Norma Talmadge's early life was marked by adversity, as she was born on May 26, 1895, in Jersey City, New Jersey, to an unemployed father and a mother who worked tirelessly to provide for their three daughters.
Her father's abandonment of the family on Christmas Day added to the family's struggles, and Norma's mother, Peggy, took in laundry to make ends meet.
By the age of 14, Norma had begun modeling, which led to her being noticed by studio chiefs in New York City.
She landed small roles in films such as "The Household Pest" (1910),"Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1910),"Love of Chrysanthemum" (1910),"A Dixie Mother" (1910),and "A Broken Spell" (1910).
By 1911, she had improved as an actress and landed a significant role in "A Tale of Two Cities" (1911).
By 1913, she was Vitagraph's most promising young actress, and in 1915, she left for California with her mother, seeking success in the burgeoning film industry.
Her first film in Hollywood was "Captivating Mary Carstairs" (1915),which unfortunately flopped, as did the studio that produced it.
However, her sister Constance, who was working with director D.W. Griffith, managed to secure Norma a contract with Griffith's company, where she made seven feature films and several shorts over the next eight months.
After the contract expired, the family returned to the East Coast, where Norma met and married producer and businessman Joseph M. Schenck.
With Schenck's backing, they formed their own production company, producing hits such as "Panthea" (1917),"The Wonderful Thing" (1921),"The Eternal Flame" (1922),and "The Song of Love" (1923).
By 1928, Norma's popularity began to wane, and her film "The Woman Disputed" (1928) was a box-office flop.
Her final film was "Du Barry, Woman of Passion" (1930),after which she struggled to find work due to her inability to adapt to sound films.
She divorced Schenck and married George Jessel, who had his own radio show, and Norma was added to the cast in an attempt to revive her film career.
However, the show was ultimately canceled, marking the end of Norma's film career.
She divorced Jessel in 1939 and married Dr. Carvel James in 1946, remaining with him until her death from a stroke on Christmas Eve in 1957, at the age of 62, having appeared in over 250 films.
