Pauline Garon

Actress

Born: Sep 9, 1900
height: 5'1" (or 154 cm)
nationality: Canadian

Add to compare Improve this profile

Career

Active 1920 – 1935

Biography

About Pauline Garon

Edited by the community

Pauline Garon was a Canadian stage and silent film actress who appeared in dozens of features during the 1920s. She was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the youngest of 11 children. Her father worked for the Canadian postal department, then at an insurance agency, and the family could afford to send her to the Couvent Sacré-Coeur in Montreal for seven years. She learned English only at age ten. She became the first graduate of that institution to perform in the theatre.

At around 20 years old, she ran away to New York City and worked on Broadway. Her film debut came as a body double for Dorothy Gish in Remodeling Her Husband. She was associated with D.W. Griffith when she arrived in Hollywood in 1920, and her first important role was in The Power Within (1921). She also doubled for Sylvia Breamer in Doubling for Romeo (1921). Her career rose steadily, and she appeared opposite Owen Moore in Reported Missing (1922), then earned praise in Henry King's Sonny (1922). Cecil B. DeMille cast her in two films, including Adam's Rib (1923), and she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1923. She made at least five films a year at her peak, playing many lead roles in B movies and supporting parts in more glamorous productions, such as The Love of Sunya (1927) with Gloria Swanson.

By 1928, her career began to decline. She mostly appeared in French renditions of Paramount pictures and smaller English films. By the early 1930s, she was given small uncredited roles, and by 1934 she had vanished from film. She had brief reappearances in Song of the Saddle (1936), How Green Was My Valley (1941), and The Cowboy and the Blonde (1941). She married three times, including a short union with actor Lowell Sherman, a later elopement with radio star Clyde Harland Alban, and a lasting marriage to Ross Forrester. Her health had been fragile for years; she collapsed at 20th Century Fox studios in 1952 and spent time at Patton State Hospital. She died on August 30, 1965, ten days before her 65th birthday, from a brain disorder. She was 5'1".

Profile details

Personal

Died: Monday 30th of August 1965 (age 64)
Years Active: 1920-1935 (started around 19 years old; 15 years active)
Birthplace: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexuality: Straight

No ratings yet

Be the first to rate this profile

Frequently asked

Why did Pauline Garon refuse a long-term contract with Paramount?

Her first husband, actor Lowell Sherman, influenced her decision to refuse the contract. She married Sherman in February 1926, but they separated in August 1927.

How did Garon get her start in film?

She began as a body double, first for Dorothy Gish in Remodeling Her Husband, and later for Sylvia Breamer in Doubling for Romeo (1921). She was also associated with D.W. Griffith when she first arrived in Hollywood in 1920.

What was unusual about her education?

She attended the Couvent Sacré-Coeur in Montreal for seven years and was the first graduate of that institution to pursue a career in theatre. She did not learn English until she was ten years old.

Did you know

Garon was the youngest of 11 children; her father worked at a Canadian insurance agency after a postal service job.
Her first important film role came in 1921's The Power Within; she was later hailed as Cecil B. DeMille's discovery in 1923.
By 1928, her career declined, and she appeared mainly in French-language versions of Paramount films before fading from the screen by 1934.
She made brief comebacks in the 1930s and 1940s, including an uncredited bit in How Green Was My Valley (1941).
Her third marriage, to Ross Forrester, lasted until his death; he was the widower of actress Marion Aye.