Phyllis Haver as Jazz Age Murderess Roxie Hart Original 1927 Chicago Photograph

Description

ITEM: This is a vintage and original publicity photograph of actress Phyllis Haver as the jazz age murderess Roxie Hart. Haver played Hart in the 1927 De Mille Pictures / Pathé Exchange silent film "Chicago." She is seen here in her jail cell reading her above the fold cover story in the newspaper. The press snipe on verso reads:
Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart the jazz slayer in Pathe-DeMille special "Chicago" coming soon to the Gaiety Theatre, New York.
Fresh out of high school, a young Phyllis Haver paid a visit to the Mack Sennett studios, hoping to get a job as an actress. According to Haver, her "audition" consisted of having the attractiveness of her knees assessed by a bored Mack Sennett. Slightly more talented than most of the Sennett bathing beauties, Haver quickly worker her way up to leading roles, then left 2-reelers for a substantial career in silent features. Sensing that her career would end when talkies began, Haver retired in 1929 to marry a New York millionaire.
Photograph measures 8" x 10" on a glossy single weight paper stock with typed studio text on verso.
Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
More about Phyllis Haver:
An adorable blonde comedienne of silent films, Haver got her start as a Mack Sennett bathing beauty. She began work in 1917 and was soon a top-line comic at a week in such two-reelers as "A Bedroom Blunder" (1917), "Why Beaches Are Popular," "Love Honor and Behave" (1920) and "On a Summer's Day." She also appeared in a few Sennett features, such as "Yankee Doodle in Berlin" (1919) and "A Small Town Idol" (1921).
Although Haver was very happy with Sennett, he kicked her out of the nest when feature companies came calling for her services. She went on to star in a number of hit films throughout the 1920s, working for nearly every studio and director in the business. She was a golddigger in "The Bolted Door" (1923), portrayed "The Perfect Flapper" (1924), co-starred with John Gilbert as "The Snob" (1924), pursued "Other Women's Husbands" (1926), was seduced by John Barrymore's "Don Juan" (1926), flirted her way through "What Price Glory?" (1926) and was a thieving adventuress in "The Way of All Flesh" (1927). Haver's finest hour was her brilliant performance as a publicity-hungry murderess in "Chicago" (1927). Her skills as both a comedienne and a skilled dramatic actress were showcased in this film, which was later remade both onscreen (as the 1942 Ginger Rogers vehicle "Roxie Hart") and was the basis of a 1975 Bob Fosse-John Kander-Fred Ebb musical.
Haver left films in 1929 after a few part-talkies, retiring to marry a millionaire (although the marriage did not last). She settled in a small town in Connecticut, where she stayed out of the headlines until November 19, 1960, committing suicide one week after Mack Sennett's death.
Biography From: TCM | Turner Classic Movies