Marguerite De La Motte
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Marguerite De La Motte (occasionally credited as 'Marguerite de LaMotte' and '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 began her entertainment career studying ballet. In 1918 at the age of 16, she made her screen debut in the Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. directed romantic comedy film Arizona. That same year she lost both of her parents in an automobile accident and film producer J.L. Frothingham assumed guardianship of her and her younger sister.
De La Motte spent the 1920s appearing in numerous films, often cast by Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. 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. De La Motte would also appear opposite such notable actors of the "Roaring Twenties" as Bela Lugosi, Milton Sills, Conrad Nagel, Owen Moore, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert and Noah Beery, Sr.
Marguerite De La Motte's 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.
De La Motte was married once, to film actor John Bowers but the couple divorced. Marguerite De La Motte died of cerebral thrombosis in San Francisco, California in 1950 three months short of her 48th birthday.
For her contribution as an actress to the motion picture industry, Marguerite De La Motte was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6902 Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood, California.
