Charlotte Merriam | |
|---|---|
 Merriam in 1920 | |
| Born | April 5, 1906 Sheridan, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | July 10, 1972 (aged 66) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Years active | 1919–1934 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Charlotte Merriam (April 5, 1903 – July 10, 1972) was an American motion picture actress.
Bessie Charlotte Merriam was the daughter of army colonel Henry Clay Merriam (1879-1955) and born in Fort Sheridan, Illinois.[1]
Her film career began in 1919 at the age of 16 with a role in The Flip of a Coin. While visiting Universal Pictures that year, she was offered a part in a comedy series starring Eddie Lyons and Leo Moran, possibly to replace their female regular, Betty Compson, who graduated to features. Merriam accepted. Afterward, she played leads in one- and two-reel comedies, and appeared in important parts in longer features.[2]
She performed with Colleen Moore in The Nth Commandment (1923) and was the female lead in The Brass Bottle (1923), directed by Maurice Tourneur.
She signed a long-term contract with Vitagraph Studios in June 1924. Her role of Mary Trail in Captain Blood (1924) was her transition from comedy to more serious films.[3] Merriam was associated with Warner Brothers Pictures from 1929, when she signed to play the role of Camilla in Dumbbells in Ermine (1930).[4] She was cast with Paul Hurst in an orphanage drama produced by the Tiffany Pictures about children of a deceased firefighter. The early sound film is titled The Third Alarm (1930).[5]
After the advent of sound, Merriam's roles consisted of portrayals of tarnished society women, notably Marcia Mae Jones' drunken mother in Night Nurse (1931) starring Barbara Stanwyck and Clark Gable, and as the syphilis infected Elise in Damaged Lives (1934). She seems to have retired after that.
In December 1923, Merriam was named a co-respondent in a divorce suit brought by May Morris, the wife of film director Reggie Morris.[6] Merriam married actor Rex Lease in 1925. The two met when he appeared in one of her films two years earlier. They had two children, Douglas Merriam Kinleyside (1937–1964) and Duncan William Kinleyside (1940–1994). The actress filed for divorce in 1929.[7] Merriam later married actor Don Douglas, who died in 1946. Their residence was at 12423 Laurel Terrace, Studio City, California.[8] Lastly, Merriam married Russell Kennedy Woodward (1910–1974).
Her childhood ambition was to become a concert pianist. She continued her musical education as a screen actress. She studied to be a vocalist with Felix Hughes. In January 1931, Merriam was operated on for an emergency appendicitis in San Francisco, California. She was in the Bay Area to participate in the entertainment for an automobile show.[9]
Merriam died in Los Angeles on July 10, 1972.
