Everyone was mesmerized by the silent film star with intense black eyes and a sensational magnetism that made him, next to Valentino, the greatest romantic icon of silent films. Yet, he is remembered as the man whose career was ruined when audiences heard him speak.
John Cecil Pringle was born July 10, 1899, in Logan, Utah. Four years earlier, motion pictures had made their commercial debut in America, and, soon, little John, nicknamed Jack, longed to direct them. Jack's father, a third-rate producer and comic who owned the Pringle Stock Company, met his wife Ida when she joined one of his shows. Ida had felt her pregnancy was a careless mistake, and did not even look at her child for the first 24 hours after he was born. After John divorced her, she often left little Jack in the care of anyone who would take him in, which included a New York seamstress and her prostitute daughter, then taking him back for a while at age eight when she married comedian Walter Gilbert with his Latter Day Saints relatives, who sent Jack off with $10 and Ida's makeup case to San Francisco on his own to find work at age 14 when his mother died of tuberculosis.
Jack Gilbert found his way to Hollywood, where he lied about his age, adding four years. Hoping to direct films, he obtained extra work at the Thomas Ince Studios for $15 a week. He later wrote scripts and directed a few movies. In 1917, 18-year-old Jack married one Olivia Burwell. In 1919, he appeared opposite famed star Mary Pickford in Heart O' The Hills. In 1921, Jack Gilbert signed a three-year contract with Fox Films. Now billed as John Gilbert, his dark, Latin good looks, deep expressive eyes, slight hint of vulnerability, flashing smile, fluid movements and sensational lithe build suited the silent, exotic, romantic film known as The Count of Monte Cristo ( 1922 ) , which helped propel him to stardom. That same year, he divorced Burwell and married successful actress Leatrice Joy, and they produced a daughter, also named Leatrice. Their union lasted two years, with Leatrice proclaiming that John was a hopeless philanderer. In 1924, he moved to MGM Studios and appeared in the Erich von Stroheim-directed The Merry Widow ( 1925 ) opposite the haughty, beautiful Mae Murray. When Rudolph Valentino died in 1926, John Gilbert became the screen's most popular leading man.
By 1927, Gilbert was the highest paid star in films. Now known as 'The Great Lover,' his film The Big Parade was the most successful movie of the silent era. Of that movie Gilbert declared, 'That was worth doing. All the rest was balderdash.' Yet, Gilbert was a true movie-struck star who believed in and adored the glamour, living his life through his films and submerging himself and his soul in the exotic characters he represented. If he were playing a Cossack prince in a new film, he would have have his magnificent Hollywood home filled with the finest Beluga caviar to serve his guests, and would hire balalaika orchestras to entertain them. Cinema Magazine proclaimed, 'John Gilbert stands alone at the topmost pinnacle of film fame. There is no one that can approach him.'
John was making $10,000 a week and romancing star Greta Garbo, with whom he made several successful, lust-filled films that included Flesh and the Devil ( 1927 ) , Love ( 1927 ) and Woman of Affairs ( 1928 ) . On the day of their elaborately planned wedding, Sept. 8, 1927, at the fantastic Hearst mansion, Garbo changed her mind and did not appear—leaving Gilbert alone at the altar. During the party, John had a terrible row with studio boss Louis B. Mayer after the executive stated, 'What do you have to marry her for? Why don't you just just screw her and forget about it?' Gilbert flew into a rage, and attacked and punched the magnate. Mayer shouted up from the floor, 'You're finished, Gilbert. I'll destroy you if it costs me a million dollars.' Mayer kept his word, and did his best to harm the actor, putting him into films of inferior quality, hurting his reputation and warning other studios not to hire him. It is rumored that Mayer himself or his chief sound engineer manipulated the knobs of Gilbert's first talkies so that the sound of his naturally higher-pitched voice came out shrill, and when Gilbert's declarations of love ( 'I love you, I love you, I love you' ) were first heard in His Glorious Night ( 1929 ) , audiences throughout the country were sent into uncontrolled snickers and howls of laughter. It was the beginning of the end of the career of the screen's highest-paid matinee idol, who was earning $250,000 per film. That same year, Gilbert married actress Ina Claire, and they divorced in 1931.
Gilbert's career continued to decline, not really because his voice was actually high-pitched, as is legend, but, perhaps, because his refined and cultured manner of speech seemed at odds with his visual image. Depressed and insecure, the actor, always a heavy drinker, increased his consumption.
Gilbert starred in a well-received film he wrote himself, Downstairs ( 1932 ) , and married co-star Virginia Bruce in 1933. They divorced a year later. His contract at MGM ran out after he made Fast Workers ( 1933 ) , but Gilbert and Garbo had remained friends, and she insisted that her onetime lover return to MGM and star opposite her in Queen Christina ( 1934 ) . This time, however, her name appeared above the title and his name appeared below it. His confidence and bravura seemed to be gone. Then, he was hired at a low salary by Colombia Pictures to make what would be his final film, The Captain Hates the Sea ( 1934 ) , in which he played an alcoholic. Gilbert received third billing and was not able to regain his reputation. Alcoholism severely damaged his health, and on Jan. 9, 1936, one of the screen's most magnetic personalities—who acted in 99 movies and played himself in 7 others—died of a massive heart attack in Los Angeles. He was only 36 years old.
Sources: The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema edited by Ann Lloyd and Graham Fuller; The Movie Makers by Sol Chaneles and Albert Wolsky; The Movie Stars Story by Robyn Karney; The Stars by Richard Schickel; Dark Star by Leatrice Gilbert Fountain; Gilbert Web sites.
Steve Starr is the author of 'Picture Perfect-Art Deco Photo Frames 1926-1946' published by Rizzoli International Publications. A photographer, designer, and writer, he is the owner of Steve Starrr Studios, specializing in original Art Deco artifacts and photo frames, and celebrating its 39th anniversary in 2006. Starr's personal collection of over 950 magnificent Art Deco photo frames is filled with images of Hollywood's most elegant stars.
STARRGAZERS-Radiant Digital Photography by Steve Starr is available privately and for events, and at particular locations in Chicago including the Seneca Hotels Chestnut Grill, the Kit Kat Supper Club, Cornelia's Restaurant, Katerina's Nightclub, the Rumba Restaurant and the Whitehall Hotels Fornetto Mei where Starr will personally photograoh you and your friends, print, sign, frame and deliver it to you on the premises for just $10; ( 773 ) 463-8017.
Visit the Steve Starr Satellite Studio at the Ravenswood Antique Mart, 4727 N. Damen in Chicago, and www.SteveStarrStudios.com . Photo of Starr Jan. 28, 2006 at the Whitehall Hotel, taken by NBC News director Harold 'Sandy' Whiteley.
