Marguerite De La Motte

Acting

Born June 22, 1902, Duluth, Minnesota, USA

Marguerite De La Motte (June 22, 1902 – March 10, 1950) was an American film actress, most notably of the silent film era. Born in Duluth, Minnesota, De La Motte was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph De La Motte. She was a 1917 graduate of the Egan School of drama, music, and dancing. De La Motte began her entertainment career studying ballet under Anna Pavlova. In 1919, she became the dance star of Sid Grauman on the stage of his theater. In 1918, at the age of 16, she made her screen debut in the Douglas Fairbanks-directed romantic comedy film Arizona. In 1920, both of her parents died, her mother in January in an automobile accident and her father in August from heart disease. Film producer J.L. Frothingham assumed guardianship of her and her younger brother. De La Motte spent the 1920s appearing in numerous films, often cast by Douglas Fairbanks to play opposite him in swashbuckling adventure films such as 1920's The Mark of Zorro and The Three Musketeers. She developed a close friendship with Fairbanks and his wife, actress Mary Pickford. Her career as an actress slowed dramatically at the end of the silent film era of the 1920s. She did continue acting in bit parts through the sound era and made her final appearance in the 1942 film Overland Mail opposite both Noah Beery Sr. and Noah Beery Jr., as well as Lon Chaney Jr. After her film career ended, De La Motte worked as an inspector in a southern California war plant during World War II. Later she came to San Francisco, California, where she worked in the Red Cross office. On February 8, 1960, De La Motte was awarded a star in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6902 Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood, California.

Filmography

• 1942Overland Mail — Rose - the Waitress [Chs. 1, 8]
• 1942The Man Who Returned to Life — Mrs. Hibbard
• 1941Reg'lar Fellers — Mrs. Dugan
• 1934A Woman's Man — Gloria Jordan - Star
• 1930Shadow Ranch — Ruth Cameron
• 1929Montmartre Rose — Jeanne
• 1929The Iron Mask — Constance Bonacieux
• 1927Broadway Madness — Maida Vincent
• 1927Held by the Law — Mary Travis
• 1927Ragtime — Beth Barton
• 1927The Final Extra — Ruth Collins
• 1927The Kid Sister — Helen Hall
• 1926Fifth Avenue — Barbara Pelham
• 1926Pals in Paradise — Geraldine 'Jerry' Howard
• 1926Red Dice — Beverly Vane
• 1926The Last Frontier — Beth
• 1926The Unknown Soldier — Mary Phillips
• 1925Cheaper to Marry — Doris
• 1925Children of the Whirlwind — Maggie
• 1925Daughters Who Pay — Sonia Borisoff / Margaret Smith
• 1925The Girl Who Wouldn't Work — Mary Hale
• 1925The People vs. Nancy Preston — Nancy Preston
• 1924East of Broadway — Judy McNulty
• 1924Gerald Cranston's Lady — Angela
• 1924In Love with Love — Ann Jordan
• 1924The Beloved Brute — Jacinta
• 1924The Clean Heart — Essie Bickers
• 1924Those Who Dare — Marjorie
• 1923A Man of Action — Helen Sumner
• 1923Desire — Ruth Cassell
• 1923Just Like a Woman — Peggy Dean
• 1923Richard the Lion-Hearted — Lady Edith Plantagenet
• 1923Scars of Jealousy — Helen Meanix
• 1923The Famous Mrs. Fair — Sylvia Fair
• 1923Wandering Daughters — Bessie Bowden
• 1923What a Wife Learned — Sheila Dorne
• 1922Shadows — Sympathy Gibbs
• 1922Shattered Idols — Sarasvati
• 1922The Jilt — Rose Trenton
• 1921The Nut — Estrell Wynn
• 1921The Ten Dollar Raise — Dorothy
• 1921The Three Musketeers — Constance
• 1920The Broken Gate — Anne Oglesby
• 1920The Hope — Lady Brenda Carylon
• 1920The Mark of Zorro — Lolita Pulido
• 1920The Sagebrusher — Mary Warren
• 1920The U.P. Trail — Allie Lee
• 1920Trumpet Island — Eve de Merincourt
• 1919A Sage Brush Hamlet — Dora Lawrence
• 1919For a Woman's Honor — Helen Rutherford
• 1919In Wrong — Millie Fields
• 1919Josselyn's Wife — Lizzie
• 1919The Pagan God — Beryl Addison