Lucille Ricksen

Lucille Ricksen (born Ingeborg Myrtle Elisabeth Ericksen; August 22, 1910 – March 13, 1925) was an American motion picture actress during the silent film era. She died of tuberculosis on March 13, 1925, at the age of 14.

Early life Ingeborg Myrtle Elisabeth Ericksen was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 22, 1910. Her parents were Danish immigrants named Samuel and Ingeborg Nielsen Ericksen. Although Ricksen's birth year has been stated to be earlier, particularly as she often portrayed adult characters in films,

Edgar Pomeroy series Ricksen began her career as a baby model, initially within poorly-paid modeling roles. Upon her parents' urging, she advanced to more professional child modeling and acting roles, adopting the pseudonym Lucille Ricksen at age four. Through these modelling and acting roles, she and her brother rose to fame and provided a revenue for their parents as both children were committed to increasingly exhaustive work schedules. The serial shorts of The Adventures of Edgar Pomeroy ran in approximately 12 installments and were based on the stories of Booth Tarkington, with child actor Edward Peil Jr. taking the leading role of Edgar, and Ricksen the leading female role. In one review of her performances in this series, Ricksen was described as: "One of the most promising Hollywood actresses" She was next cast in the 1922 Stuart Paton directed comedy The Married Flapper opposite Marie Prevost and Kenneth Harlan and the 13-year-old's career opportunities began to improve dramatically. In 1922, Ricksen was signed to a contract with actor and director Marshall Neilan, who cast her in the commercially and critically successful Neilan-directed drama The Stranger's Banquet in which she was cast alongside both Claire Windsor and Hobart Bosworth.

Progression of career Beginning with the development of her career via the Edgar series, Ricksen took great care to preserve records of the early years of her career and her experiences in the silent films in which she starred. She is known to have preserved flyers and posters documenting her career, and to have cut and pasted newspaper clippings relating to any works in which she held a role into a journal. Beneath each cutting or photograph, she would write her personal sentiments as to her feelings relating to her progressing career.

Throughout the early 1920s, Ricksen appeared in a number of high-profile acting roles, although in many instances, she had to portray a character much older than her years. Her first assigned role as the leading female actress in a major film was in the 1923 movie The Rendezvous; a World War I satire in which she was cast as a deaf Russian peasant girl named Vera. Another notable performance Ricksen undertook in 1923 was her role as Ginger in the John Griffith Wray directed drama Human Wreckage: a drug prevention film produced by and starring actress Dorothy Davenport. (This film was made in reaction to the death of Davenport's husband, actor Wallace Reid, as a result of his morphine addiction).

Initially, her true age was accurately reported in the press, with one typical editorial, the Covington Republic, appraising her in February 1923 as being "The youngest leading lady on the screen".

Death While filming the Del Andrews directed comedy The Galloping Fish in 1924 opposite Sydney Chaplin and Louise Fazenda (in which she portrayed the role of the wife of the lead character), Ricksen became ill. She had appeared in prominent roles in 10 films that year, including the popular drama The Painted Lady opposite George O'Brien and Dorothy Mackaill. However, by early 1925, her condition had worsened and she was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. During her illness, her father disappeared.

Ricksen was bedridden for the last few months of her life, and her distraught mother Ingeborg maintained a bedside vigil over her daughter, insisting that both the press and all contacts Ricksen had made throughout her filming career cease until she had recovered. Nonetheless, Ricksen was visited on a weekly basis by film director and screenwriter Paul Bern, who brought her flowers and would read magazines to her while he held her hand.

In late February 1925, Ingeborg succumbed to a fatal heart attack and collapsed on top of her bedridden daughter.

Posthumous After Ricksen's death, the media extensively reported that her illness had been created through a combination of malnutrition and exhaustion due to her working almost non-stop for twelve years, largely under poor conditions and at the insistence of both her mother and her agents. Ricksen's death was cited as an example for parents not to exploit their children to showcase their talent.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1920 Edgar and the Teacher's Pet Short film Lost film 1920 Edgar's Hamlet Short film 1920 Edgar's Jonah Day Short film Lost film 1920 Edgar Takes the Cake Short film Lost film 1920 Edgar's Sunday Courtship Short film Lost film 1920 Edgar Camps Out Short film Lost film 1920 Edgar's Little Saw Short film Lost film 1920 Edgar, the Explorer Short film Lost film 1921 Edgar's Country Cousin Short film Lost film 1921 Edgar's Feast Day Short film Lost film 1921 Edgar, the Detective Short film Lost film 1921 The Old Nest Kate at 9 1922 The Married Flapper Carolyn Carter Lost film 1922 Remembrance Child Lost film 1922 The Girl Who Ran Wild Clytie Lost film 1922 Forsaking All Others May Wharton Lost film 1922 The Strangers' Banquet Flapper Lost film 1923 The Social Buccaneer Lucille Vail Lost film 1923 One of Three Lost film Short film 1923 Under Secret Orders Lost film Short film 1923 Trimmed in Scarlet Faith Ebbing Lost filmCredited as Lucille Rickson 1923 The Secret Code Lost film Short film 1923 The Radio-Active Bomb Lost film Short film 1923 The Showdown Lost film Short film 1923 Human Wreckage Ginger Lost film 1923 The Rendezvous Vera 1924 Judgment of the Storm Mary Heath 1924 The Galloping Fish Hyla Wetherill 1924 The Hill Billy Emmy Lou Spence Lost film 1924 Those Who Dance Ninon Lost film 1924 Young Ideas Eloise Lowden 1924 Behind the Curtain Sylvia Bailey 1924 Vanity's Price Sylvia, Teddy's fiancee Alternative title: This House of Vanity Lost film 1924 The Painted Lady Alice Smith Lost film 1924 Idle Tongues Faith Copeland Lost film 1925 The Denial The daughter Incomplete film