June Caprice, born Helen Elizabeth Lawson, November 19, 1895 – November 9, 1936,[1] [2] was an American silent film actress.
June Caprice | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Helen Elizabeth Lawson November 19, 1895 Arlington, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | November 9, 1936 (aged 40) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | The Vamp |
| Years active | 1916–1921 |
| Spouse | Harry F. Millarde (m.1923–1931, his death) |
| Children | Toni Seven |
Early life and career
Born Helen Elizabeth Lawson in Arlington, Massachusetts, Caprice was educated in Boston.[3]
She began her acting career in live theatre and in 1916 signed with the Fox Film Corporation. In 1916 William Fox searched to find a "second Mary Pickford." By the summer of that year he believed he had located the woman he predicted would be the best known female on the screen within six months time.[4] The 1916 press release claimed both that she was a 17-year-old teenager, and in the same press release "just a little over 17 years of age."[5] Her obituary in 1936 listed her age as 40, making her about 20 years of age at her discovery.[6]
Caprice's screen debut came in Caprice of the Mountains (1916).[3] A New York Times film critic said of her, "she is young, pretty, graceful, petite, with an eloquence of gesture that augurs a bright future in the movies." Adopting the stage name June Caprice, she made sixteen films for Fox, half of which were directed by Harry F. Millarde. The two began a personal relationship and eventually married.[7]
Retirement
She left the film business to begin a family, giving birth to a daughter June Elizabeth Millarde in 1922. It is believed she returned to working on stage and modeling, appearing on 1920s Coca-Cola company calendars holding a fountain glass of Coke. In 1931 her husband died at the age of forty-six. Caprice died five years later from a heart attack in Los Angeles. She had been suffering from cancer. She was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.[8]
Caprice's daughter was fourteen years old when orphaned and was raised by her grandparents on Long Island, New York. June Millarde became a cover girl known as Toni Seven.[9] She was the heiress to an estimated $3,000,000 fortune.[10]
Filmography
| † | Denotes a lost or presumed lost film. |
| Year | Title | Role | Studio/Distributor | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | The Ragged Princess † | Alicia Jones | Fox Film | [11] |
| 1916 | Caprice of the Mountains † | Caprice Talbert | Fox Film | [12] |
| 1916 | Little Miss Happiness † | Lucy White | Fox Film | [13] |
| 1916 | The Mischief Maker † | Effie Marchand | Fox Film | [14] |
| 1917 | The Small Town Girl † | June | Fox Film | [15] |
| 1917 | A Child of the Wild † | June Griest | Fox Film | [16] |
| 1917 | Patsy † | Patsy Prim | Fox Film | [17] |
| 1917 | Miss U.S.A. † | June | Fox Film | [18] |
| 1917 | Every Girl's Dream † | Gretchen | Fox Film | [19] |
| 1917 | A Modern Cinderella † | Joyce | Fox Film | [20] |
| 1917 | The Sunshine Maid † | (unknown) | Fox Film | [21] |
| 1917 | Unknown 274 † | Dora Belton, in later life | Fox Film | [22] |
| 1918 | A Camouflage Kiss † | Martha Thorne | Fox Film | [23] |
| 1918 | Blue-Eyed Mary † | Mary Du Bois | Fox Film | [24] |
| 1918 | The Heart of Romance † | Eloise Jackson | Fox Film | [25] |
| 1918 | Miss Innocence † | Dolores May | Fox Film | [26] |
| 1919 | A Damsel in Distress † | Maud Marsh | Albert Capellani Productions, Inc. | [27] |
| 1919 | Oh, Boy! † | Lou Ellen Carter | Albert Capellani Productions, Inc. | [28] |
| 1919 | The Love Cheat † | Louise Gordon | Albert Capellani Productions, Inc. | [29] |
| 1920 | Rogues and Romance feature-length version of Pirate Gold | Sylvia Lee | George B. Seitz Productions | [30] |
| 1920 | In Walked Mary | Mary Ann Hubbard | Albert Capellani Productions, Inc. | [31] |
| 1921 | The Sky Ranger † | June Elliott | George B. Seitz Productions | [32] |
References
Bibliography
- Fox, Charles Donald.; Silver, Milton L. (1920). Who's who on the screen. Ross Publishing Co.
External links
- June Caprice at IMDb
- June Caprice at AllMovie
- June Caprice at Find a Grave
- June Caprice New York Public Library Digital Gallery photo
- June Caprice at silentsaregolden