Marguerite Snow

Marguerite Snow (September 9, 1889 – February 17, 1958)[1] was an American silent film and stage actress. In her early films she was billed as Margaret Snow.[2]

Marguerite Snow
Born(1889-09-09)September 9, 1889
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
DiedFebruary 17, 1958(1958-02-17) (aged 68)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesMargaret Snow
Years active1911–1925
Spouse(s)James Cruze (m.1913–div.1923)
Neely Edwards (m.1925)
Children1

Early life

Snow was born in Salt Lake City, Utah.[1] Her father, Billy Snow, was a comedian and a minstrel, and the family lived in Savannah, Georgia.[2] After his death, her mother moved the family to Denver, Colorado. Snow attended Loretta Heights Academy and acted in local summer stock plays.[3]

Career

Snow became an actress at an early age and played many parts while still a child. Her stage career did not begin in earnest until she was sixteen years old. Her first engagement was with James O'Neill in a revival of The Count of Monte Cristo.[2] She played in The College Widow, Mrs. Temple's Telegram, as Elsa in The Devil, and at the Bijou Theater, Wheeling, where as leading lady of the stock company she played ten different parts. On Broadway, she performed in The Devil (1908) and The Other Fellow (1910).[4]

Beginning in 1911, Snow gained prominence in silent films made by the Kinemacolor Company, the Thanhouser Film Company in New Rochelle, New York, and the old Metro Pictures studio before it became MGM. In 1911 she starred in films such as The Moth and The Buddhist Priestess. Some of her later feature pictures are Baseball and Bloomers (1911), A Niagara Honeymoon (1912), The Caged Bird (1913), The Silent Voice (1915), A Corner in Cotton (1916), Broadway Jones (1917), The Veiled Woman (1922), and Kit Carson Over The Great Divide (1925). In Broadway Jones Snow played a pretty stenographer at the Jones' gun factory as the movie's leading lady. This was the first Artcraft photoplay of George M. Cohan. She never made a movie after the introduction of sound to films.

Marriages

Snow was married twice. Her first wedding was in January 1913 to James Bosen, a director, whose professional name was James Cruze.[2] He was affiliated with Famous Players-Lasky and was one of the best-known directors in motion pictures. During divorce proceedings in October 1923, Snow testified that her husband frequently beat her. A public beating was responsible for their separation. The couple were at a party in 1921 when the actress requested that James take one of her women friends home. The ensuing quarrel ended with Cruze beating his wife about her face and body. She was knocked to the floor and one of her teeth was dislodged. The couple had one daughter, Julie Jane. Cruze later married silent film actress Betty Compson. After divorcing Cruze, Snow married Neely Edwards, a film comedian, on December 25, 1925. Edwards became master of ceremonies of the local company of The Drunkard. This play ran continuously in Hollywood, California, from 1933 until the late 1950s.

In 1933 Snow's daughter, Julie Jane Cruze, was given nine pieces of property by her father at a time when he feared he might die of a heart ailment. The properties were located in Flintridge, California and La Canada, California. Julie Jane shared some of the $150,000 in income derived from the bequest with her mother, who was destitute and was living in a trailer. The daughter filed a cross complaint in October 1938 to block a suit by James Cruze to quiet title to the property and return it to him. Julie Jane stated that her father originally gave her the property to avoid losing it to creditors.

Death

In 1957 Snow underwent a kidney operation. Complications occurred, and she died, aged 68, at the Motion Picture Country Home in 1958 in Los Angeles, California. The Edwards' residence was at 1930 Stewart Street, Santa Monica, California. Funeral arrangements were carried out by Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Partial filmography

References
  1. Katchmer, George A. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-786-44693-3.
  2. Bartlett, Randolph (September 1918). "She Never Worked for Griffith". Photoplay Magazine. XIV (4): 69–70, 112. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  3. Lowe, Denise (2014). An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930. Routledge. ISBN 9781317718963. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  4. "Marguerite Snow". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.

Further reading
  • Photoplay Magazine, Notes of the Players, "Marguerite Snow", February, 1912, p. 43
  • Fort Wayne, Indiana News, "Movie Actress Has Lots of Admirers", May 16, 1913, p. 7
  • The Frederick, Maryland Post, "Theaters", Monday, September 10, 1917, p. 6
  • Los Angeles Times, "Cruze's Ex-Wife Called Destitute", October 29, 1938, p. A9
  • Los Angeles Times, "Marguerite Snow, Star of Silents, Dies", February 18, 1958, p. 4
  • Los Angeles Times, "Marguerite Snow's Rites Set Today", February 20, 1958, p. B26
  • The New York Times, "Marguerite Snow", February 18, 1958, p. 27
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