Clarine Seymour
Yet another example of a "gone too soon" star, but the more appropriate title should be, "gone but never forgotten." Although often typecast as somewhat of a vamp, she was actually known to be very sweet in real life. Clarine's best-remembered films were the four pictures she made for D.W. Griffith: The Girl Who Stayed at Home (1919), True Heart Susie (1919), Scarlet Days (1919), and The Idol Dancer (1920). She was originally cast as Kate in Way Down East (1920), but that's when death became of her and her scenes were re-shot.
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Born on December 9, 1898, in Brooklyn, her parents were well-to-do methodists. Clarine also had a younger brother, Albert, who ran a prosperous ribbon manufacturing business. As printed in the July 1920 edition of Photoplay, Clarine's 'first appearances in public were at the entertainments given in the New York Avenue Methodist church.'
When she was 18, her father sold off his business after becoming ill. Since the family was running short on money, they moved to New Rochelle in the summer of 1917 when Clarine was 19 years old. It was there that she decided to pursue a career in the motion picture business to help support her family. Initially, she found work as an extra, but her persistence led to small bit parts. As she was slowly moving up the game, Clarine got better roles and experienced her first success in Pathe's Mystery of the Double Cross (1917). Hal Roach noticed her performance and offered her a contract with the Rolin Film Company. She accepted. Although most sources credit her as the girl Stan Laurel chases after in the short, Just Rambling Along (1918), there is no complete evidence that the girl is actually her. I viewed the film myself and can confirm that the leading lady didn't resemble her in the slightest bit.
Clarine's contract with the company turned sour after they wanted her to perform dangerous stunts which she relented. As a result, she was discharged for incompetence so she sued them for a broken contract. They also claimed her to be talentless, but in her defense, her destiny was set on being a dramatic actress, not a comedienne. Besides, Griffith hired her shortly afterward...talentless indeed.
After shining in supporting roles in two Griffith films, The Girl Who Stayed at Home and Scarlet Days, both released in 1919, Griffith set out a leading role just for her in The Idol Dancer (1920), a South Seas drama where she played a tropical island dancer who must choose between two loves. Despite the negative reviews the film received, Clarine was acknowledged for her performance. One critic wrote, "David Wark Griffith is a man of unique personality. He can be good, bad, and indifferent, all within the scope of a few weeks. It is his latest celluloid creation, "The Idol Dancer," which prompts us to this comment. "The Idol Dancer" is Griffith at his worst, despite all colorful and exotic a background as any screen painter could desire. Griffith places upon a desert isle a picturesque triangle: a beautiful half-caste girl thru whose veins throb the blood of several passionate races, a beach-comber water and a missionary's sickly nephew from New England. Then comes the inevitable clash of passion and ideal. The weak youth finally gives up his life in a battle with natives, and the water, stirred by his ideals and religious faith, becomes regenerated in the love of the island maid. [...] Clarine Seymour is the island girl and as piquant a figure as ever we hope to see celluloided. No such half-caste girl ever existed on a tropical island, but why quibble at reality? [..] Here and there are 'Griffith touches' but "The Idol Dancer" is a distinct disappointment."
"I went over to the Than-houser Studio one day when we were still living in New York and asked for a job, and that very afternoon started as an extra. And then I got a little part and later played in a serial for Pathe, and in comedy for them, and then—well, I was with Toto, you know. So when I went to the Griffith Studio and Mr. Griffith gave me some tests, I hardly dared hope that I was going to get into straight parts. But I did; he gave me my role in 'The Girl Who Stayed at Home' —and I never want to do comedy again!"
-- Clarine to Picture-Play, 1919.
According to the same magazine, she was a dancer in Ruth St. Denis' company before she went into pictures. In early 1920, Clarine joined the rest of the cast at White River Junction in Vermont to film Way Down East -- where she was given the original role of Kate -- who was to later be played by Mary Hay. During mid-April while less than halfway through filming, Clarine fell ill due to "intestinal strangulation." She was taken to Misericordia Hospital in New York to receive treatment, but her condition did not improve. An operation was performed on her, but she ended up contracting pneumonia and there was nothing to be done to save her at that point. Clarine died on April 25, 1920, at the age of 21. She is buried in Greenwood Union Cemetery in Rye, New York. Her friend and co-star, Robert Harron, would die not long after. Her death does come across as suspicious, but the truth is, when a person contracted an illness back then, their chances of surviving were much more fatal than nowadays. After all, that proves how many young starlets we lost so soon.
Lillian Gish thought that she died due to exposure to the cold weather while filming the picture, which does align with the fact that she developed pneumonia. If that were the case though, then she pretty much gave her life for filming. You can also still notice her in some of the long shots - fun fact.
Clarine is described perfectly in the book Golden Images by Eve Golden: "One is particularly struck with Clarine's resemblance to Clara Bow in her earlier films: the same large expressive eyes, the same vivacity, mingled with a slightly self-conscious coyness."
In her own words, Clarine said of her career, "I want to go on learning and working for a long time. Then if I am worth it, I hope for stardom -- like all the rest."