It is my firm belief in this day and age that pretty much anyone could write a solid silent film biography if they wanted to. Okay some writing and internet skills help but...call me an optimist I like to think the youngins might take up the reigns someday.
I hate self proclaimed titles. A lot of people like to dub themselves 'experts' or 'authorities' or 'historians'. I like to think those are titles one can only earn, but that doesn't stop people from taking them. I could hear a million old gasp-y shocked breaths if I declared myself any of the above. Someone once went above and beyond to call me a quote 'amateur' over 'historian'. I never thought of myself in any such way but by that point it kind of irked me...I may be no Kevin Brownlow but I research everything meticulously. The Cinecon crowd might not like it but I probably deserve some such title or the other.
A lot of the same old gasp-y crowd would never give out tips, scared someone might usurp their area of expertise. I on the other hand encourage this. If you can go out and find something wildly new and groundbreaking about Valentino (and I mean ya know real and factual, not Vlad Kozlov or Kenneth Anger styled) then I will love you. If you go and write a biography on Renee Adoree (who I've always wondered about) or Anna May Wong (who sorely needs a good bio) again...more love. And maybe cupcakes.
I've tried to style the below advice so it can be used by someone who just googled and has never done a thing before. You blogger types take heed as well, I actually came up with an idea for a post like this when someone mentioned wanting to research an obscure film star for their site but did not know how. These skills are easily applicable online or in print. Frankly I'd like to see more of both. Come on kids...put your thinking caps on!
Before we begin:
1) It's helpful to hold SOME writing skills. If you aren't a mildly amusing writer then please find a partner in crime to help you. Nothing is sadder than a well researched bio with a dry prose...or even worse a poorly sourced one with a dry prose (ex: Graham Russel Hodge's Anna May Wong biography). "They did this, they did that, then records say they did this" does not a story, even on the internet, make. One of my favoritest examples of a GOOD bio is "Pickford: The Woman who made Hollywood" by Eileen Whitfield. Well sourced, and a nice read. Another favorite in prose but less so in research is D.W. Griffith by Richard Schickel (he literally made me laugh out loud at times).
2) NEVER EMBELLISH! Unless you are writing a novel or a screenplay there is no excuse to do so. Hollywood is full of embellishment and frankly no more is needed. Why bother anyways? The story of Olive Thomas is a good example. Really...why would you need to embellish something THAT scandalous?! But people do! Keep meticulous records of your sources and when writing cite and source every damn thing you can. A book without a notes and references section is no biography at all.
3) LOOK OUT FOR EMBELLISHMENTS! I can guarantee you 90% of everything already written about silent film contains one piece of fantasy or another. Especially if its pre 1999 (and even then!) These stars loved to have glamorously made up stories and names, and they would go above and beyond to get them. Even Census and Ship records might not give the full truth (in my general experience 1910 and onward usually is when the lies start slipping in). June Mathis shaved off 10 years, Nita Naldi made up a birth name and place, and several other silent stars are still lost in the census completely buried in their own mythology.
In addition to these logistical problems many books or articles written from 1920-1980 played off pure fiction. A general rule is almost to believe nothing without proof. Nothing is sacred: interviews, articles, records! That's a very key thing to remember especially in the case of interviews: people liked to lie whether it be for malice or mythology, and a lot of times they had their own personal agendas as well (cough Alice Terry cough). HOWEVER don't rule these things out! Via newspaper articles and interviews I found more about Nita Naldi's childhood than I ever thought I would. Via interviews with the sometimes reliable Adela St Rogers I found an interesting June Mathis anecdote. It's just a matter of sleuthing and seeing if the piece fits with other things you've found.
4) HOLLYWOOD BABYLON UGH! Seriously that damn book is responsible for 100% of the myths you'll run into researching silent film stars. This stuff has been repeated ad naseum so long its now fact. The other day an article was posted on a well viewed site saying how Karl Dane operated a hot dog stand outside MGM then killed himself (a Hollywood Babylon 2 story). This was ironically weeks after the wonderfully researched Karl Dane biography came out. The author of the piece wouldn't believe me that this hot dog thing had never happened as said. Kenneth Anger is that pervasive. So make sure whoever you are researching hasn't been mentioned by him, and if they have, learn the myth and debunk the hell out of it!
