Matthew Kennedy Articles

Marie Dressler in Dinner at 8 Marie Dressler IV: DINNER AT 8, THE LATE CHRISTOPHER BEAN Marie Dressler and Claire Du Brey. Were they really lovers? Did you go through Du Brey’s papers? (I believe actor John Phillip Law is in possession of them.) Ah, the lesbian love question! I talked with Mr. Law, and met with the actress Sierra Pecheur, who knew Du Brey [...]

Marie Dressler, Jean Harlow in Dinner at 8 Marie Dressler III: Wallace Beery, Polly Moran Comedies Some reviewers have complained that Marie Dressler didn’t act. They say she overacted. What do you think? Writing about her as an actress was tough, because there is no one remotely like her anymore. If you watch her performances today, you can see that she was a true-blue ham. [...]

Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler in Min and Bill Marie Dressler II: Silent Films, Movie Stardom How did Marie Dressler react to her newfound stardom? Marie basked in her success. She had been through enough trials in life — points when she couldn’t get a job — and so she was more than ready for fame and adoration. I think audiences loved that they could give [...]

Marie Dressler Interview: Part I Marie Dressler was very popular in vaudeville at the turn of the 20th century. Did she try to become a silent film star? She was in Tillie’s Punctured Romance with Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand in 1914, but she doesn’t seem to have quite caught on. Why not? As told in the book, Marie was a huge star when Mack [...]