death_date death_place birth_name birth_place years_active birth_date spouse image article_title name occupation
24 april 1965 woodland hills , california , u.s. louise josephine kerlin evansville , indiana , u.s. 1922 & ndash ; 1937 17 october 1878 jack gardner -lrb- 1908-1950 -rrb- -lrb- his death -rrb- norworth -lrb- 1899-1907 -rrb- -lrb- divorced -rrb- jack louisedresser.jpg louise dresser
 louise dresser actress
louise dresser

louise dresser -lrb- october 17 , 1878 -- april 24 , 1965 -rrb- was an american actress .
born louise josephine kerlin in evansville , indiana .
her father was a train conductor who died when she was fifteen years old .
she had acted on the stage previously , being a vaudeville singer at age fifteen and her first film was `` the glory of clementina '' -lrb- 1922 -rrb- , and her first starring role was in `` the city that never sleeps '' -lrb- 1924 -rrb- .
she took her professional last name as a tribute to her good friend , songwriter paul dresser .
dresser was a popular songwriter of the turn of the 20th century .
during the first presentations of the academy awards in 1929 she was nominated for the academy award for best actress for `` a ship comes in '' .
she portrayed empress elizabeth in paramount pictures 's `` the scarlet empress '' -lrb- 1934 -rrb- .
dresser 's last film was `` maid of salem '' -lrb- 1937 -rrb- .
on television , she appeared in an episode spotlighting buster keaton on ralph edwards 's program , `` this is your life '' .
she had known keaton since he was a small boy with his parents in vaudeville .
she was married twice .
first , to singer/songwriter , jack norworth , whom she divorced and then to jack gardner , until his death in 1950 .
dresser died in woodland hills , california , after surgery for an intestinal ailment , and was interred in the forest lawn memorial park cemetery in glendale , california .
dresser died without issue .
