The True Story of June Mathis

Long, long ago, when Forget the Talkies was something I was sure would fade in a month, I did one of my first articles on June Mathis. Who you ask? Oh only one of the most important women in film history ever, let alone the silent era! She was one of the first female producers, and it seems the first female film executive. Today she is almost solely remembered for 'discovering' Rudolph Valentino. For that alone she deserves a monument.

I admire the hell out of her. Much like Mary Pickford I find her business dealings fascinating. To this day there are very few women behind the scenes in film (or any industry for that matter)...so imagine how it was in the 1920s! As part of the Rudolph Valentino Society articles I finally updated June's. Its lengthy but this is the first time a lot of this stuff has reached the interwebs, or the light of day for that matter. While Dark Lover did her a decent job most other books have not, and of the 3 major female writers from the silent era she is the only one to not have a proper biography. Click here to read the full article. It's almost Nita mind blowing. Some tidbits:

*I'm not fully convinced June was the first female producer as she is so often lauded. Mary Pickford technically won that title in 1915. And Helen Gardner won it in 1912. Helen is probably the first even though she was almost forgotten by 1915. June didn't become a producer until probably 1917.

*Mary wasn't really an executive until UA was formed in 1919 (one might argue about her time at First National in 1918 but she wasn't really an executive, one could also argue about Clara Kimball Young but she never had any real power and she was never an executive at a major company). June became one by 1918 which does indeed make her the first woman to hold that title. Despite popular belief, even after Ben-Hur she was an executive at First National where her Colleen Moore comedies did exceedingly well. She was making $1,000 a week at that time (quite a high salary for someone not in front of the camera, most writers made $250 a week)

*Judging by the evidence I think she did have a relationship with Rex Ingram. Then Valentino came along. I don't think June had a romantic relationship with him BUT the friendship alone was enough to rile Ingram up. He eloped with the air headed Alice Terry and the two went off happily sabotaging their careers and being bitter until the day they died (mostly at Valentino, I haven't heard them say much about June though it might be out there somewhere.)

*She wasn't a fat, frumpy, old frau as so often portrayed. True she wasn't Anita Loos hot but she wasn't some sad frauen either. Mathis' weight came from a heart condition that she was born with, it would end up killing her in the end.

*In 1926 she was voted the third most important woman in the film industry, behind Mary Pickford and Norma Talmadge. Not only did she beat out Gloria Swanson and Lillian Gish but the 3 other top female writers as well: Frances Marion (Mary Pickford's films, Son of the Sheik), Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), and Jeanie Macpherson (Cecil B. DeMille's films).

*SOMETHING happened in 1924 between her and Valentino...what...I do not know. Click here to read more about that. It's terribly fascinating.