Carmel Myers

Carmel Myers (April 9, 1899 – November 9, 1980) She had an older brother, Zion, and she was a cousin of director Mark Sandrich and photographer Ruth Harriet Louise. Carmel's father was active in campaigns for women's suffrage, abolition of capital punishment, and zionism. He also was a noted scholar. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1905.

Myers attended Los Angeles High School but left after D. W. Griffith gave her bit part in the film Intolerance (1916), for which her father was an unpaid consultant. She continued her education at a school for young actors.

Myers helped her brother become a writer and director in Hollywood.

Career Silent film and theater

Myers left for New York City, where she acted mainly in theater for the next two years. She was signed by Universal, where she emerged as a popular actress in vamp roles. Her most popular film from this period—which does not feature her in a vamp role—is probably the romantic comedy All Night, opposite Rudolph Valentino, who was then a little-known actor. She also worked with him in A Society Sensation. By 1924, she was working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, making such films as Broadway After Dark, which also starred Adolphe Menjou, Norma Shearer, and Anna Q. Nilsson.

In 1925, she appeared in arguably her most famous role, that of the Egyptian vamp Iras in Ben-Hur, who tries to seduce both Messala (Francis X. Bushman) and Ben-Hur himself (Ramón Novarro). This film was a boost to her career, and she appeared in major roles throughout the 1920s, including Tell It to the Marines in 1926 with Lon Chaney, Sr., William Haines, and Eleanor Boardman. Myers appeared in Four Walls and Dream of Love, both with Joan Crawford in 1928; and in The Show of Shows (1929), a showcase of popular contemporary film actors.

Sound films, radio, and television

Myers had a fairly successful sound career, mostly in supporting roles, perhaps due to her image as a vamp rather than as a sympathetic heroine. Subsequently, she began giving more attention to her private life following the birth of her son in May 1932. Amongst her popular sound films are Svengali (1931) and The Mad Genius (1931), both with John Barrymore and Marian Marsh, and a small role in 1944's The Conspirators, which featured Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet.

In 1939, Myers performed for 13 weeks on the Resinol radio program that was broadcast twice weekly from station KHJ and carried on the Don Lee Network.

In 1951, Myers had a celebrity interview TV program, In 1952, she formed Carmel Myers Productions, a firm for producing radio and TV programs. The company's productions included Mark Hellinger Tales, a transcribed series of 30-minute radio dramas with Edward Arnold as narrator and Cradle of Stars, a 30-minute filmed TV series with Gregory Ratoff as director and star.

Later, she focused on a career in real estate and her perfume distribution company. In 1976, Myers was one of the very few silent stars who were cast in Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, a comedy featuring cameos by dozens of Hollywood stars of the past.

Book In 1952, Doubleday & Company published Don't Think About It, a 64-page book by Myers. Based on her experiences following the death of her husband, the book related her philosophy for emotional survival after a person has a tragedy in his or her life.

Personal life

Myers was married on July 16, 1919 to attorney and songwriter Isadore B. Kornblum; they divorced in 1923.

Myers and attorney Ralph H. Blum married on June 9, 1929, and had three children: author Ralph H. Blum (born 1932), known for his works on divination through Norse runes, and two adopted daughters, actress and radio personality Susan Adams Kennedy (born 1940) and television producer Mary Cossette (born 1941). Grandson literary agent/manager John Ufland (born 1962)Myers and Blum purchased Gloria Swanson's Sunset Boulevard home.

On October 30, 1951, Myers married Paramount Pictures executive Alfred W. Schwalberg in Brooklyn. They were married until his death in 1974.

Death Myers died of a heart attack on November 9, 1980, in Los Angeles Medical Center at the age of 81. She was buried near her parents at Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles. Her epitaph reads "L'Chaim", which is Hebrew for "to life".

Filmography Film roles

Year Title Role Notes1915 Georgia Pearce 1916 Intolerance Favorite of the Harem Uncredited The Heiress at Coffee Dan's Waitress1917 The Bad Boy Bit Role Stage Struck Bit Role A Love Sublime Toinette A Daughter of the Poor Hazel Fleming Might and the Man Winifred The Haunted Pajamas Frances Kirkland Sirens of the SeaJulie The Lash of Power Marion Sherwood 1918 My Unmarried Wife Mary Cunningham The Wife He Bought Janice Brieson The Girl in the Dark Lois Fox The Wine Girl Bona The Marriage Lie Eileen Orton A Broadway Scandal Nenette Bisson The City of Tears Rosa Carillo The Dream Lady Rosamond Gilbert All Night Elizabeth Lane 1919 Who Will Marry Me? Rosie Sanguinetti The Little White Savage Minnie Lee 1920 In Folly's Trail Lita O'Farrell The Gilded Dream Leona Beautifully Trimmed Norine Lawton 1921 The Mad Marriage Jane Judd The Dangerous Moment Sylvia Palprini Cheated Love Sonya Schonema The Kiss Erolinda Vargas Breaking Through Bettina Lowden A Daughter of the Law Nora Hayes 1922 The Love Gambler Jean McClelland The Danger Point Alice Torrance Lost film1923 The Last Hour Saidee McCall The Famous Mrs. Fair Angy Brice Good-By Girls! Florence Brown The Little Girl Next Door Milly Amory Mary of the Movies Herself Uncredited Slave of Desire Countess Fedora The Dancer of the Nile Arvia Lost film The Love Pirate Ruby Le Maar Lost film Reno Mrs. Dora Carson Tappan 1924 Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo Mrs. Belmire Beau Brummel Lady Hester Stanhope Broadway After Dark Lenore Vance Babbitt Tanis Judique Garragan 1925 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ Iras 1926 The Devil's Circus Yonna The Gay Deceiver Countess de Sano Tell It to the Marines Zaya 1927 The Demi-Bride Madame Girard The Understanding Heart Kelcey Dale The Girl from Rio Lola Sorrell and Son Flo Palfrey 1928 A Certain Young Man Mrs. Crutchley Prowlers of the Sea Mercedes Four Walls Bertha Dream of LoveThe Countess 1929 The Ghost Talks Marie Haley Careers The Woman The Careless Age Rayetta Broadway Scandals Valeska The Red Sword Katherine The Show of Shows Performer in 'Ladies of the Ensemble' Number 1930 The Ship from Shanghai Viola Thorpe A Lady Surrenders Sonia 1931 The Lion and the Lamb Inez Svengali Madame Honori Pleasure Mrs. Dorothy Whitley Chinatown After Dark Madame Ying Su The Mad Genius Sonya Preskoya Nice Women Dorothy Drew 1932 No Living Witness Emillia 1934 The Countess of Monte Cristo Flower Girl 1942 Lady for a Night Mrs. Dickson1944 The Conspirators Baroness von Kluge Uncredited1945 George White's Scandals Leslie1946 Whistle Stop Estelle 1976 Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood Woman Journalist Final film role

Short subjects

Television Credits

Year Title Role Notes1950 Danger Episode: "The Green and Gold String"1951-1952 The Carmel Myers Show Host 1953 Studio One Episode: "The Magic Lantern"1975 The Wide World of Mystery Episode: "Nick and Nora"Chico and the Man Violette Baines Episode: "Bird in a Gilded Cage"