Alma Rubens

Alma Rubens (February 19, 1897 – January 21, 1931) was an American film actress and stage performer.

Rubens began her career in the mid-1910s. She quickly rose to stardom in 1916 after appearing opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Half-Breed. For the remainder of the decade, she appeared in supporting roles in comedies and dramas. In the 1920s, she developed a drug addiction that eventually ended her career. She died of lobar pneumonia and bronchitis shortly after being arrested for cocaine possession in January 1931.

Early life Alma and her elder sister, Hazel (born 1893 ) were raised in their mother's faith and attended Sacred Heart Convent in San Francisco.

Career

Her first stage opportunity came when a chorus girl in a musical comedy theater troupe became ill. Rubens was chosen to take her place and joined the troupe as a regular performer. There she met Franklyn Farnum, who was also a member. He later convinced Rubens to leave the troupe and try film acting.

In 1916, Rubens signed with Triangle Film Corporation. Her first film for the company was the comedy-drama Reggie Mixes In, starring Douglas Fairbanks. Later the same year, Rubens was re-teamed with Fairbanks for cocaine comedy The Mystery of the Leaping Fish, The Half-Breed and The Americano. The next year, Rubens co-starred in two westerns, Truthful Tolliver with William S. Hart and The Firefly of Tough Luck with Charles Gunn. In 1918, she announced that she was changing the spelling of her last name from Rueben to "Rubens" because it caused too much confusion in the movie industry and publications. She later told Photoplay magazine, "As a matter of fact, my name is not the same [spelling] as the painter's. It's either Reubens or Ruebens—I forget which. I never could spell it. Couldn't remember where the 'e' came. So I let it go Rubens."

Rubens on the August 1920 edition of Motion Picture magazine. In 1920, Rubens signed with William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Productions. The studio promoted Rubens as its newest starlet, falsely claiming she was a descendant of Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens. Her first film for the studio was Humoresque, which became the studio's only hit that year. Later that year, she starred in dramas The World and His Wife, opposite Montague Love, and Thoughtless Women, both of which further solidified her popularity.

By 1921, Rubens had developed an addiction to heroin after she was prescribed morphine by a doctor for a physical ailment. Due to her drug use and difficult behavior on set, William Randolph Hearst removed her from a film she was set to star in but kept her on the payroll for the next two years. There were rumors that Hearst continued to pay her a salary because the two were involved romantically. Hearst denied this rumor, claiming he continued to pay Rubens because he had invested a substantial amount of money promoting her as the studio's leading lady and that good lead actresses were difficult to find. Rubens returned to the screen in 1922 with roles in Find the Woman and The Valley of Silent Men. Her final film for Cosmopolitan Productions was the historical drama Under the Red Robe in 1923. Hearst released Rubens from her contract the same year.

In 1924, she starred in The Price She Paid for Columbia Pictures Corporation and had a supporting role in the Associated First National production Cytherea. From 1925 to 1926, she worked for Fox Film Corporation. She also had roles in The Gilded Butterfly with Bert Lytell and Siberia (both 1926), the latter of which re-teamed Rubens with Edmund Lowe and Lou Tellegen. Her final film for Fox was 1927's Heart of Salome, after which she decided to work freelance.

In February 1929, Rubens' addiction became known publicly when she attempted to stab a physician who was taking her to a sanatorium for treatment. She was ordered to undergo treatment at the Spadra facility shortly thereafter. She later escaped despite being under the watch of four nurses and two male guards. She was then admitted to a sanatorium in Pasadena but left after 10 days. On May 15, 1929, Rubens' husband, Ricardo Cortez, and her mother had Rubens committed to Patton State Hospital for treatment after she resumed her drug habit. Rubens was released from Patton State Hospital in late December 1929.

She made her first public appearance after her release on January 30, 1930, in a role in a play produced at the Writer's Club in Hollywood. Her performance was well-received by the audience, and she received eight curtain calls. After the show, Rubens gave an interview to United Press stating that she was cured of her addiction. During the interview, she described her descent into drug abuse and her experiences at the sanatoriums. She made an appearance on stage with her husband, but returned to California the same month. She was there less than two weeks when, on January 5, 1931, she was arrested by Federal officers in San Diego for cocaine possession and conspiracy to smuggle morphine from Mexico into the United States. Rubens claimed she was being framed, and physicians attested to her statements that she was not taking drugs.

