Introducing...Miriam Cooper!

D.W. Griffith had in my opinion an odd taste in women. He liked them svelte, sweet, and innocent...at least in looks. It has been said over and over again (rightly so) that Lillian Gish was his ideal in this area (Mary Pickford was too spunky).

While Griffith worked very well with women he totally lost his head when Carol Dempster came round; and subsequently barely discovered anyone star worthy after 1916 (Clarine Seymour I'd say would be the sad exception). At his height with Birth it was said Griffith had the perfect 3 leading ladies: the blonde and occasionally goat like Gish, the obnoxious red headed annoying Mae Marsh, and the dark brunette Miriam Cooper. Of the 3 Cooper is the only one who never had a relationship with Griffith (though according to her he tried at least twice!). And of the 3 Cooper is the only one I find remotely interesting.

No one can deny Gish is an amazing actress. However I tire of her constant death scenes. When I first seen Birth of a Nation I wondered who the dark haired one (Margaret Cameron) was. Once I found it was Miriam Cooper, and that she had written a book, I had to have it! That's one of the two films of hers I've seen (the other is Intolerance, she played the Friendless One). In both films she plays with a bit of natural acting; which is a nice relief from Marsh's obnoxiousness. I think her portrayal in Birth is absolutely excellent...so its curious as to why she really never became much after that.

Turns out she was a bit nutty. I must confess reading her autobiography "Dark Lady of the Silents" I kinda like her. But I have a feeling if we were to meet we would disagree epically. She was extremely jealous of Theda Bara and thought nothing of her, same for von Stroheim. On the other hand she liked Mae Marsh. When she wrote the book just a few years before her death she was an unrepentant old woman, who told it as she seen it (and thankfully didn't ramble like Minta Durfee). She had spunk that much has to be given.

Miriam claimed she never wanted to go into films; and did so strictly for the money (hey at least she was honest!) The minute she met and got with Raoul Walsh (mid 1915?) she had a new obsession and purpose in life. Note that was 1915...right as her two biggest rolls were out.

Seriously I would call the relationship an obsession (she talks of him like he is still her husband yet claims the divorce was bitter, she also tells of the first time she thought he was cheating she drank cleaning product thinking that would show him, etc). She vowed to retire to become a wife and mother but that didn't work out so well (they were unable to have children and eventually adopted). When Raoul asked her to star in his films (threatening to find some pretty young thing to play with if she didn't) she made a brief return to the screen retiring for good in 1924 (2 years before they divorced). It might just be the most curious case of career sabotage I have ever read...

Interesting things about Miriam Cooper...

*She never wanted to be a star, and barely made more than $65 a week with Griffith even though she could have gotten more elsewhere by that point

*Claims Raoul's first feature film "The Honor System" (1917, now lost thanks to that damn Fox Vault Fire in 37) was the greatest thing ever right up there with Birth. Keep in mind she did tend to play him up as God like.

*Had the shooting script for "The Honor System" on the back of an envelope and almost threw it out...until Kevin Brownlow stopped her!

*She said her acting technique came from a love of captivating an audience (as she did repeating 'The Raven' to make her sister do the dishes) and drifting off/day dreaming to escape reality (she likened it to astral projection).

*She never thought of acting and had only seen one picture when a friend suggested for shits and giggles they should go to the Biograph Studio and see what goes on there. They were hired as extras but the friend ran out too chicken. Ironically Miriam would become a star at Kalem before she became a star with Griffith (she wanted the $5 a day paycheck)

*Was extremely jealous (by her own admission) of women and Raoul. However she seems to not admit this when slamming Theda Bara (who Raoul directed twice against his will) who she claims was crazy over him. She goes as far as to say Raoul came home every day tired of Theda 'mooing' over him. Might be a bit much...

*Was extremely possessive of Raoul and unhappy that he had two vices (gambling and women). The first night after they were married that she suspected he was out cheating she drank a cleaner powder thinking that would show him. According to her it didn't work and she spent many more nights wondering where he was and who he was with

*Though she had 2 leads in Griffith's 2 major films (Birth and Intolerance) she quit his company at the start of her fame. Griffith wanted to use her as a sole lead in a new project but the next day she left for New York and wired him that she had married Raoul. The film was never made.

*Was moderately successful when she returned to films for Raoul. She claimed she did it to be with him and more so to keep other women away from him.

*Towards the end of her life she was greatly amused to see the resurgence of silent film let alone classes and books on the subject. She sat in on many classes and gave lectures about her time in film while traveling to screenings and writing "Dark Lady of the Silents".

*Kept the Walsh name till the end of her life, insisted she was called "Mrs. Walsh", and was buried under the name 'Miriam Cooper Walsh' though they'd been divorced 50 years...

*On the set of Birth Griffith would call the Northerners "Damyankee". Miriam insisted she be called a 'damyankee' as she was from New York (despite the fact she was playing a Southerner). Griffith refused.

*Early during her Biograph days she tried to say hello to Griffith and he didnt respond. She vented to Mae Marsh about it calling him all sorts of names. Marsh told Griffith who then called Miriam out on set by dubbing her 'the Queen of Sheba'. They made up later that day but she said the nickname stuck around for months and she hated it.

Without doing a Complete Filmography its quite safe to say some of her more important works didn't survive. I find it a shame she didn't keep with acting as she was quite good with it. I've seen Raoul Walsh I just cant imagine he's worth swallowing cleaner let alone giving up a career for! Valentino or Chaplin maybe...Walsh? Come on! Anyways at least we can still enjoy her work with Griffith which we still have.