Mildred Harris

Mildred Harris (November 29, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American stage, film, and vaudeville actress during the early part of the 20th century. Her parents were telegraph operator Harry Harris and Anna Parsons Foote. Harris made her first screen appearance at age 10 in the 1912 Francis Ford- and Thomas H. Ince-directed Western short The Post Telegrapher. She followed the film with various juvenile roles, often appearing opposite child actor Paul Willis. In 1914, she was hired by The Oz Film Manufacturing Company to portray Fluff in The Magic Cloak of Oz and Button-Bright in His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. In 1916, at age 15, she appeared as a harem girl in Griffith's film Intolerance.

Career

In the 1920s, Harris transitioned from child actress to leading roles with Conrad Nagel, Charley Chase, Milton Sills, Lionel Barrymore, Rod La Rocque and the Moore brothers, Owen and Tom. She appeared in Frank Capra's 1928 silent drama The Power of the Press with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Jobyna Ralston, and the same year, she starred in Universal Pictures' first sound film Melody of Love with Walter Pidgeon.

She found the transition to sound films difficult, and her career slowed dramatically. She performed in vaudeville and burlesque, and at one point, she toured with comedian Phil Silvers. She was critically praised for her performance in the 1930 film adaptation of the Broadway musical No, No Nanette. In the 1936 Three Stooges comedy Movie Maniacs, she portrayed a film starlet who is startled by Curly Howard when he strikes a match on the sole of her foot.

Harris continued to work in film in the early 1940s, largely through Cecil B. DeMille, who cast her in bit parts in 1942's Reap the Wild Wind (starring Paulette Goddard, who like Harris, was once married to Charlie Chaplin), and 1944's The Story of Dr. Wassell. Her last film appearance was in the posthumously released 1945 film Having a Wonderful Crime.

Personal life

At age 16, Harris met and dated actor Charlie Chaplin in mid-1918, when he was 29. She thought she was pregnant by him, but the pregnancy was found to be a false alarm. They married privately on October 23, 1918, in Los Angeles. She later became pregnant. The couple quarreled about her contract with Louis B. Mayer and her career. Chaplin felt she was not his intellectual equal. Their child, Norman Spencer, died in July 1919, at age 3 days, and the couple separated in autumn 1919.

Chaplin moved to the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Harris believed a happy marriage was possible, but in 1920, she filed for divorce based on mental cruelty. Chaplin accused her of infidelity, and although he would not name her lover publicly, actress Alla Nazimova was suspected. The divorce was granted in November 1920, with Harris receiving $100,000 in settlement and some community property.

In 1924, Harris married Everett Terrence McGovern. The union lasted until November 26, 1929, when Harris filed for divorce in Los Angeles on the grounds of desertion. The couple had one son, Everett Terrence McGovern, Jr. (1925 - 2014). In 1934, she married former football player William P. Fleckenstein in Asheville, North Carolina. Fleckenstein owned a musical show in which he and Harris were performing at the time of their marriage. She is interred in the Abbey of the Psalms Mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. Harris was played by actress Milla Jovovich in the 1992 biographical film Chaplin.