5) Internet skills! Don't be afraid! These things are easy to learn and usually there is help to be found at your local library or community center. After dealing with my own Grandparents (who believed a blog must be constantly reread from start to finish for 'changes') I've noticed anyone over 40 seems to psyche themselves up to a ridiculous point. It really sincerely is not that hard. Learn. Its so much easier than microfiche and a typewriter (or so I've heard!) PS: Back up everything. Be it by printing or zip drive or even email. You don't want to cry later.
6) Yes location sometimes helps. If you are in New York or Los Angeles it will be easier. BUT if you are in Podunk Iowa you can still write a solid bio (though a research trip might be needed, or a friend in those cities). Another thing to note is taking on a foreign born star might be easier than thought (or so I've heard in the cases of Karl Dane and Vilma Banky). You might have to look into something foreign anyways, but if you've picked a European born star don't be discouraged! These people (particularly dear Max Linder) need you the most! That being said if you have any foreign language skills consider finding something and translating...so many things are lacking in the English world (again Max Linder...and Pola Negri too!)
7) Money. Money sucks. Can you do this without spending a ton? Depends what and how and why. Personally I can't afford to do much out of pocket, which has limited me in certain perfectionist ways (damn Dutch Archives). Others have spent thousands to research something they may never see a return on. You could try for a major publisher (I'd like to see more of this in the future) but these days they don't usually do silent film books, and the few places that do wont give you money to do so (see below section on Publishers). Is it possible to research for free? YES! Again it just depends how in depth and who and what not. Honestly it's a case by case basis. My advice: do what you can, even if your budget is $0. Then at least you did what you could, or who knows maybe you'll be able to complete the project without spending a dime!
Who Should I pick?
I'd be surprised if you really sat down and started reading this without SOMEONE in mind. There is probably some star who has already struck you. Personally I think more is needed on everyone...so if you want to pick Mary Pickford to D.W. Griffith to Valeska Surrat well...yay for you! It's sorely needed.
I think some really lacking areas are the early stars (anyone who started 1909 to 1920) and especially women. On the other hand if D.W. Griffith doesn't have a proper biography then nothing is sacred. One important note: the big 3 (Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton) have been done to death. No more is needed kiddies.
Where to Start
I hate to say it but I don't like to give one 'starting' point. Ask 10 silent biographers and they'd probably give you 10 different answers. Below is my slightly logistical attempt at organizing it, but you can arrange these steps in whichever way suits you best!
1) Other biographies and books
Sometimes you'll be lucky/unlucky enough to already have something written about this person. A google, amazon, or library catalog search should give you a list of books where the person's name is mentioned. Not only should you look for random bits (Hollywood Babylon, Silent Stars, so forth) but books on the person, by the person, and books on people around the person as well. If this is someone you're mildly familiar with then you might know where to go (ex: Pola Negri I'd get a Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino book). If not there might not be much to grab here. Remember the question everything rule...these books might be out of date or might be the very reason you're writing anything to begin with! But it might give you a good clue where to start.
As for where to get books: start at the library. If you're in the big cities you'll truly be blessed (LAPL is heaven for movie books!) If you're in a small town then that advice is probably useless (though an interlibrary loan might be possible). Amazon and ebay are the next steps. Amazon is usually the cheaper of the two but I'd try both. Odd fact: this is usually a very cheap endeavor or a very expensive one. For example Miriam Cooper's biography goes for under $14 while Mae Murray's goes for about $50. Some books go for pennies, others for thousands (such as Natacha Rambova's). If you have a costly subject I'd recommend fighting the library system as best you can, but sometimes its worth the investment (and hey you can always sell it later!)
2) Internet
Well this is usually a useless endeavor, but again it gives you a good idea where you're starting at. IMDB, Wikipedia, Youtube, outdated Geocities sites...all that good stuff. A google search will probably give you as much as you're possibly gonna get. In most cases these sites have nothing, or the general Hollywood Babylon spiels. Pretty much never trust anything in these searches (less its a really fabulous site like this!) but it does give you an idea what everyone assumes, and what people might be interested in learning about your star. Silent film forums might be helpful particularly places like Nitrateville.
3) Newspaper Archives
There are quite a few newspaper archives out there. Some of you may be wondering why I put this above something like Ancestry.com. Well...if you don't know the star's real name or location or age (and trust me few of you do unless someone has already done the leg work) then the newspaper might hold the key. This was the key with Nita. Her standard given birth name yielded no census results. Through the newspaper archives I found her family's names, 3 supposed birth names, and a few birth locations. With this information someone else was able to find her name in the census, something no one would have ever found without looking through the old newspaper articles.
