Classic Movie Travels: Clarine Seymour

Classic Movie
Travels: Clarine Seymour

Clarine Seymour was born on December 9, 1898, in Brooklyn,
New York, New York. She was born to Albert and Florence Seymour, a wealthy
Methodist couple. Her father ran a ribbon manufacturing business until 1916,
when an illness forced him to close the business.

When she was a child, Seymour appeared in church
performances. The family relocated to New Rochelle, New York, where Seymour
continued performing at the Thanhouser Film Company as a film extra to further
support her family. She appeared in two shorts while in their employ: Pots-and-Pans Peggy (1917) and It Happened to Adele (1917). Later, she
appeared in a Pearl White serial for Pathé. 

Seymour’s career began to rise when she appeared in Mystery of the Double Cross (1917) for
Pathé. Producer Hal Roach saw her performance and offered her a contract with
his Rolin Film Company, which she accepted. She moved to Los Angeles,
California, to portray the lead actress in the Toto the Clown series and also
had a supporting role opposite Stan Laurel in the comedic short Just Rambling Along (1918). However, Seymour
claimed that Roach fired her for refusing to do her own stunts. She sued
Roach’s company for breaking her contract and won $1,325 in damages. All the
while, she was appearing in comedy shorts for Al Christie.

In 1918, director and producer Victor Heerman directed a
screen test showcasing Seymour and director D.W. Griffith’s Artcraft stock
player, Robert Harron. Griffith was pleased with the performance and hired her
as part of the stock company. She would appear in a succession of films,
including The Girl Who Stayed Home (1919),
True Heart Susie (1919), and Scarlet Days (1919).

In 1920, Seymour was cast in Way Down East (1920), but became ill halfway through filming due to
intestinal strangulation. She was admitted to Misericordia Hospital in New York
City but did not improve. After undergoing emergency surgery, she contracted
pneumonia and died four days later on April 25, 1920.

Actress Mary Hay was cast to replace Seymour’s role in the
film, though Seymour can still be spotted in the film’s long shots.

Though Seymour claimed Roach fired her over not executing
her own stunts, Roach, in later years, shared that Seymour associated with a
group of Hollywood stars who were known for partying and drug use. On September
26, 1920, a joint memorial service was held for not only Seymour but also Orner
Locklear (a daredevil stunt pilot and actor who perished in an airplane crash),
actress Olive Thomas (who passed from an accidental overdose), and actor and
fellow Griffith stock player Robert Harron (who passed from an alleged
accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound two days after the Way Down East premiere). All were eulogized by director William
Desmond Taylor, whose own still unsolved murder would occur 18 months later.

Seymour is buried at Greenwood Union Cemetery in Rye, New
York.

In 1900, Seymour and her family resided at 1249 Degraw St.,
New York, New York. The home has since been razed. In 1910, Seymour and her
family lived in Brooklyn at 939 Sterling Pl., New York, New York. That building
stands today.

By 1920, the family had moved to 12 Thomas Pl., New
Rochelle, New York. That home also stands.

Greenwood Cemetery is located at 215 North St., Rye, New York.

…

–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub

Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.

Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco SocietyMagazine.