Marie Dressler

Marie Dressler

Born: November 9, 1868
Died: July 28, 1934
in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. Successful on stage in vaudeville and comic operas, she was also successful in film.

Leaving home at the age of 14, Dressler built a career on stage in traveling theatre troupes, where she learned to appreciate her talent in making people laugh. In 1892 she started a career on Broadway that lasted into the 1920s, performing comedic roles that allowed her to improvise to get laughs. From one of her successful Broadway roles, she played the titular role in the first full-length screen comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), opposite Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. She made several shorts, but mostly worked in New York City on stage. Her career declined in the 1920s.

In 1927, Dressler returned to films at the age of 59 and experienced a remarkable string of successes. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1930–31 for Min and Bill and was named the top film star for 1932 and 1933.

Marie Dressler died of cancer in 1934.

Movies for Marie Dressler...

Copyright Comedies and More. From the Library of Congress
Title: Copyright Comedies and More. From the Library of Congress
Released: June 6, 2022
Type: Movie
A montage of 13 remarkable short films recently digitized by the Library of Congress, whose themes echo the program of the Domitor 2022 conference, entitled "Copy/rights and early cinema"
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That's Entertainment! III
Title: That's Entertainment! III
Character: (archive footage)
Released: July 1, 1994
Type: Movie
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
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Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell
Title: Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: February 6, 1993
Type: Movie
Actress Sharon Stone hosts this documentary about the life and career of 1930s sex symbol Jean Harlow. Included are clips from many of her films, photos and stories about her life before she became a movie star, and accounts of her troubled personal life, including a domineering mother, the failure of her three marriages and the suicide of her second husband.
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Zelig
Title: Zelig
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: July 15, 1983
Type: Movie
Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.
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That's Entertainment, Part II
Title: That's Entertainment, Part II
Character: (archive footage)
Released: May 16, 1976
Type: Movie
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Title: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: August 6, 1975
Type: Movie
Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.
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Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Title: Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: January 10, 1972
Type: Movie
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.
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The Big Parade of Comedy
Title: The Big Parade of Comedy
Character: Marie Truffle in 'Reducing' (archive footage)
Released: September 2, 1964
Type: Movie
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
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Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Title: Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Character: Carlotta Vance (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: December 31, 1961
Type: Movie
Henry Fonda hosts this retrospective on the career and films of iconic filmmaker David O. Selznick, who epitomized the era of the auteur producer in the 30s and 40s.
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Screen Snapshots (Series 25, No. 1): 25th Anniversary
Title: Screen Snapshots (Series 25, No. 1): 25th Anniversary
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: September 6, 1945
Type: Movie
A look back at 25 years of Columbia's series of newsreels chronicling the film industry and the lives of Hollywood stars. Clips from earlier films in the series are featured, along with a montage of film greats who have passed away in the intervening years.
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Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
Title: Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: January 1, 1942
Type: Movie
The edition of Screen Snapshots celebrates 25 years of production. It looks at the content of edition #1, then a tribute to movie people who have died in those 25 years. Finally there are tributes to the Screen Snapshots series by Cecil De Mille, Walt Disney, Louella Parsons and Rosalind Russell.
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Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Title: Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: July 31, 1940
Type: Movie
This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel, Fay Bainter, Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Sinclair Lewis, and more, with host Bob Hope.
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Dinner at Eight
Title: Dinner at Eight
Character: Carlotta Vance
Released: December 22, 1933
Type: Movie
An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.
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Going Hollywood
Title: Going Hollywood
Character: Herself - Premiere Clip (archive footage)
Released: December 22, 1933
Type: Movie
The film tells the story of Sylvia, a French teacher at an all-girl school, who wants to find love. When she hears Bill Williams on the radio, she decides to go visit and thank him. However, difficult problems lay ahead when Lili gets in the way.
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Christopher Bean
Title: Christopher Bean
Character: Abby
Released: November 17, 1933
Type: Movie