Filmography Year Film Role Notes 1912 The Post Telegrapher The Triumph of Right Their Little Daughter His Nemesis The Frontier Child A Frontier Child His Squaw His Sense of Duty 1913 A Shadow of the Past The Wheels of Destiny The Miser The Drummer of the 8th A Child of War A True Believer The Seal of Silence Granddad Mildred Survives Borrowed Gold 1914 Romance of Sunshine Alley O Mimi San The Courtship of O San Wolves of the Underworld The Colonel's Orderly The Social Ghost Ethel Shadows of the Past A Frontier Mother The Sheriff of Bisbee Shorty and the Fortune Teller When America Was Young Mildred's Doll Mildred The Magic Cloak of Oz Princess Margaret 'Fluff' of Noland His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz Button-Bright, who is lost and doesn't care Jimmy Mary 1915 The Lone Cowboy The Warrens of Virginia Betty Warren Enoch Arden A Child uncredited The Little Matchmaker Mildred The Little Soldier Man Mildred The Absentee Innocence Lost A Rightful Theft The Old Batch First Adopted Daughter The Choir Boys The Little Lumberjack The Indian Trapper's Vindication Dorothy King - their Daughter 1916 Hoodoo Ann Goldie Survives; Library of Congress Intolerance Favorite of the Harem uncredited, Survives; many The Old Folks at Home Marjorie Unsure if it exists. LoC online database says 'No'. silentera.com says 'Yes' uncredited, Survives; Library of Congress, others The Americano Stenographer Survives; Library of Congress, others 1917 The Bad Boy Mary Lost A Love Sublime Eurydice Lost An Old Fashioned Young Man Lost Time Locks and Diamonds Lolita Mendoza Lost Golden Rule Kate Olive - Kate's sister Survives; Library of Congress, Academy Film Archive (possible abridgement) The Cold Deck Alice Leigh print Incomplete; Library of Congress, La Cinemathèque française The Price of a Good Time Linnie Lost 1918 The Doctor and the Woman Sidney Page Lost Cupid by Proxy Jane Stewart print Survives; Archives du Film CNC Bois d'Arcy, France For Husbands Only Toni Wilde Lost Borrowed Clothes Mary Kirk Lost 1919 When a Girl Loves Bess Lost Home Millicent Rankin Lost Forbidden 'Maddie' Irvin Lost 1920 Old Dad Daphne Bretton Lost The Inferior Sex Allisa Randall Lost (as Mildred Harris Chaplin) Polly of the Storm Country Polly Lost (as Mildred Harris Chaplin) The Woman in His House Hilda Lost (as Mildred Harris Chaplin) 1921 Habit Irene Fletcher Lost A Prince There Was Katherine Woods Lost Fool's Paradise Rosa Duchene Survives; Library of Congress 1922 The First Woman The Girl Lost 1923 The Fog Madelaine Theddon Lost The Daring Years Susie LaMotte Lost 1924 The Shadow of the East Gillian Locke Lost By Divine Right The Girl Lost Traffic in Hearts Alice Hamilton Lost One Law for the Woman Polly Barnes print Survives; private holding (abridgement) In Fast Company Barbara Belden print Survives; Filmmuseum Amsterdam (EYE Institut) Unmarried Wives Princess Sonya print Survives; Filmoteca Espanola (Madrid) Stepping Lively Evelyn Pendroy, the girl Survives The Desert Hawk Marie Nicholls Lost 1925 Easy Money Blanche Amory Survives; Library of Congress Flaming Love Chita Lost Beyond the Border Molly Smith Survives The Dressmaker from Paris Joan McGregor Lost (per Lost Film Files) Super Speed Claire Knight Survives; Library of Congress Private Affairs Amy Lufkin Lost My Neighbor's Wife Inventor's Wife Lost A Man of Iron Claire Bowdoin Lost The Fighting Cub Margie Toler Incomplete; print held at UCLA, one reel missing The Unknown Lover Gale Norman Lost Soiled Pet Darling Lost 1926 Mama Behave Lolita Chase, Charlie's WifeShort, Survives The Isle of Retribution Lenore Hardenworth Lost The Self StarterRuth Atkin Lost Dangerous Traffic Helen Leonard Survives The Wolf HuntersHelen Ainsworth Lost The Mystery Club Mrs. Kate Vandeerveer Lost (per Lost Film Files: Universal Pictures) Cruise of the Jasper B Agatha Fairhaven Survives; Library of Congress 1927 The Show Girl Maizie Udell Survives; Library of Congress, UCLA Film and Television One Hour of Love Gwen Survives; National Archives of Canada Husband Hunters Cynthia Kane Survives; BFI London Wandering Girls Maxine Survives; La Corse Et Le Cinéma Wolves of the Air Marceline Manning Survives Burning GoldClaire Owens Lost She's My Baby Claire Daltour Lost Rose of the Bowery Lost The Swell-Head Kitty Lost (per Lost Film Files: Columbia Pictures) The Girl from Rio Helen Graham Survives; Library of Congress Out of the Past Dora Prentiss Lost The Adventurous Soul Miriam Martin Survives; Library of Congress 1928 The Last Lap Lost Hearts of Men Alice Weston Lost The Heart of a Follies Girl Florine Lost Lingerie Mary print Survives; BFI London The Speed Classic Sheila Van Hauten Lost Melody of Love Madelon Unsure; LoC says yes...silentera.com says no The Power of the Press Marie Weston Survives 1929 Side Street Bunny Survives Sea Fury The Girl Lost 1930 No, No, Nanette Betty The Melody Man Martha Ranch House Blues 1935 Lady Tubbs Society Woman uncredited The quiero con locura Never Too Late Mary Lloyd Hartley 1936 Movie Maniacs Leading Lady Great Guy bit role uncredited 1942 Reap the Wild Wind Dancing Lady uncredited Holiday Inn Woman uncreditedunconfirmed1943 Sweet Rosie O'Grady Minor role uncredited 1944 The Story of Dr. Wassell Dutch nurse uncredited Fun Time Tillie uncredited Hail the Conquering Hero Wife of Marine Colonel uncredited 1945 Having Wonderful Crime Guest uncredited