Marjorie Rambeau

Born July 15, 1889 in San Francisco, unappreciated character player Marjorie Rambeau worked on the stage from the age of 12. In the 1910s and 1920s, she became a prominent Broadway lead, noted for her serene beauty, elegant poise and touching theatrics. Around the same time she made a few silent films that went nowhere. Leaving the Broadway scene in the late 20s she focused on Hollywood but, by this time, her looks had hardened enough that she would only be considered for character, not romantic leads.Marjorie surprised everybody and turned in sterling, flashy support work as blowsy, aging floozies and other pathetic, hard-luck dames. She played an alcoholic mom in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler, then succeeded Dressler herself as the salty waterfront title character in Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940). Nominated twice for Oscars as the prostitute mother of Ginger Rogers in Le lys du ruisseau (1940) and the mother at odds with daughter/star Joan Crawford in La madone gitane (1953), Marjorie was never given the acclaim she deserved. Her versatility was for all to see in such roles as the backwoods Bessie Lester in La route au tabac (1941), and she continued to own her own scenes in such films as Au service des hommes (1955), The View from Pompey's Head (1955) and as Steve Cochran's alcoholic mom in Slander (1957).Offscreen, her private life proved as stormy and difficult as those of her characters. She married three times, her first husband being actor/writer/director Willard Mack. Moreover, alcohol played a strong, sad part in her personal life as well. A number of serious car accidents left her in disabled health for much of her later life. Sadly, she is little remembered except by the most devoted fans of film trivia. In all fairness, her films are definitely worth a look, if but for her scenes alone. Marjorie passed away in 1970 at age 80. Show less «