When the painter Christopher Bean dies, some unscrupulous art dealers try to get several of his paintings cheaply from a family who have no idea of their value.
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Broadway to Hollywood
Title: Broadway to Hollywood
Character: Vaudeville Act (archive footage)
Released: September 15, 1933
Type: Movie
In this through-the-years saga about a show business family, the fame of husband and wife vaudeville headliners of the 1880s is eclipsed by their son.
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Tugboat Annie
Title: Tugboat Annie
Character: Annie
Released: August 4, 1933
Type: Movie
Waterfront couple raise their son to be a sea captain. He grows up to be rather snotty and rebels against drunken Beery. Valiant Dressler keeps things moving even as hubby ruins their tugboat business.
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Prosperity
Title: Prosperity
Character: Maggie Warren
Released: November 18, 1932
Type: Movie
Longtime friends become feuding mothers-in-law when their children marry.
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Emma
Title: Emma
Character: Emma Thatcher
Released: January 2, 1932
Type: Movie
When Fred Smith's wife dies in childbirth, Emma Thatcher, who has been nanny to the couple's three children, cares also for the family's new addition. Fred becomes rich and successful, then he and Emma marry. When Fred dies, his will becomes a source of trouble between the children and Emma.
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The Christmas Party
Title: The Christmas Party
Character: Herself (uncredited)
Released: December 17, 1931
Type: Movie
In this holiday short, Jackie Cooper wants to throw a Christmas party for his friends on his football team but doesn't know how to go about it. His fellow stars at MGM help him out.
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Politics
Title: Politics
Character: Hattie Burns
Released: February 26, 1931
Type: Movie
A widow's decision to run for mayor kicks off a battle of the sexes in a small town.
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Reducing
Title: Reducing
Character: Marie Truffle
Released: January 3, 1931
Type: Movie
Culture shock bombards a woman and her family when they leave their hick town to help her sister out in her big-city beauty parlor.
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Min and Bill
Title: Min and Bill
Character: Min Divot
Released: November 29, 1930
Type: Movie
Min, the owner of a dockside hotel, is forced to make difficult decisions about the future of Nancy, the young woman she took in as an infant.
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The March of Time
Title: The March of Time
Character: Self - Old Timer Sequence
Released: September 1, 1930
Type: Movie
Unfinished pre-Code era film consisting of three sections with past performers from the stage and the vaudeville circuit, then-present-day performers and up-and-coming performers. Musical excerpts were later used in Broadway to Hollywood (1933), Nertsery Rhymes (1933), and Roast-Beef and Movies (1934). "The Lock Step" was later used in That's Entertainment! III (1994)
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Let Us Be Gay
Title: Let Us Be Gay
Character: Mrs. Bouccicault
Released: July 11, 1930
Type: Movie
Dowdy housewife Kitty dotes on her self-centered husband but divorces him when his mistress shows up at their home one day to break up their marriage. Bob had become bored with her lackluster appearance, their children and himself. Kitty re-invents herself and becomes a Continental favorite, dressing like a fashion model and behaving gaily. Three years after their divorce, Bob is at the home of a wealthy matron romancing her soon-to-be-married granddaughter, when the matron invites Kitty to a weekend party to steal Bob away from the granddaughter. When Kitty and Bob see each other, neither lets on they have a past, and the party continues as Bob pursues his ex-wife and new conquest equally.
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Caught Short
Title: Caught Short
Character: Marie Jones
Released: May 10, 1930
Type: Movie
Landladies Polly Smith and Marie Jones, who operate boardinghouses on the same side of the street, are afflicted with numerous petty envies and jealousies but nevertheless are the best of friends. Polly invests in the stock market and begins to reap rewards, but she is unable to persuade Marie to use her life's savings to buy shares of American Cheese or Brazilian Bananas. Meanwhile, Marie's daughter, Genevieve, and Polly's son, William, just back from college, fall in love; but an argument between the ladies breaks up the romance; and smarting under Polly's patronizing manner, Marie plunges into the market herself and with the winnings is able to stage a society splurge at a fashionable resort.
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One Romantic Night
Title: One Romantic Night
Character: Princess Beatrice
Released: April 30, 1930
Type: Movie
A princess is forced to choose between a charming tutor and a rakish prince.
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The Girl Said No
Title: The Girl Said No
Character: Hettie Brown
Released: March 15, 1930
Type: Movie
A comedy romance in which breezy Haines, as a young lady killer, tries to capture the heart of Hyams who has turned him down for Bushman. Haines plots dozens of extreme measures to win her over, and finally goes so far as to drag her from the altar, bound and gagged.
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Anna Christie
Title: Anna Christie
Character: Marthy Owens
Released: February 21, 1930
Type: Movie
Old sailor Chris Christofferson eagerly awaits the arrival of his grown daughter Anna, whom he sent at five years old to live with relatives in Minnesota. He has not seen her since, but believes her to be a decent and respectably employed young woman. When Anna arrives, however, it is clear that she has lived a hard life in the dregs of society, and that much of spirit has been extinguished. She falls in love with a young sailor rescued at sea by her father, but dreads to reveal to him the truth of her past. Both father and young man are deluded about her background, yet Anna cannot quite bring herself to allow them to remain deluded.
