Griffith, Corinne (1896–1979)

American actress and film star of the silent era. Born in Texarkana, Texas, on November 24, 1896; died in 1979; attended Sacred Heart Academy, New Orleans; married Webster Campbell (an actor-director), in

1920 (divorced 1923); married Walter Morosco (a producer), in 1933 (divorced 1934); married George Preston Marshall (owner of the Washington Redskins and a laundry empire), in 1936 (divorced 1958); married Danny Scholl (marriage dissolved after 33 days).

Selected filmography:

The Last Man (1916); The Love Doctor (1917); The Menace (1918); Miss Ambition (1918); The Girl of Today (1918); Adventure Shop (1919); Thin Ice (1919); The Bramble Bush (1919); Human Collateral (1920); The Garter Girl (1920); The Tower of Jewels (1920); The Whisper Market (1920); What's Your Reputation Worth? (1921); Moral Fibre (1921); The Single Track (1921); Island Wives (1922); A Virgin's Sacrifice (A Woman's Sacrifice, 1922); Divorce Coupons (1922); The Common Law (1923); Six Days (1923); Black Oxen (1924); (also executive producer) Lilies of the Field (1924); (also executive producer) Single Wives (1924); (also executive producer) Love's Wilderness (1924); (also executive producer) Déclassé (The Social Exile, 1925); (also executive producer) The Marriage Whirl (1925); (also executive producer) Classified (1925); (also executive producer) Infatuation (1925); (also executive producer) Mademoiselle Modiste (1926); (also executive producer) Into Her Kingdom (1926); (also executive producer) Syncopating Sue (1926); (also executive producer) The Lady in Ermine (1927); (also executive producer) Three Hours (1927); The Garden of Eden (1928); Outcast (1928); The Divine Lady (1929); Saturday's Children (1929); Prisoners (1929); (remake) Lilies of the Field (1930); Back Pay (1930); Lily Christine (UK, 1932).

Called "The Orchid Lady of the Screen" because of her delicate beauty, Corinne Griffith was signed to a contract with New York-based Vita-graph Pictures in 1916; by the time she reached Hollywood in the 1920s, Griffith was already a star. She made numerous silent films and, during her heyday, was voted "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World" in a poll of 500 movie editors throughout the country. Griffith's career ended abruptly with the talkies. She attempted several sound movies, one in England titled Lily Christine (1932), but none were successful.

Griffith's first two marriages, to actor Webster Campbell and producer Walter Morosco, were short-lived. In 1936, she married George "Wet Wash" Preston Marshall, the owner of a laundry empire and the Washington Redskins. They were together for six years, during which time Griffith wrote six books, the two most popular being My Life with the Redskins (1944) and Papa's Delicate Condition (1952), which was adapted for the screen in 1963. A fourth marriage to a much younger man ended in divorce court after only 33 days. During the trial, in response to her husband's claims that she had tricked him into marriage by telling him she was only 52, Griffith reputedly took the stand and claimed that she was not Corinne Griffith at all, but a stand-in who took over when the real Corinne Griffith died in the mid-30s.

Griffith made some wise investments in California real estate, and at one time was one of the largest landowners in Beverly Hills. Late in life, she devoted her energies to the repeal of the personal income tax, which she regarded as "legalized thievery."

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts