Pauline Garon

Marie Pauline Garon (September 9, 1900 – August 30, 1965) was a Canadian American silent film, feature film, and stage actress.

Early life

Marie Pauline Garon was born in Montreal, Quebec on September 9, 1900, the daughter of Pierre and Victoria Garon. She was of French and Irish descent. Her father first worked for the Canadian postal department, then worked at an insurance agency, where he managed to gain enough money to send his youngest child (out of eleven children) to the Couvent Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart Convent) in Montreal, one of the most prestigious schools in the city. Garon attended this school for seven years. She was the first graduate of the institution to perform in the theater. Garon did not learn English until she was ten years old. Around age 20, Garon ran away to New York City where she began work on Broadway.

Film career

Garon made her film debut in Remodeling Her Husband as a body double for Dorothy Gish. She was associated with D.W. Griffith when she first came to Hollywood in 1920. Garon's first important role came in 1921's The Power Within. She also played the body double for Sylvia Breamer in Doubling for Romeo (1921).

In 1923, she was hailed as Cecil B. DeMille's big new discovery. He cast her in only two films. One was Adam's Rib (1923). She was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1923. Even before her "discovery", Garon had been a steadily rising star. She appeared opposite Owen Moore in Reported Missing (1922). Garon received much praise for her role in Henry King's adaptation of Sonny. She had been chosen for this role by King after he saw her portray the role in the stage production on Broadway. She co-starred with Richard Barthelmess in the First National Pictures release.

Garon was making at least five films a year after her popularity soared. She was playing many lead roles in B movies and supporting roles in more glamorous films. She co-starred with Gloria Swanson and John Boles in The Love of Sunya (1927).

By 1928, Garon's career began to decline dramatically. She appeared mostly in French renditions of Paramount Pictures movies. She was cast in less popular English films as well. By the early 1930s, Garon was given small uncredited roles. By 1934, she had vanished from film. Garon played a bit part in How Green Was My Valley (1941) and appeared briefly in two westerns, Song of the Saddle (1936) and The Cowboy and the Blonde (1941).

Personal life

On February 20, 1928, Garon became an American citizen.

While filming The Average Woman in 1924 rumors began to spread that Garon had become engaged to Gene Sarazen, the professional golfer. In March 1924 she issued a complete denial of the rumors.

Garon married three times. She wed Lowell Sherman on February 15, 1926. Sherman's influence led Garon to refuse a long-term contract with Paramount.

She separated from Sherman in August 1927.  In February 1940 she eloped with radio star and actor, Clyde Harland Alban, to Yuma, Arizona. Garon and Alban divorced in 1942. She married Ross Forrester, widower of actress Marion Aye, in May 1953 and remained with him until he died.

Death

Garon died at Patton State Hospital, a psychiatric institution in San Bernardino, California, in 1965, ten days before her 65th birthday. The cause of death was a brain disorder. Garon's health had been precarious for some time. She collapsed at the 20th Century Fox studios in June 1952.

Selected filmography

• A Manhattan Knight (1920) - The Daughter
• The Power Within (1921) - Pauline
• Polly of the Follies (1922) - Ziegfeld Beauty Chorus Girl (uncredited)
• Reported Missing (1922) - Pauline Blake
• Sonny (1922) - Florence Crosby
• Manslaughter (1922) - (uncredited)
• The Man from Glengarry (1922) - Mamie St. Clair
• You Can't Fool Your Wife (1923) - Vera Redell
• Children of Dust (1923) - Helen Raymond
• Glengarry School Days (1923) - Margie Baird
• Forgive and Forget (1923) - Virginia Clark
• Adam's Rib (1923) - Mathilda Ramsay
• The Marriage Market (1923) - Theodora Bland
• The Average Woman (1924) - Sally Whipple
• Pal o' Mine (1924) - Babette Hermann
• The Spitfire (1924) - Marcia Walsh
• Wine of Youth (1924) - Tish Tatum
• The Turmoil (1924) - Edith Sheridan
• The Painted Flapper (1924) - Arline Whitney
• What the Butler Saw (1924) - Joan Wyckham
• Speed (1925) - Wiletta Whipple
• Passionate Youth (1925) - Henrietta Rand
• Fighting Youth (1925) - Jean Manley
• Where Was I? (1925) - Claire
• The Love Gamble (1925) - Jennie Howard
• The Great Sensation (1925) - Peggy Howell
• Satan in Sables (1925) - Colette Breton
• The Farmer from Texas (1925) - Miss Abby Grant
• Compromise (1925) - Nathalie
• Rose of the World (1925) - Edith Rogers
• The Splendid Road (1925) - Angel Allie
• Flaming Waters (1925) - Doris Laidlaw
• The Virgin Wife (1926) - Mary Jordan
• Christine of the Big Tops (1926) - Christine
• Driven from Home (1927)
• The Love of Sunya (1927) - Anna Hagan
• The Princess on Broadway (1927) - Mary Ryan
• Eager Lips (1927) - Mary Lee
• Naughty (1927) - The Bride
• Ladies at Ease (1927) - Polly
• The College Hero (1927) - Vivian Saunders
• Temptations of a Shop Girl (1927) - Betty Harrington
• The Heart of Broadway (1928; survives at Library of Congress) - Roberta Clemmons
• The Girl He Didn't Buy (1928) - Ruth Montaigne
• Dugan of the Dugouts (1928) - Betty
• The Devil's Cage (1928) - Eloise
• Riley of the Rainbow Division (1928) - Gertie Bowers
• Must We Marry? (1928) - Betty Jefferson
• The Candy Kid (1928)
• Redskin (1928) - Party Girl (uncredited)
• The Gamblers (1929) - Isabel Emerson
• In the Headlines (1929) - Blondie
• The Show of Shows (1929) - Performer in 'Bicycle Built for Two' Number
• Le spectre vert (1930) - Lady Violette
• The Thoroughbred (1930) - Margie
• Garde la bombe (1930)
• Échec au roi (1931) - The Princess Anne
• Le fils de l'autre (1932)
• The Phantom Broadcast (1933) - Nancy
• Easy Millions (1933)
• By Appointment Only (1933) - Gwen Reid
• One Year Later (1933) - Vera Marks
• Wonder Bar (1934) - Telephone Operator (uncredited)
• The Merry Widow (1934) - Lola (French Version)
• Lost in the Stratosphere (1934) - Hilda Garon
• The White Cockatoo (1935) - Marianne
• Folies Bergère de Paris (1935) - Lulu
• Becky Sharp (1935) - Fifine
• Going Highbrow (1935) - Josephine - the French Maid (uncredited)
• Dangerous (1935) - Betty - Gail's Maid (uncredited)
• It Had to Happen (1936) - French Maid (uncredited)
• Song of the Saddle (1936) - Settler's wife (uncredited)
• Colleen (1936) - Maid (uncredited)
• King of Hockey (1936) - Marie (uncredited)
• Her Husband's Secretary (1937) - Louise, Carol's Maid (uncredited)
• Shall We Dance (1937) - Minor Role (uncredited)
• Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) - Customer (uncredited)
• Lillian Russell (1940) - Minor Role (uncredited)
• The Cowboy and the Blonde (1941) - Office Worker (uncredited)
• How Green Was My Valley (1941) - Minor Role (uncredited)
• Bunco Squad (1950) - Mary (uncredited) (final film role)