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Chasing Rainbows
Title: Chasing Rainbows
Character: Bonnie
Released: January 10, 1930
Type: Movie
The road-show troupe of a top Broadway show go cross-country while taking the audience along on the on-stage scenes as well as what happens and is happening back stage of the production. The spectacular dancing ensembles and colorful costumes and pulchritude on-stage offers a contrasting background to the drabness of the backstage, where joy, sorrow, tragedies, deception, and romance are intertwined.
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The Vagabond Lover
Title: The Vagabond Lover
Character: Ethel Bertha Whitehall
Released: December 1, 1929
Type: Movie
A zany musical about an amateur musician in search of work who impersonates a big band leader.
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The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Title: The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Character: Self
Released: November 23, 1929
Type: Movie
An all-star revue featuring MGM contract players.
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Dangerous Females
Title: Dangerous Females
Character: Sarah Bascom
Released: November 16, 1929
Type: Movie
Roommates panic and plan when they hear a radio report of a murderer loose in their neighborhood.
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The Divine Lady
Title: The Divine Lady
Character: Mrs. Hart
Released: December 26, 1928
Type: Movie
Lady Hamilton's love affair with Admiral Horatio Nelson rocks the British Empire.
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The Patsy
Title: The Patsy
Character: Ma Harrington
Released: April 22, 1928
Type: Movie
Jealous that her older sister Grace has landed handsome and successful Tony Anderson, Patricia Harrington launches an elaborate charm offensive to win his heart. Patricia shrugs off her diffidence and, in the hope that Tony will be drawn to her new persona, tries to carry herself with the self-confidence of the era's silent film stars. When this doesn't have the desired effect, Patricia takes things a step further.
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Bringing Up Father
Title: Bringing Up Father
Character: Annie Moore
Released: March 18, 1928
Type: Movie
The wealthy Jiggs is tired of being left out of the swanky parties thrown by his social-climbing wife Maggie and their daughter. He decides to teach them a "lesson" by faking his own suicide, but things don't quite turn out the way he planned.
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Breakfast at Sunrise
Title: Breakfast at Sunrise
Character: Queen
Released: October 23, 1927
Type: Movie
While plotting together to win back their lovers, the rich Madeleine and the penniless Pierre fall for each other.
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The Joy Girl
Title: The Joy Girl
Character: Mrs. Heath
Released: September 3, 1927
Type: Movie
Though she loves one man, an ambitious Palm Beach girl marries another, whom she thinks is rich. He turns out to be a fraud who thought she was an heiress. She returns to a successful hat shop she maintains catering to socialites. Her true love turns out to be in fact, a rich man who let her think he was not to test her.
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The Callahans and the Murphys
Title: The Callahans and the Murphys
Released: June 18, 1927
Type: Movie
The story of two feuding Irish immigrant families living in a tenement.
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Tillie Wakes Up
Title: Tillie Wakes Up
Character: Tillie Tinkelpaw
Released: January 29, 1917
Type: Movie
Tillie and her neighbor Mr. Pipkins are both distraught over their respective marriages. One day, they sneak off to have a lively time at Coney Island. They flee the park together just as their spouses come to find them. After a chase, each is rescued from the ocean and reconcile with their respective spouses.
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Tillie's Tomato Surprise
Title: Tillie's Tomato Surprise
Released: September 26, 1915
Type: Movie
Tillie Todd gives her rich Aunt Sally a dime-store tomato pincushion for her birthday, claiming that it is the product of her own hard labor. However, Cousin Percy, also competing for Sally's favor, snidely exposes the deception. While testing his latest invention, Tillie's paramour, The Bat, makes a crash landing at Aunt Sally's birthday celebration. Inspired, eccentric Sally takes to the air herself, but after several days' absence she is declared dead. Aunt Sally bequeaths Tillie the tomato pincushion, giving most of the estate to her pet monkey, Jim, and after Jim's death, to Percy. Wanting to speed up his inheritance, Percy kidnaps Jim and connives to frame Tillie for his apparent death. The police relentlessly pursue Tillie until Aunt Sally finally returns. Disgusted at her inability to rid herself of the ugly pincushion, which Percy nastily keeps returning to her, Tillie rips it apart with her teeth, only to discover that it is filled with 10,000 dollar bills.
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Tillie's Punctured Romance
Title: Tillie's Punctured Romance
Character: Tillie Banks
Released: December 21, 1914
Type: Movie
A womanizing city man meets Tillie in the country. When he sees that her father has a very large bankroll for his workers, he persuades her to elope with him.
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Actors' Fund Field Day
Title: Actors' Fund Field Day
Character: Self
Released: October 11, 1910
Type: Movie
It's more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Regular village "cut-ups" are those actor chaps and actresses.