkins † | Sis Hopkins | Clarence G. Badger | John Bowers | |
| 1919 | When Doctors Disagree | Millie Martin | Victor Schertzinger | Walter Hiers | |
| 1919 | Upstairs † | Elsie MacFarland | Victor Schertzinger | Cullen Landis | |
| 1919 | Jinx † | The Jinx | Victor Schertzinger | | |
| 1919 | The Pest † | Jigs | Christy Cabanne | | |
| 1920 | Pinto † | Pinto | Victor Schertzinger | Cullen Landis | |
| 1920 | What Happened to Rosa | Rosa | Victor Schertzinger | | |
| 1920 | The Slim Princess † | Princess Kalora | Victor Schertzinger | Tully Marshall | |
| 1921 | Molly O' | Molly O' | F. Richard Jones | George Nichols | Produced by Mack Sennett |
| 1922 | Oh, Mabel Behave | Innkeeper's Daughter | Mack Sennett | Mack Sennett Ford Sterling | Filmed in 1915 or 1916, produced by Triangle Film Corporation |
| 1922 | Head Over Heels | Tina | Paul Bern Victor Schertzinger | Raymond Hatton Adolphe Menjou | |
| 1923 | Suzanna | Suzanna | F. Richard Jones | George Nichols | Incomplete, two reels are missing Produced by Mack Sennett |
| 1923 | The Extra Girl | Sue Graham | F. Richard Jones | George Nichols | Produced by Mack Sennett |

### Hal Roach Studios

| Year | Film | Role | Director | Co-Star | Notes |
| 1926 | Raggedy Rose | Raggedy Rose | Richard Wallace | Carl Miller Max Davidson | Feature length film |
| 1926 | The Nickel-Hopper | Paddy, the nickel hopper | F. Richard Jones Hal Yates | | |
| 1927 | Should Men Walk Home? | The Girl Bandit | Leo McCarey | Eugene Pallette Oliver Hardy | |
| 1927 | One Hour Married † | | Jerome Strong | Creighton Hale James Finlayson | |