The Confusing Discrepancies of Olive Thomas

I find the whole 'Olive Thomas' thing fascinating. Both Mary and Lottie married before Jack, and miserably at that, yet some how OLIVE became the 'black Pickford' as Mary was dead set against her. I love Mary (she and Valentino are my favorites, I'm sure that's an obvious statement) and maybe one cant fully blame her, but Olive wasn't THAT bad. I think Jack was more the bad one...

The unfortunate part of Olive is that she died WAY too early to be remembered; literally being the FIRST major scandal in Hollywood with her death in 1920. That means she's been dead going on 89 years. And with that whole talkie thing she was forgotten. I have yet to do a Complete Filmography of hers but a quick look says about half of her films (12) still survive. Yet the only 1 has made its way to DVD: Flapper (her second to last film). To make matters even worse apparently suitable screening prints seem to be hard to obtain; or so the Silent Movie Theatre has told me.

If Olive is remembered at all its for Kenneth Anger's bullshit which seemed to take the yellowest of journalism and showcase it for all of posterity. I never really knew who Olive was till one night I was clicking around on Wikipedia and found a shoddy article about her. I cleaned it up (the present state) with links I found at the bottom. The information is out there...why is it still so hard for people to find?

I think it might be because people don't know WHERE to find it...and unfortunately one chance has already been blown. Not one year ago Michelle Vogel released "Olive Thomas: The Life and Death of a Silent Film Beauty"...and like most of Vogel's work it was panned. I try not to malign people who seem to really be trying; but I'm not fully sure she is/was. She's not as bad as Kenneth Anger, but she's still a bit of an attention whore judging by her press and bios. And to make matters worse no one seems to stock her book(s) with most of them being priced in the $40 range...I don't think its a hardcover but even if it was that price is outrageous unless its the size of a coffee table book (again I doubt it off reviews). I once asked Barnes and Noble if it could be ordered and they said it was classified as a 'text book' and would have to be paid up front (unlike most book orders)...something they even found odd.

The price turned me off right away, but I read the reviews forever ago to see if it would be worth checking out. Most people accused her of not making much sense, and repeating herself in a matter of sentences. Others said she lacked information on anything pre Jack, and this complaint was so heavy that even rave reviews acknowledged it.

I decided just to ignore it, and put an Olive biography on my 'to do list' (its still there unfortunately). But the other day as I was researching some tidbits about her I finally pulled the book up on google book previews...and finally had to admit just how useless it was.

Obviously google book previews don't let you see a lot. I was looking for two things in particular: why she got into pictures, and the name of the nephew she adopted in 1920 shortly before her death. The book gave me NEITHER.

Some biographies are dry and boring to read despite how interesting the person (Anna May Wong's from Laundryman's daughter to Hollywood Legend springs to mind), but the best ones are the ones that tell you ALL about the person. The ones that provide the best facts possible, nice pictures, and guesses as towards the reasons behind the actions of the subject (not presenting it as fact, but piecing together a puzzle if you will). Mary Pickford: The Woman who made Hollywood does this (though its heavily weighed against Lottie for no apparent reason), Rudolph Valentino: Dark Lover was excellent in this respect and in the writing style, and D.W. Griffith An American Life does this nicely as well.

But the Olive book just gives you the perceived facts and leaves it there. For example it tells of her time in the Follies, and how she must have been with Flo because Billie mentioned it, then the next chapter starts with "It was only natural she would eventually get into pictures" and tells how she got in Beatrice Fairfax. Model to Ziegfield Girl to Movie Star wasn't an unnatural jump...but there was nothing else to explain to us WHY Olive may have done this? Her childhood, the people around her, the popularity of pictures by 1914-1916? Trust me this wasn't the ONLY example in the book but it is the first I noticed. She goes on to mention a bit about Olive being in Beatrice Fairfax and how it was popular, but not enough info is given. Nor the reason Olive jumped into her next movie and why she took almost a year to really start a movie career. The fact she was signed with International Film Company at the start was NOT mentioned at all. I literally searched the book for that, it didn't come up.

Why and how Jack and Olive met was also skimped on. The common fact (Nat Goodwin's at the Santa Monica Pier) is given, then Jack giving her an expensive cigarette case the next day is mentioned. That's it. What were they doing for the year Olive wasn't with Triangle? Why and when did they decide to get married? When did he start cheating on her, how much did she care? Did she ever turn the tables? None of this is given.

A final noodle scratcher is the lack of the nephew. I literally searched for that word, adoption, etc but the few results did not lead to anything about Olive adopting her nephew. Though there are sources for that there is no mention of his name, or what happened to him when Olive died. Michelle mentions when Jack died he had 'no children and no heirs' so...the kid was gone by then? Why? When? Where did he go?

I'm sure if I actually sat and read the whole book I'd have a coronary. As any reader of this blog knows I am dedicated to setting the record straight on silents and silent stars. The confusing part to me is how me in 5 minutes can find a site full of Olive's interviews and articles from 1914-1920...yet Michelle Vogel cant.

Despite slamming this book, I have to give there are 2 big Olive discrepancies that sources differ and bigger on...and I would like to find the truth about. One is key to understanding if she killed herself or if it was an accident.

As for my sources the website I mentioned earlier is the devout Taylorolgy. Click here to read the articles.

Olive's First Film

We know IMDB can't be trusted worth a damn. Michelle's book lists Olive's first film appearance as "Beatrice Fairfax: Episode 10, Play Ball!" which was released on October 9, 1916. However this isn't for sure.

