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Jewel Carmen

 
Actor: Jewel Carmen
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jul 13, 1897 in Danbury, Kentucky
  • Died: Mar 04, 1984 in San Diego, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: teens
  • Major Genres: Drama, Adventure
  • Career Highlights: The Bat, The Silver Lining, Nobody
  • First Major Screen Credit: Nobody (1921)

Biography

Barely out of school when she began her screen career with the old Keystone comedy factory in Edendale, Jewel Carmen changed her name from Evelyn Quick when a scandal involving sexual proclivity threatened to destroy her burgeoning career. With a new moniker, the spectacularly blonde Carmen was cast opposite brunette Alma Rubens in The Half-Breed (1916), both vying for the favors of Douglas Fairbanks, and she was a beautiful and regal Lucia Manette opposite William Farnum's Charles Darnay/Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities. At the height of her screen career, 1917-1918, Carmen starred or co-starred in no less than nine feature films, but fame proved fleeting and her box-office potential had been exhausted by 1920. Her husband, director Roland West, cast her in a prominent role in his seminal haunted house thriller The Bat (1926), but it was truly a last hurrah and she retired soon after. Estranged from West but residing in the hills right above the Pacific Coast Highway restaurant he operated with comedienne Thelma Todd, Carmen received heaps of unwanted publicity in December 1935, when the vivacious Miss Todd was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in her garage. The death was ruled accidental but rumors of foul play -- most of them with no foundation whatsoever -- persist to this very day. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Jewel Carmen
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Jewel Carmen
Born Florence Lavina Quick
July 13, 1897(1897-07-13)
Danville, Kentucky, United States
Died March 4, 1984 (aged 86)
San Diego, California, United States
Other name(s) Jewell Carman
Janet Carmen
Florence La Vinci
Evelyn Quick
Occupation Actress
Years active 1912 - 1926

Jewel Carmen (July 13, 1897 - March 4, 1984) was an American silent film actress.

Contents

Lawsuits against Fox

In 1917, Carmen contracted with Fox Film Corporation, but finding the deal unsatisfactory opened a new contract with the Keeney Corporation in 1918 while her first contract remained in effect.[1][2] Fox sent Keeney notice of their prior contract, warning that they would hold Keeney responsible for assisting her in breaking it,[1] promising to indemnify Keeney against legal retaliation.[3] Carmen launched two lawsuits against Fox, one to attempt to free herself of the obligation of living up to her contract and another to seek redress for their interference with her contract with Keeney.[3] Key to the issues was the question of where the contracts had been made: New York or California. Fox's offices were located in New York; Carmen was a resident of California. By California law, Carmen was an adult at the time of signing the contract; by New York law, which granted majority at 21, she was not. If not an adult, she could not be legally held to the document she had signed.[4] Though Carmen initially won the first lawsuit, having the contracts set aside and receiving damages of $43,500 from Fox, the decision was overturned on appeal because she had "unclean" hands, having herself treated Fox unfairly.[3][5][6][7] However, she won her second case because Fox's interference with her employment with Keeney had been outside the law, though Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo made clear that he did not approve of the legal loophole that allowed Carmen to break her contract with Fox.[3][8]

Death of Thelma Todd

She later became known for her connection to the scandal surrounding the death of actress Thelma Todd.[9] She was the wife of Roland West, who had an extramarital affair with Todd and who came under suspicion following Todd's death of carbon monoxide poisoning.[9]

Todd died in a garage attached to the home where Carmen's parents lived, which Carmen had formerly shared with West.[10] The death was suspicious for a number of factors, including that Todd was allegedly spotted or spoken to several times the day after her purported time of death; Carmen herself testified before the grand jury that she had seen Todd somewhere with another man.[11] After the scandal broke, Carmen's marriage to West ended, and she retired from the public eye.[9]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1912 The Will of Destiny Frances Credited as Florence La Vinci
1913 The Professor's Daughter Credited as Evelyn Quick
A Life in the Balance Credited as Evelyn Quick
Alternative titles: Crashing Through and Potted Plays No. 7
Professional Jealousy Credited as Evelyn Quick
He and Himself Credited as Evelyn Quick
Four Queens and a Jack The Girl Credited as Evelyn Quick
Their Husbands Credited as Evelyn Quick
1916 Daphne and the Pirate Credited as Jewell Carman
Sunshine Dad Charlotte
The Children in the House Jane Courtenay
Flirting with Fate Gladys, the Girl Alternative title: The Assassin
The Half-Breed Nellie Alternative title: The Carquinez Woods
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages Favorite of the Harem (Babylonian Story)/Dancer/Handmaiden Uncredited
Alternative titles: Intolerance: A Sun-Play of the Ages and Intolerance
Manhattan Madness Girl
American Aristocracy Geraldine Hicks
1917 The Kingdom of Love Violet Carson
A Tale of Two Cities Lucie Manette
American Methods Claire de Beaulieu
To Honor and Obey Rose Delvane
The Conqueror Eliza Allen
When a Man Sees Red Captain Sutton
Les Misérables Cosette at age 18
1918 The Girl with the Champagne Eyes Nellie Proctor
The Bride of Fear Ann Carter
Confession Mary Anderson
Fallen Angel Jill Cummings Alternative title: Paying the Piper
Lawless Love LaBelle Geraldine Alternative title: Above the Law
1926 The Silver Lining The Angel
Nobody Little Mrs. Smith
1923 You Can't Get Away with It
1926 The Bat Miss Dale Ogden

Notes

  1. ^ a b American Law Reports Annotated, 1211.
  2. ^ Kaufman, 228.
  3. ^ a b c d Kaufman, 229.
  4. ^ American Law Reports Annotated, 1212.
  5. ^ American Law Reports Annotated, 1210, 1213.
  6. ^ Carmen v. Fox Film Corp. 269 F. 928 (2nd Cir., 1920); cert denied, 255 U.S. 569, 41 S.Ct. 323 (1921)
  7. ^ Field, Richard H.; Benjamin Kaplan; Kevin M. Clermont (2007-04-10). Civil Procedure- Materials for a Basic Course. New York, New York: Foundation Press. pp. 1077-79. ISBN 978-1599411453. 
  8. ^ Cf. American Law Reports Annotated.
  9. ^ a b c Wright, David (2002). Joyita: Solving the Mystery. Auckland University Press. p. 3. ISBN 1869402707. http://books.google.com/books?id=Td3_d9o81QMC&pg=PA3&dq=Jewel+Carmen&client=firefox-a#PPA3,M1. 
  10. ^ Donati, William (2000). Ida Lupino: A Biography. University Press of Kentucky. p. 39. ISBN 0813109825. http://books.google.com/books?id=sJKbw1wbVd0C&pg=PA39&dq=%22Jewel+Carmen%22+%22Thelma+Todd%22&client=firefox-a#PPA39,M1. .
  11. ^ Nash, Jay Robert (2004). Great Pictorial History of World Crime. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 250. ISBN 1928831222. http://books.google.com/books?id=3TbelG-xZjwC&pg=PA1250&dq=%22Jewel+Carmen%22+%22Thelma+Todd%22&client=firefox-a#PPA1250,M1. 

Sources

External links



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