Hope Hampton

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Birth Name: Mae Elizabeth Hampton

Born: 19 February 1897 Died: 23 January 1982

Country of origin: United States

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The Beauty of Silence (500 items)
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Movie Legends - Hope Hampton

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Description: Hope Hampton (Mae Elizabeth Hampton) (19 February 1897 - 23 January 1982) was an American silent motion picture actress and producer, who was noted for her seemingly effortless incarnation of siren and flapper types in silent-picture roles during the 1920s. She also at one time was an aspiring opera singer. Texas-born, Philadelphia-bred beauty-contest winner Hampton, was discovered by U.S. silent cinema pioneer Jules Brulatour while working as an extra for director Maurice Tourneur. She made her screen debut in 1920's A Modern Salome, and went on to feature prominently in several Brulatour-financed films. In 1923, Hampton wed Hope Hampton (Mae Elizabeth Hampton) (19 February 1897 - 23 January 1982) was an American silent motion picture actress and producer, who was noted for her seemingly effortless incarnation of siren and flapper types in silent-picture roles during the 1920s. She also at one time was an aspiring opera singer.

Texas-born, Philadelphia-bred beauty-contest winner Hampton, was discovered by U.S. silent cinema pioneer Jules Brulatour while working as an extra for director Maurice Tourneur. She made her screen debut in 1920's A Modern Salome, and went on to feature prominently in several Brulatour-financed films. In 1923, Hampton wed her manager Brulatour, and they remained married until his death in 1946.

After retiring from motion pictures at the dawn of sound, Hampton turned to opera and made her debut with the Philadelphia Opera in Manon. The idea that she ever toured with the Metropolitan Opera is belied by a look at the company's online archives. She returned to the screen in The Road to Reno (1938), a film directed by her husband. Later she was known as The Duchess of Park Lane, a leading member of New York's social set, until her death of heart attack at the age of 84.

Hampton and Brulatour took a honeymoon trip to Egypt, there a Sheikh offered Brulatour £10,000 British pounds to buy his wife. Brulatour smiled at the Sheikh and told him that Mrs. Brulatour's jewels were worth more than that.

Known as "Hopeless Hampton" to the disparaging, because of her seeming lack of acting ability in her films, there are some who say she was the model for the no-talent wife, Susan Alexander Kane, in Citizen Kane (1941). Other sources say the Susan Alexander role is a composite of Hampton, Marion Davies, Dorothy Gibson, Ganna Walska, mistress and later wife of Chicago heir Harold Fowler McCormick—who arranged for Walska to take the lead in a production of Zaza at the Chicago Opera in 1920—and Samuel Insull, who built the Chicago Civic Opera House in 1929 for his daughter, who hoped to sing for the Metropolitan Opera. ... (more)

Tags: Opera (1), Actress (1), Singer (1), Born 1897 (1), Died 1982 (1), Silent Actress (1), Born In Texas (1)

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