One problem with most newspaper archives is they don't have the rights to the major papers (such as NY and LA), particularly Hearst controlled ones. I've done research without the major papers and its a pain in the butt. The major papers have the meat of what you're looking for, so however you can get to them you might as well start there. LAPL has a lovely list of the best databases. You might have to pay to join them if you aren't blessed enough to be in LA, but its still worth a look.
The first thing to do is type in the given name, and the years they were in the spotlight (ex: Nita Naldi 1919-1930). That should give a solid start. Take notes, and source everything. Once this is done (and it may take awhile) search the other chunks (ex: Nita Naldi 1930-1970). Even minor stars will yield many pages of results...so chunks are pretty much the only way to go.
Remember: not everything the star or their agents say is true...but again it gives you something to confirm or deny.
The best thing about this type of research is it can be done at home quite easily on your own time. However that usually means paying for a subscription to these sites. If that's not an option then I suggest checking with the local library, many of them do newspaper archives of some sort for free. LAPL is again wonderful that way. But even smaller libraries have been known to have such goodies.
If your doing a basic biography or doing an online article this is THE thing you need. Its worth the money. If you invest in nothing else then invest in this.
4) Historical Records
Ah NOW we do ancestry.com! Depending who the person is and how long they lived you might find anything from census records to ship records to certificates. For the record despite my intense attempts I've never been able to find any marriage certificates on ancestry leading me to believe its useless when going back to the 20s in that respect.
Through newspaper searches and other books you've probably found a name (or 3) for the star. They would literally embellish everything from age to birth location to name...so this can be quite tedious. Make friends on genealogy boards if you must. Take heart: some silent stars still haven't been found in the census (Mae Murray for one). Your best best is probably the 1900 census, as most stars weren't old enough to lie about much during that year (though on the other hand it does make them quite hard to find). By 1910 some embellishments start to sneak in and by 1920 and 1930 such things usually make them hard to find again.
If your star was born in another country you'll need to find those local records (surprisingly this is sometimes easier than US ones!) Birth, death, and marriage certificates are all something you will need to send away for, to the local county where the event occurred. Of the 3 you're probably only likely to find the death certificate. Don't rule it out though: sometimes those things can be quite eye opening! Newspaper reports don't always have the full story, so you might find an entirely new angle in acquiring these documents.
5) Film Archives
AH this is my own personal annoyance...mostly because it's so damn impossible and cloistered! Very few silent film stars have complete filmographies anywhere be it online or in a book (Olive Thomas was one such case: in 2004 only 2 films of hers were thought to exist. After the documentary 12 were found to exist...and some not on safety stock either!!!!!) Things are always being rediscovered or bootlegged...so its worth the research.
Click here for a list of film archives around the world. Nothing is as easy as it sounds. Even if the star only made films in the US their films could be flung to the farthest possible reaches of the universe...so the foreign archives are a must! The Nederlands Film Institute is a particular example, they seem to find all the cool stuff.
One key thing to do is make sure you have all the info possible...sometimes films had more than one name or release. The newspaper archive search should have really cleared up what and when for you. You might be surprised what you find...sometimes things are lost until someone searches for them!
As for acquiring prints or viewing copies well...that can get expensive (my one attempt would have been $100 for one film). It's more so worth it to grab what you can via youtube and bootlegs. Or one trip to the most relevant archive (UCLA, MOMA, and the Eastman house would probably be the easiest for US residents). For my Mabel Normand biography I was quite disenchanted with the fact the former publisher (I've since decided to self publish) wouldn't pay research costs, as I feel viewing a film is just absolutely necessary and relevant to writing about it (if indeed the film still exists). Others told me "Oh just write without it!" I feel that's a cheap way to go. At the very least make sure you can view their most relevant films, or in the case of someone like Theda Bara, their remaining films.
A lot of things are on DVD these days. Amazon and ebay usually have most of them. Sometimes they go out of print in which case Movies Unlimited is quite helpful. If you can get TCM then that too is a must. Bootlegs are a God send in the case of rarities. Grapevine Video, Sunrise Silents, Unknown Video, and Ioffer all have many rare silent films on DVD. Online don't rule out the Internet Archive (which is free and legal) and youtube (well the quality is shoddy but it might have some goodies). Sometimes weird things pop up: for the longest time there was a short clip of Norma Talmadge's talkie "Madame DuBarry" on youtube. You never know what you'll find!
