Esther Ralston
Leading lady Esther Ralston was renowned as "The American Venus" after appearing in the 1926 film of that title. Born in 1902 to a show business family, she was part of their traveling act at the rip old age of two. Esther appeared in 95 films from 1915 until 1940. Her leaving film while still in her thirties was partly because after working in England in 1932, she returned to Hollywood the following year and was put under contract to MGM. Because she rejected Louis B. Mayer's advances, she was loaned out for "B" pictures and her film career declined. She worked outside of the industry except for a few small parts in early television. Esther died in 1994.
Esther Ralston - What do you think? Allure?
4 comments:
Lots of it and good for her to stand up for herself on top of being gorgeous. I hope she had a happy life.
I've read her autobiography and think she was an amazing woman. Too bad she had such losers for husbands because they held her back from becoming more successful, not to mention happy. I own "Old Ironsides" and glad to see her work her magic once in a while. Gone, but not forgotten.
For those not familiar, "Old Ironsides" is a 1926 seafaring movie with George Bancroft, Wallace Beery, Charles Farrell, and Esther Ralston as the female lead. This film features battle scenes with sailing ships, pirates, and energetic portrayals by Beery and Bancroft. The movie was directed by James Cruze. And while it was shot in 1926, Esther had already been in 55 films
I was fortunate to know Esther as she was the great-grandmother of my son. She was as lovely in person as her photos depict... a beauty inside and out. She believed her finest work was The Case of Lena Smith which, sadly, was lost. She was life-long friends with Mary Brien of Peter Pan and also spoke highly of Gary Cooper whose 1st film was opposite Esther. I have a site in her memory at http://www.geocities.com/bostonjan/esther/esther.html
She most definitely had "allure".
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