Phyllis Haver

Acting

1899-01-05 · Douglass, Kansas, USA

From Wikipedia Phyllis Haver (January 6, 1899 – November 19, 1960) was an American actress of the silent film era. Haver auditioned for comedy producer Mack Sennett on a whim. Sennett hired her as one of his original Sennett Bathing Beauties. Within a few years, she appeared as a leading lady in two-reelers for Sennett Studios. Later, while signed with DeMille-Pathé, Haver played the part of Roxie Hart in the first film adaptation of Chicago in 1927, opposite Hungarian film actor Victor Varconi. One reviewer called her performance "astoundingly fine," and added that Haver "makes this combination of tragedy and comedy a most entertaining piece of work." She performed in the comedy film The Battle of the Sexes (1928), directed by D. W. Griffith, and appeared with Lon Chaney in his last silent film, Thunder (1929). Haver retired from the industry with two 'sound' films to her credit. In 1929, she married millionaire William Seeman with a service performed by New York Mayor James J. Walker  at the home of Rube Goldberg, the cartoonist. The couple divorced in 1945. Haver retired in Sharon, Connecticut. She died at age 61 from an overdose of barbiturates in 1960, a suspected suicide. Haver left no survivors.