The Norma Talmadge Website

Documenting the work of silent film actress Norma Talmadge

ALERT!

There is another series of Norma Talmadge at the Donnell Media Center in New York this summer. Some real rarities will be screened. The Address is: Donnell Media Center, 20 West 53rd St., New York, NY 212-621-0609. Here is the schedule:

Wednesday July 2 2:30 PM - DE LUXE ANNIE (1918) - (Sylvia Moscovitz, accompanist)
Wednesday July 9 2:30 PM - THE NEW MOON (1919) - (Ben Model, accompanist)
Thursday July 16 2:30 PM - SMILIN' THROUGH (1922) - (Philip Carli, accompanist)
Friday July 23 2:30 PM - ASHES OF VENGEANCE (1923) - (Makia Matsumura, accompanist)
Wednesday July 30 2:30 PM - THE LADY (1925) - (Bernie Anderson, accompanist)

Norma Talmadge was one of the greatest stars of the silent era. She began her film work as a teenager in 1910 at the Vitagraph Studios in Flatbush, just a streetcar ride from her home. In 1916 she met and married exhibitor Joseph M. Schenck, and together they formed the Norma Talmadge Film Corporation, one of the most lucrative partnerships in film history. Talmadge became one of the top box office attractions for the rest of the silent era, evolving from a spunky teenager into one of the finest dramatic actresses of the screen. One of the wealthiest women in Hollywood, she retired after her two talkies proved disappointing at the box office. She died on Christmas Eve, 1957.

What's New?

Check to see if anything is new since your last visit

Filmography

with a listing of archival holdings, video availability and links to contemporary reviews

Woman Disputed
Who was Norma Talmadge and why aren't more of her films available?

Talmadge Films on the Web

The Helpful Sisterhood (1914)
on Google Video and The Internet Archive

Video Reviews

The Films of Norma Talmadge, 1911-1916 Children in the House Going Straight The Social Secretary Forbidden City The Heart of Wetona The Safety Curtain DuBarry, Woman of Passion

Picture Gallery

Homes and Haunts
Addresses associated with Norma Talmadge

Rediscovering Norma Talmadge
From Griffithiana

More Pictures on the Web

The Silent Ladies Norma Talmadge Gallery
Photoplay Feb. 1917and Motion Picture Feb. 1923 Magazine covers on Sunrise Silents
Dr. Macro's movie scans
Norma Talmadge portraits from the Melbourne Spurr website
(now seems to be accessable to members only)

Quicktime Film Clip from an unidentified film (my guess is Graustark) on The Silent Ladies

Contemporary articles

Norma Talmadge: Post-Impression of a Girl of the Photoplays ... By Arthur Hornblow, Jr. Photoplay, August 1915, p. 99-102 (incomplete)
Norma Splash by Sanford Stanton Picture Play Magazine, Vol. V, No. 1, September 1916, p. 83-87 Many thanks to William M. Drew for this article
Norma Talmadge Gives an Idea of Children's Films By Elizabeth Sears Film Flashes, 1916?
Norma Talmadge: a Modern Female by Margaret I. McDonald Moving Picture World, July 21, 1917, p. 390
The Extra Girl Plays Divorce Court Audience by Ethel Rosemon Motion Picture Classic, November 1918, p. 39-40+ The author's experiences as an extra in a Talmadge film. Many thanks to Randy Bigham for this article
"Sisters Three: the Life Story of the Talmadge Sisters" Picture Show, October 30, November 6 and 13, 1920. Many thanks to Gabby Talmadge for this article
Before They Were Stars VI: Norma Talmadge By an Old Timer New York Dramatic Mirror, April 17,1920, p. 744 +
Those Three Talmadge Girls! in Who's Who on the Screen ed. by Charles Donald Fox and Milton L. Silver 1920, p. 101-104
Norma Talmadge: A Great Moving Picture Star by Keene Sumner American Magazine, June 1922, p. 36-39 +
The Lady of the Vase by Adela Rogers St. Johns Photoplay, August 1923, p. 38-39+
Our One and Only Great Actress by Adela Rogers St. Johns Photoplay, February 1926, p. 58 +
Norma Tolmedzh by A.L. Abramov A 1926 booklet in Russian (don't worry, it has pictures too)
Going ... Going ... Near the End of the Road, Norma Talmadge Looks Back by Gladys Hill Motion Picture Classic (February 1931): 38-39+

Selected Bibliography

Other Talmadge materials on the Web

Constance Talmadge
I couldn't go without mentioning Constance, this is chiefly a filmography
"Beauty and the Bean"
A 1922 Picture Play magazine article on "Welcome to Silent Movies"
"Silencing the New Woman: Ethnic and Social Mobility in the Melodramas of Norma Talmadge"
By Greg M. Smith
Article from Journal of Film and Video, 48, no. 3 (Fall 1996): 3-16.
Norma Talmadge's entry in The Blue Book of the Screen (1923)
Norma Talmadge's entry in Stars of the Photoplay (1924)
Star of the Month, November 1997, By Kally Mavromatis, on Glen Pringle's Silent Movies
Denny Jackson's Norma Talmadge page
Norma Talmadge page on The Silent Era
"Norma Talmadge, the Queen of Versatility" on Golden Silents
Tammy Stone's profile of Norma Talmadge on Things-and-other-stuff.com
"Just a Shop Girl from Brixton"
an article on actress Margaret Leahy, Talmadge's "protegee," on the Damfinos website
"Screened but not Heard"
an article on the 1928 radio broadcast of Talmadge and other United Artists stars
Various real estate formerly owned by Talmadge includes A house in the Los Feliz district (and more here), a house with other famous occupants (courtesy of Silents Are Golden) , the Villa Riviera in Long Beach (and more here), and the Talmadge Apartments. The community of Talmadge, in San Diego, was also named for the sisters. Here is another Talmadge, San Diego link.

Links to other general silent film sites

Alt.movies.silent FAQ Great source of basic information from the alt.movies.silent newsgroup, including links to other silent film sites
Silent-movies.org A wonderful suite of sites edited by David Pearson, including the photogalleries Silent Ladies and Silent Gents, Arbuckemania, Taylorology, the Blue Book of the Screen, Stars of the Silent Photoplay, and others.
The American Film Institute catalog of motion pictures produced in the United States : Silent Films The online version of the AFI catalog contains information about silent features, plus some short films up to 1911. There is also members' only access to catalog entries on sound features.
The Silent Film Bookshelf Original documents from the silent film era, edited by David Pierce
Glen Pringle's Silent Movies Silent star of the month, links to silent film interest groups, and lots of links to other silent film sites
Silents are Golden Nice features, lots of vintage reviews, great list of silent films on video. Host to The Virginia Lee Corbin Scrapbook
The Silent Film Still Archive A collection of fascinating film stills of the silent era
Silent Era A new, but growing, site with information and reviews on silents on DVD and VHS, information about stars, book reviews, and Presumed Lost, a preliminary listing of lost films
Gilda's Blue Book of the Screen Great articles on Silent Film, as well as lots of links
Welcome to Silent Movies Features, calendars, and assorted facts on the silent film era

Created and maintained by Greta de Groat.
Photos from the author's collection

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License. Special contents © 1999

Last revised, April 23, 2008