Mary Nolan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other persons named Mary Nolan, see Mary Nolan (disambiguation).
 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.
You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.
Mary Nolan

Mary Nolan (center) in The Foreign Legion, 1928.
Born Mary Imogene Robertson
December 18, 1905(1905-12-18)
Hickory Grove, Kentucky, USA
Died October 31, 1948 (aged 42)
Hollywood, California, USA
Other name(s) Imogene Robertson
Imogen Robertson
Mary Robertson
Imogene Robetson

Mary Nolan (December 18, 1905-October 31, 1948) was an American actress.

Contents

[edit] Ziegfeld Follies dancer

Born Mary Imogene Robertson in Kentucky, Robertson's childhood was beset with hardship that included the death of her mother in 1908 and an absent father. As a child, she worked as a farm laborer, before moving to New York City in 1919 where she worked as a model. Before long, she was discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld, who hired her under the name Imogene Wilson (the first of three name changes she was to have) as a dancer in his follies. As a showgirl in New York she was called Bubbles. Her impact as a dancer was so profound that columnist Mark Hellinger once said of her in 1922: "Only two people in America would bring every reporter in New York to the docks to see them off. One is the President. The other is Imogene "Bubbles" Wilson."

[edit] German interlude

It was at this point that she began a long and abusive relationship with comedian Frank Tinney, which would culminate in being hospitalised for injuries he inflicted on her during an argument. Because Tinney was married to another woman, the affair caused a scandal. Mary Robertson was fired from the Ziegfeld Follies and subsequently moved to Germany for two years. While in Germany, she made a large number of films, including Das Panzergewölbe and Verborgene Gluten.

[edit] Hollywood actress

Mary Nolan on the cover of Screen Play Secrets, April 1930
Mary Nolan on the cover of Screen Play Secrets, April 1930

Moving back to the United States in 1927, Robertson adopted the stage name Mary Nolan and had a brief film career, starring in films such as The Foreign Legion, Shanghai Lady, and Docks of San Francisco. She made Sorrel and Son for United Artists in 1927, but her film career declined afterwards. In 1933, she made her final screen appearance in File 113. The same year, she sued Hollywood producer Edward Mannix for $500,000 in damages. She accused him of beating her. In 1937, Nolan was jailed for an unpaid dress bill.

She turned up "sick and broke: at the Actor's Fund Home in Amityville, New York. She regained her health and returned to Hollywood in 1939. She lived there in obscurity with her sister, Mrs. Mabel Rondeau.

[edit] Drug addiction and death

Unable to gain work, she became addicted to heroin and died of cardiac arrest on October 31, 1948. She suffered from a chronic gall bladder ailment and had recently been discharged from Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. She was 42 and weighed only 90 pounds when she died in a small stucco bungalow at 1504 South Mansfield Avenue, Los Angeles, California.

Her tiny apartment was simply furnished except for a single possession. There was a huge antique piano formerly owned by Rudolph Valentino, which almost filled her living room. She bought it from the possessions which were once a part of Falcon's Lair, Valentino's home. Nolan revered the deceased film actor and kept his photo on the music rack.

Nolan had only recently completed negotiations for the sale of her life story, in screenplay and novel form. She previously sold a similar account to a popular magazine, the second installment of which had only recently been printed.

When she died, the former dancer was still married to Wallace McCreary, who likewise had a tumultuous Hollywood career. Her husband was living in Berkeley, California.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] As Imogene Robertson

  • Verborgene Gluten (1925)
  • Wenn die Liebe nicht wär! (1925)
  • Das Parfüm der Mrs. Worrington (1925)
  • Die Feuertänzerin (1925)
  • Die Unberührte Frau (1925)
  • Fünf-Uhr-Tee in der Ackerstraße (1926)
  • Unser täglich Brot (1926)
  • Die Elf schillschen Offiziere (1926)
  • Wien, wie es weint und lacht (1926)
  • Das Süße Mädel (1926)
  • Die Welt will belogen sein (1926)
  • Die Abenteuer eines Zehnmarkscheines aka Adventures of a Ten Mark Note (1926)
  • Die Königin des Weltbades (1926)
  • Das Panzergewölbe aka The Armored Vault (1926)
  • Die Mädchen von Paris (1927)
  • Halloh - Caesar! (1927)

[edit] As Imogene Robetson

  • Erinnerungen einer Nonne (1927)

[edit] As Mary Nolan

  • Topsy and Eva (Uncredited, 1927)
  • Sorrell and Son (1927)
  • Good Morning, Judge (1928)
  • The Foreign Legion (1928)
  • West of Zanzibar (1928)
  • Silks and Saddles aka Thoroughbreds (1929)
  • Desert Nights aka Thirst (1929)
  • Eleven Who Where Loyal (1929)
  • Charming Sinners aka The Constant Wife (1929)
  • Shanghai Lady aka Girl from China (1929)
  • Undertow (1930)
  • Young Desire (1930)
  • Outside the Law (1930)
  • Enemies of the Law (1931)
  • X Marks the Spot (1931)
  • The Big Shot aka The Optimist (1931)
  • Docks of San Francisco (1932)
  • The Midnight Patrol (1932)
  • File 113 (1933)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Nolan, Mary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robertson, Mary Imogene
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1905-12-18
PLACE OF BIRTH Hickory Grove, Kentucky, USA
DATE OF DEATH 1948-10-31
PLACE OF DEATH Hollywood, California, USA