The July 1st, 1916 issue of Motography announced Olive signing with the International Film Company to play opposite Harry Fox. On September 16th, 1916 Variety announced she had been 'engaged to play in Beatrice Fairfax'. Very possibly making it her first appearance as it would be filmed shortly after no doubt.

But then the April 14th, 1917 issue of Motograph (announcing her signing with Thomas Ince, but instead of saying Triangle Productions it says 'Kay-Bee Productions'...another mystery) says her screen debut was in the Paramount "A Girl Like That" which was released January 1917.

So something odd was going on here. Maybe Motograph was just making stuff up...but even if it was her second appearance "A Girl Like That" was indeed filmed and released via Paramount. Was she leased out by International Film Corp, or were they done just after Beatrice Fairfax? OR was "A Girl like That" INDEED the first picture, and she signed with International afterwards? These are the kinda things that will keep me up at night...

The Forgotten Nephew

To prove I wasn't just making it up, The March 1920 issue of Photoplay mentions the nephew during an interview with Olive. It mentions Olive having a 'kiddie with her', 6 years old, and male. He was her nephew, 'her brother's boy' but it doesn't say which brother. I'm sure someone with access to records could find which brother's wife died in February 1920, and probably the name of the kid which is not mentioned in the article.

It says the kid went to school at Tarrytown, and would come with Olive to New York 'the next day'. She had bought him a fur overcoat and a little suit. Odd note: it says 'and Olive adopted the boy'. What about Jack? Were they 'off' at this point (the start of the article has her saying how he is her 'long distance lover' a common problem in their marriage)? What was up?

The article also mentions tons of pictures lining the wall, including pictures of Olive and her adopted nephew. Why have these never surfaced?

I think the oddest thing is in her obituaries and articles after her death he is never mentioned. In fact not much is mentioned of her family outside of Jack or what other celebrities thought. Very odd.

You know what makes me maybe the maddest about Vogel's biography? She used this very interview/article...every bit of it...except the parts mentioning the nephew (and even went so far as to cut out a line about him in the photo comment). WHY? Talk about lazy.

The Mercury Bichloride: Liquid or Pills?

Most people assume when Olive took the fatal dose, it was in pill form. Thus they say "How could it NOT be suicide?" The problem is when suicide rumors started up people assumed they were pills, suggesting she had intended to take 'sleeping pills' which would have done her in all the same. But everything else mentions it being liquid.

Either way the medicine was used to treat syphilis, something Jack was widely believed to have contracted.

If it was a liquid than it would be a topical only treatment meaning drinking it would be deadly. A drunk could easily mistake it for some water or sleeping pills (imagine opening your mouth to take a few and get burning instead!) Thus an accidental death would be highly likely.

If it was in pill form then suicide is harder to rule out. The medicine DID come in pill form, and obviously a certain dose would do you in. However it could still be accidental, its harder to know. I am not a fan of this theory mainly because they tried to make Olive vomit and pumped her stomach...if it was pills only that surely would have saved her.

Accidental and Liquid Quotes

One of the first articles from September 9th, 1920 via the New York Herald talks about how Olive was near death, and it was due to an "accidental overdose of corrosive sublimate, taken in an effort to convince her husband of her affection." Obviously the first rumors stuck around the longest.

The article goes on to say she quote, "went to an adjoining room and drank a considerable portion of a poisonous preparation prescribed by a French physician 'for external purposes only.' The base of this preparation was mercuric, and produced the same effect as corrosive sublimate." Thus the first report, also makes mention of it being liquid and for external use only.

The September 10th, 1920 edition of the Los Angeles Herald had this to say, "Olive went into the bathroom where she drank three-quarters of a bottle of bichloride solution prescribed for face external use. Whether she drank this intentionally or by mistake is a question as yet unanswered." Of course 'face external use' is a lie...it was a venereal med. But the rest of it may hint at some answers as 'three quarters' of a topical poison would definitely do you in!

The September 11th, 1920 edition of the New York Herald had this to say, "Miss Olive Thomas (Mrs. Jack Pickford), the American "movie" star, died yesterday morning at the American Hospital at Neuilly-sur-Seine, after five days of terrible suffering, as the result of swallowing a large quantity of a medicinal preparation containing corrosive sublimate. Although much mystery surrounds the death, Mr. Jack Pickford, who was at the bedside when death came, denies that there was any attempt at suicide.Miss Thomas, he says, had been in a nervous condition for several months and merely took the overdose of mercuric solution by mistake."

The article goes on to give further information on the night of her death, "The actress was taken to the American Hospital early last Sunday morning, after first aid had been rendered by Dr. Joseph Lynn Choate, of Los Angeles, who is stopping at the Hotel de la Grand-Bretagne. He is a personal friend of the Pickford family, and was called to the Hotel Ritz, where he found Miss Thomas in a critical condition, a half-emptied bottle of poison telling its own story. Although Dr. H. H. Wanlen, acting chief physician at the American Hospital, remained in almost constant attendance, the condition of the artist gradually became worse until Thursday evening, when blindness developed, and her friends were advised that there was no hope for her recovery. Shortly after daybreak, yesterday, she fell into a peaceful sleep, from which she did not awaken."

A few more articles after these go on to give eye witness accounts of Olive in the hospital for her last day. They say how she smiled and nodded as Jack recounted the events of the night (this would support liquid, because it indicates she could not speak), and another article goes onto to at least confirm Jack's account of a Doctor trying to administer first aid after he found her, before taking her to the hospital. Other accounts tell how Jack stayed by her side the whole time and Olive would hold and kiss his hand.

If indeed she had tried to kill herself (and had done this to get back at Jack or teach Jack a lesson) these are extremely odd actions. Just a point.