The Endeavors of Edna Murphy

Some brief acknowledgement this morning of the career of silent and early talking film actress Edna Muphy (1899-1974).

This fetching colleen started her life in New York City. Work as a model led to her first screen role, supporting Alice Joyce in Vitagraph’sTo the Highest Bidder (1918). It took less than two years for Murphy to attain star and co-starring status. Frequent co-stars included Johnnie Walker,Monte Blue,Hoot Gibson, and Raymond McKee. Her over 100 credits include the serial Fantomas (1920, based on the French original), Leatherstocking (1924),McFadden’s Flats (1927, witrh Charles Murray and Chester Conklin), My Man (1928, with Fanny Brice), The Sap (1929, with Edward Everett Horton), and George M. Cohan’s Little Johnny Jones (1929, with Eddie Buzzell).

The latter picture was directed by her husband Mervyn LeRoy, whom she had wed in 1927 (after having been courted by the likes of Irving Thalberg). By the early ’30s, Murphy was down to B movies, and bit parts in majors, her last being in Cheating Blondes (1933) with Thelma Todd. She and LeRoy were divorced in 1932, some time after he had moved out of their home. Following that none of the studios would hire her. She spent her remaining four decades in isolation in her Santa Monica house in the approved Miss Haversham style. It is said that at the time of her death her wedding dress was found, perfectly preserved, on display in the living room.

For more on silent and early talking film, including much more about Mabel Normand please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube — now also available on audiobook!