Lenore Ulric
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Lenore Ulric (born July 21, 1892 in New Ulm, Minnesota, died December 30, 1970 in Orangeburg, New York) was a star of the Broadway stage and Hollywood films of the silent film early sound era. Her father, Franz Xavier Ulrich, was a United States Army hospital steward. He gave his daughter the name Lenore because of his fondness for the Edgar Allan Poe poem, "The Raven." Miss Ulric dropped the H from her last name. She felt she was destined to become a stage actress from an early age. At the height of her stage career she was one of the brightest stars of the American theater.
As a schoolgirl the youth obtained a job with a stock company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She played with stock companies in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois. She worked briefly as a film actress for Essanay Studios and joined another stock company in Schenectady, New York. Lenore's first film efforts were roles in The First Man (1911), A Polished Burglar (1911), Kilmeny (1915), and The Better Woman (1915).
Just before she was discovered by theatrical producer David Belasco, Miss Ulric toured in a road company of The Bird of Paradise. She wrote to Belasco and in the fall of 1915 she made her New York debut at the Princess Theater in The Mark of the Beast. Soon she took part in The Heart of Wetona. Under Belasco's management Lenore played a variety of female roles. She was an Indian maid in Tiger Rose, a French-Canadian heroine in The Son-Daughter, and a Chinese girl in Kiki. The actress remained with Belasco until the autumn prior to his 1931 death.
Lenore came to Hollywood in 1929 and appeared in Frozen Justice and South Sea Rose. She signed with Fox Film Corporation to make several films with an approximate salary of $650,000. Frozen Justice was directed by Allan Dwan. Some of the scenes were filmed in Alaska. She was successful in a supporting role in Camille, which starred Greta Garbo. Ulric returned to Broadway in 1940, acting in The Fifth Column by Ernest Hemingway and again in 1947, in a revival of Antony and Cleopatra.
Lenore Ulric died in Rockland State Hospital, Orangeburg, New York on December 30, 1970. She had been a patient there for several years. She was 78 years old. Miss Ulric was survived by an older sister, Mrs. Florence Ulric Smith of Croton-on-Hudson.
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[edit] References
- Los Angeles Times, Stage Star Capitulates, May 21, 1929, Page A10.
- New York Times, Lenore Ulric, Broadway Star of Belasco Era, Is Dead at 78, Page 21.
