Classic Movie Travels: Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda was born on June 17, 1895, in Lafayette,
Indiana. She was the daughter of Joseph Fazenda and Nelda Schilling Fazenda.
Louise was born in the ground floor northwest room of her maternal
grandparents’ house on North Salisbury Street, while her mother was visiting
her brother. Louise’s father was a merchandise broker from Mexico and her
mother was a native of Chicago, Illinois.
The family soon moved to California, where Joseph operated a
grocery store. Fazenda attended Los Angeles High School and St. Mary’s Convent.
After school, she delivered groceries for her father’s business by a
horse-drawn wagon. While appearing in a high school performance, she was
discovered by a talent agent working for Mack Sennett.
Fazenda began her film career in 1913, namely in bit parts.
She later became a character actress and displayed a knack for slapstick comedy
in silent films. During this period, she worked with numerous other comedy
greats, including Ben Turpin, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and more. She left the
film industry for a brief period to perform in vaudeville.
In 1917, she married director and writer Noel M. Smith. They
divorced in 1926.
In the following year, she married Warner Bros. producer Hal
B. Wallis. At the time, he was working as a publicist. She accepted his
proposal in a speech before the National Press Club in Washington, closing her
talk by saying, “I appreciate you newspapermen. In fact, I have such an
appreciation of newspapermen that I think I’ll marry one when I get back to
California.” The couple had one son: Harold “Hal” Brent Wallis. Fazenda and
Wallis remained married until her passing.
By the time sound entered films, Fazenda was securing more
serious roles, including an antiwar film called The Road Back (1937). Her last film would be The Old Maid (1939), capping her career at roughly 265 films.
Fazenda and Wallis traveled extensively. They also boarded
two British children during World War II. They lived on a 30-acre property in
the San Fernando Valley.
Fazenda passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage in Beverly
Hills, California, on April 17, 1962. She was 66 years old. At her funeral,
stories of her volunteer work caring for children at UCLA Medical Center in
addition to rooming and boarding children during World War II were shared. She
was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
Fazenda’s birthplace was located at 1104 N. Salisbury St.,
West Lafayette, Indiana. In 1900, Fazenda and her parents resided at 629 Kohler
St., Los Angeles, California. In 1920, Fazenda and her family resided at 1132
Lemoyne St., Los Angeles, California. All of these homes have since been razed.
In 1930, she and Wallis resided at 5402 W. 9th
St., Los Angeles, California. Her parents lived next door at 5400. Today, her
home stands, but the one at which her parents resided does not.
In 1940, she, Wallis, and their son resided at 5100 Woodman
Ave., Sherman Oaks, California. In addition, a maid (Anne Baffish), butcher
(Edward McGuigan), cook (Martha McGuigan), and governess (Louisa Baker) resided
with them. This home does not exist.
Fazenda is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame, celebrating her work in motion pictures. It is located at 6801 Hollywood
Blvd., Hollywood, California.
…
–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.
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