Showbiz Sisters, Part One: The Talmadge Girls

Author: Jenny Lynn Higgins
Published on: Aug 24, 2001

In the Roaring '20's, the Talmadge sisters were the girls who made headlines. Norma, the oldest sister, was a captivating brunette beauty; the reigning dramatic,tragic figure of Hollywood. By contrast, her youngest sister, Constance (affectionately nicknamed "Dutch" by her family and close friends) was the bouncy blond comedian who's antics inspired countless imitators. Even her competition - actresses such as Dorothy Gish and Marion Davies - loved their dear Dutch.

Natalie, the middle Talmadge sister, was not so lucky in film as she was in love. Her beauty never quite measured up to that of her sisters and she only appeared in six films. On the flip side, she married and had a family with the great physical comedian Buster Keaton. They lived a life of luxury that was considered extravagent even in Hollywood.

The Talmadge girls were symbols of wealth and class. Legend has it that the tradition of stars stepping in wet cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre was started by Norma, who accidentally stepped in wet cement at a premiere. The clothes they wore inspired trends. The sisters never suffered from a shortage of male admirers, either, and their rendezvous often made front-page news.

The mastermind behind the Talmadge girls fame and fortune was their mother. Peg Talmadge's driving ambition was to see her "sprouts" become rich and famous. She was so set on this goal that the girls' father soon became a ghostly shadow in their lives. She found work for Norma posing in music slides that were shown in nickeledeons when she was only fourteen. By 1910, Peg's oldest daughter was working for a film studio called Vitagraph. But her self-consciousness in front of the camera prompted a visit to Mr. Wilmore,the company's producer. She recalled the scene in a 1920 interview:

"(He said) Well, what do you think of acting?" "I'm afraid I'm not very good." "Very good! My dear, you are rotten bad...I suppose you know what is the matter with you?" "No, sir." "You can't act!" His brutal frankness shocked me. I thought, "Why couldn't he just fire me and have done with it? What right did he have to torture and insult me?" "You are a brute and I hate you!" I cried with a gesture at once passionate and dramatic. Mr. Wilmore surveyed me critically and thoughtfully stroked his chin. "Now why the deuce can't you do that before the camera?"

Ironically, Peg Talmadge was not the source of her daughters' stunning beauty. Sometimes described as a having a "lumpy" figure, her facial features were also no cause for celebration. This never fazed the determined Peg, and even though "stage mothers" were viewed to be on the same level with gnats and flies, she became a favorite in the Hollywood community.

Norma made over 110 films for the Vitagraph studio from 1910 to 1916. Constance joined Norma at Vitagraph in 1914 and when Norma was offered a role in "The Captivating Mrs. Carstairs" by an independent studio, she let Dutch tag along. Norma's little sister's big break came when she was cast as "the Mountain Girl" in "The Babylonian Story". Although boasting an all-star cast, young Constance's mischievious tomboy was one of the main highlights of the film.

Norma settled down with the powerful, yet homely, Hollywood producer Joesph Schenck. He became a welcome addition to the family of Talmadge women. Norma's husband wanted to produce all of her films and in the future, her comedic sister's as well. Constance soon began starring in films with the silent screen actor Harrison Ford. They worked so well together that they starred in ten consecutive films. Ford, like his modern-day namesake, was an extremely private man. He rarely mingled with his co-stars outside the studio. But Constance apparently won over her shy leading man - in an interview, he said, "Each film with Constance was a holiday" and that "she has created a wonderful screen personality."

Meanwhile, Norma and Peg were constantly approaching Joe about producing one of Constance's films. He's quoted as having said, "...Every time I try to romance my own bride, she shoves me off and asks, 'When are you going to produce a film for Dutch?'"

Schenck finally wound up producing five of Constance's films, along with Anita Loos and her husband John Emerson. The first was appropriately named "A Tempermental Wife". Next were "A Virtuous Vamp" and "Two Weeks" both co-starring Conway Tearle; "The Love Expert" (in which Constance's sister Natalie also secured a part) and "The Perfect Woman" co-starring Charles Meredith.

Joe and Norma seperated nine years after their wedding and Norma played the field with vigor. Constance eloped in 1920 on a dare from Dorothy Gish. She divorced eighteen months later, beginning a chain of broken marriages. Natalie's marriage to Buster Keaton ended bitterly after the couple moved in with the family.

As they grew older, Norma and Natalie became recluses. Both Natalie and Constance let alcohol control their later years. Norma died of a stroke on Christmas Eve, 1957. Natalie died alone in 1969, never letting go of her bitterness towards Buster Keaton. When Constance died in 1973, the Talmadge girls had their final reunion.

Author Anita Loos wrote of the sisters who had been her friends:

"I have known any number of actresses who yearned and burned to be movie stars but who just as tiresome as they were ambitious. Norma and Dutch, however, had their feet firmly planted on the scaffold of fame, kicked the whole thing apart and were the best of company."

The Talmadge sisters' glory days will forever live on in the celluloid imprint of their mother's dreams.