Pauline Garon

Pauline Garon (September 9, 1900 – August 30, 1965) was a Canadian-born American silent film, feature film and stage actress.

Early life

Born in Montreal, Quebec as Marie Pauline Garon, the daughter of Pierre and Victoria Garon, she was of French and Irish descent. Her father first worked for the Canadian postal department, then worked at an insurance agency, where he managed to gain enough money to send his youngest child (out of eleven children) to the Couvent Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart Convent) in Montreal, one of the most prestigious schools in the city. Garon attended this school for seven years. She was the first graduate of the institution to perform in the theater. Garon did not learn English until she was ten years old. Around age 20, Garon ran away to New York City where she began work on Broadway. She debuted in films in Remodeling Her Husband as a body double for Dorothy Gish.

Film career

She was associated with D.W. Griffith when she first came to Hollywood in 1920. Garon's first important role came in 1921's The Power Within. She also played the body double for Sylvia Breamer in Doubling for Romeo (1921).

In 1923, she was hailed as Cecil B. DeMille's big new discovery. He cast her in only two films. One was Adam's Rib (1923). She was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1923. Even before her "discovery", Garon had been a steadily rising star. She appeared opposite Owen Moore in Reported Missing (1922). Garon received much praise for her role in Henry King's adaptation of Sonny (1922 film) (1922). She had been chosen for this role by King after he saw her portray the role in the stage production on Broadway. In 1922 she played with Richard Barthelmess in the First National Pictures release, Sonny.

Garon was making at least five films a year after her popularity soared. She was playing many lead roles in B movies and supporting roles in more glamorous films. She co-starred with Gloria Swanson and John Boles in The Love of Sunya (1927). By 1928 Garon's career began to decline dramatically. She appeared mostly in French renditions of Paramount Pictures movies. She was cast in less popular English films as well. By the early 1930s, Garon was given small uncredited roles. By 1934 she had vanished from film. Garon played a bit part in How Green Was My Valley (1941) and appeared in two westerns, Song Of The Saddle (1936) and The Cowboy and the Blonde (1941).

Marriages

Garon married three times. She wed Lowell Sherman in February 1926. Sherman's influence led Garon to refuse a long-term contract with Paramount. In February 1928 Garon became a citizen of the United States. She separated from Sherman in August 1927. In February 1940 she eloped with radio star and actor, Clyde Harland Alban, to Yuma, Arizona. Garon and Alban divorced in 1942. She wed comedian Ross Forester and remained with him until she died.

Death

Garon died at Patton State Hospital, a psychiatric institution in San Bernardino, California, in 1965, ten days before her 65th birthday. The cause of death was a brain disorder. Garon's health had been precarious for some time. She collapsed at the 20th Century Fox studios in June 1952.

Selected filmography

• Manslaughter (1922) (uncredited)
• Adam's Rib (1923)
• Wine of Youth (1924)
• What the Butler Saw (1924)
• The Farmer from Texas (1925)
• Compromise (1925)
• Christine of the Big Tops (1926)
• Eager Lips (1927)
• Temptations of a Shop Girl (1927)
• The College Hero (1927)
• The Heart of Broadway (1928; survives at Library of Congress)
• In the Headlines (1929)
• Becky Sharp (1935)