6) Film related archives
Now this is the hardcore stuff! Believe it or not movie magazines from the era, scripts, production schedules, stills, unpublished memoirs...all sorts of goodies exist in film related archives around the world! Two really key ones are MOMA in NY and The Margaret Herrick Library in LA. Neither have a full search option online, so they might have what you need and you may never know it. My advice is to give them a call as especially in the Herrick's case, their email replies are quite slow. They cant do all your research for you, but they can at least tell you if they have this or that.
If you intend on writing a really solid print biography then a trip to either of these is a MUST. Many stars donated their memoirs and papers to places like these (and various Universities as well) so you will find very relevant info that is no where else. Important note: some of these collections require permission beforehand...and that can take up to a year to acquire! So speak with the library and see what you need to do, then plan accordingly.
One other neat thing to do is see various collections of costumes and memorabilia if possible. The LA Natural history museum holds a lot of such things (including Mae Murray's dress and Mary Pickford's curls). Might make for interesting photos as well.
On that very note places like the Herrick are key for quality photos: you need certain permissions to print photos if they are still under copyright. You also need the highest quality print possible. In both respects the Herrick can be helpful (though you do have to receive permission to reprint, but its quite doable!)
7) Other
Very VERY rarely will someone relevant still be alive to interview. Dear Doris Eaton (105 I believe) and Frederica Sagor Maas (109) are still alive. But most people who were or knew silent film stars are long gone...even their children! The best bets if you want interviews is to try any child stars still with us or descendants (I'd draw the line at great something or other...after that the memory might be too murky to be of use).
In some of the film related archives mentioned above you might find writings or sometimes video of a relevant person's memories. Just remember interviews and memories can be quite biased...and sometimes helpful. As with everything you'll need to discern fact from fiction.
Getting it out there
Publishers
Honestly it's quite hard to get a University publisher unless you're taking on a very major star (and even then sometimes!), or have some hellit good credentials/contacts. Major publishers are quite hard to get, even if you have a list of well received books under your belt. Simon and Schuster seem the most open, but only when related to Chaplin (praise be his name).
The big 2 for silent film related books are McFarland and BearManor...and sadly neither are quite ideal. McFarland's strong point is they'll pay for your ISBN and do the publishing work...but you won't see a dime off of your book (less it sells really REALLY well...really well!) They mostly work on getting their books in libraries and that's nice...but they always price their books at about $45-$50...which limits your audience (after all who is gonna pay $45 to read about Valeska Suratt or even say Olive Thomas?) They also never put books in stores, so again limiting your audience.
It's just...a very disappointing and frustrating way to go. But if you don't want to spend anything out of pocket and don't want to do some simple publishing work well...then they might be a good route to go. The quality of their stuff varies. Some McFarland books are wonderful and others are...terrible. God awful. Like many publishers they don't fact check. So being published that way won't gain you much in the way of credibility.
BearManor is much better. They do try and get their books in local bookstores and all the major online outlets. They have a solid quality roster and do some basic promotion. Their books also tend to be in the $20-$30 range making it much more accessible to a new reader. The one problem with them for a silent related author is simply this: they aren't silent based. They've done a handful of silent books, mostly on the big comedians or very obscure names. But their focus is more on the 30s and 40s. They're worth a shot, but not a guarantee.
My favorite option is self publishing. Even with my wild internet skills I was opposed to the idea until recently. Self publishing always conjured images of cheap and pathetic books hawked on forums. But apparently in the past few years some major gains have been made in this arena. The two favorites among authors are Lightening Source and Lulu. Lightening Source requires a bit more work on your behalf, but you get a bigger percentage of your sales and frankly it is the preferred route to go among rogue authors. Via either of these you can be listed on all online retailers (including Amazon and Barnes and Noble), set your own price, and you are in control of how your book is promoted. Sadly this isn't the 70s...if anyone is gonna promote your silent book no matter who you go with...well...its gonna be you. Important note on self publishing: never give over your copyright (never do that with ANY publisher), and frankly other than those 2 listed sites trust no one (other sites give you worse deals than McFarland, including Amazon's own self publisher).
I'm wild about this option because it opens the doors to all sorts of wonderful opportunities. An author would have to sell about 20 copies of a book to make back any investment (if they priced it in a decent range) which means a book on the most obscure person could possibly see the light of day this way. It also means we might get wonderful books we never would have under the old system. I eagerly await seeing how this option affects the Silent Film publishing world...it might be the very thing to resurrect it!
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