Personal life

Rubens married three times. Her first marriage was to actor Franklyn Farnum, nearly 20 years her senior, in June 1918. Rubens and Farnum were married secretly and separated about two months later. According to Rubens' divorce petition, Farnum physically abused her and once dislocated her jaw. Their divorce was finalized in December 1919. In November 1923, she married Dr. Daniel Carson Goodman, an author and film producer. They separated in late 1924, and Rubens filed for divorce in January 1925. As her divorce from Goodman was not yet finalized, the new marriage was considered invalid. They were remarried on February 8. At the time of her death, Rubens was suing Cortez for divorce. Cortez claimed he had not been notified of his wife's death, and later remarked that he had not seen her for several months and was unaware that she was seriously ill.

Death Shortly after her release from jail on charges of cocaine possession, Rubens contracted a cold that quickly developed into lobar pneumonia and bronchitis. She fell into a coma at the Los Angeles home of her friend, Dr. Charles J. Pflueger. She died on January 21, 1931, at the age of 33, having never regained consciousness. Her body was then shipped to Fresno where a second service was held at the Christian Science Church on January 26. She is interred in a mausoleum at Mountain View Cemetery in Fresno.

In popular culture This Bright World Again, Rubens' memoirs, was serialized in national newspapers in 1931. The text details Rubens' career and her struggle with drug addiction. The full text, with a biography and filmography by Gary D. Rhodes and Alexander Webb titled Alma Rubens, Silent Snowbird: Her Complete 1930 Memoir, with a New Biography and Filmography, was published by McFarland in 2006.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1914 Narcotic Spectre Short film Lost film The Gangsters and the Girl Molly Short film 1915 Banzai Mirami – Daughter of a Samurai Short film Lost film The Birth of a Nation Belle of 1861 Uncredited The Lorelei Madonna Alma – the Lorelei Madonna Short filmCredited as Alma Ruben Lost film Peer Gynt Bit Role Uncredited A Woman's Wiles Lucile Bergere – a Parisian Model Credited as Alma Ruben Lost film 1916 Reggie Mixes In Lemona Reighley The Mystery of the Leaping Fish Gang Leader's Female Accomplice Short filmUncredited. The Half-Breed Teresa Judith of the Cumberlands Alternative title: The Moonshine Menace Lost film Intolerance Girl at the Marriage Market Uncredited The Children Pay Editha, their stepmother The Americano Juana de Castalar 1917 Truthful Tulliver Grace Burton A Woman's Awakening Cousin Kate Credited as Alma Rueben Lost film An Old Fashioned Young Man Lost film Master of His Home Millicent Drake Credited as Alma Ruben Lost film The Cold Deck Coralie Incomplete copy exists The Firefly of Tough Luck Firefly Lost film The Regenerates Catherine Ten Eyck Credited as Alma Reuben The Gown of Destiny Natalie Drew 1918 I Love You Felice Lost film The Answer Lorraine Van Allen Lost film The Love Brokers Charlotte Carter Lost film Madame Sphinx Celeste Lost film The Painted Lily Mary Fanjoy Lost film False Ambition Judith/Zariska Lost film The Ghost Flower Giulia Lost film 1919 Restless Souls Marion Gregory Lost film Diane of the Green Van Diane Westfall Lost film A Man's Country Kate Carewe 1920 Humoresque Gina Berg (formerly Minnie Ginsberg) Survives The World and His Wife Teodora Lost film Thoughtless Women Annie Marnet 1922 Find the Woman Sophie Carey Incomplete film The Valley of Silent Men Marette Radison Incomplete film 1923 Enemies of Women Alicia Incomplete film Under the Red Robe Renee de Cocheforet 1924 Week End Husbands Barbara Belden Lost film The Rejected Woman Diane Du Prez Cytherea Savina Grove Lost film The Price She Paid Mildred Gower Gerald Cranston's Lady Hermione, Lady Gerald Cranston Lost film Is Love Everything? Virginia Carter Fragment held at the British Film Institute 1925 The Dancers Maxine She Wolves Germaine D'Artois Lost film A Woman's Faith Nerée Caron Fine Clothes Paula Lost film The Winding Stair Marguerite Lost film East Lynne Lady Isabel 1926 The Gilded Butterfly Linda Haverhill Lost film Siberia Sonia Vronsky Lost film Marriage License? Wanda Heriot 1927 One Increasing Purpose Uncredited Lost film The Heart of Salome Helene Lost film 1928 The Masks of the Devil Countess Zellner Lost film 1929 Show Boat Julie Dozier She Goes to War Rosie

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