Marie Dressler

Born: 1868-11-09

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. Successful on stage in vaudeville and comic operas, she was also successful in film. Leaving home at the age of 14, Dressler built a career on stage in traveling theatre troupes, where she learned to appreciate her talent in making people laugh. In 1892 she started a career on Broadway that lasted into the 1920s, performing comedic roles that allowed her to improvise to get laughs. From one of her successful Broadway roles, she played the titular role in the first full-length screen comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), opposite Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. She made several shorts, but mostly worked in New York City on stage. Her career declined in the 1920s. In 1927, Dressler returned to films at the age of 59 and experienced a remarkable string of successes. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1930–31 for Min and Bill and was named the top film star for 1932 and 1933. Marie Dressler died of cancer in 1934.


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Dinner at Eight

as Carlotta Vance
Released: 1933-12-22

An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband,...

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That's Entertainment, Part II

as (archive footage)
Released: 1976-05-16

Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time...

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Tillie's Punctured Romance

as Tillie Banks
Released: 1914-12-21

A womanizing city man meets Tillie in the country. When he sees that her father has a very large...

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Anna Christie

as Marthy Owens
Released: 1930-02-21

Old sailor Chris Christofferson eagerly awaits the arrival of his grown daughter Anna, whom he...

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The Patsy

as Ma Harrington
Released: 1928-04-22

An awkward teenager hopelessly in love with her older sister's boyfriend tries to make him...

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That's Entertainment! III

as (archive footage)
Released: 1994-07-01

Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of...

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Min and Bill

as Min Divot
Released: 1930-11-29

Min, the owner of a dockside hotel, is forced to make difficult decisions about the future of...

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The Divine Lady

as Mrs. Hart
Released: 1928-12-26

Lady Hamilton's love affair with Admiral Horatio Nelson rocks the British Empire.

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One Romantic Night

as Princess Beatrice
Released: 1930-04-30

A princess is forced to choose between a charming tutor and a rakish prince.

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Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1942-01-01

The edition of Screen Snapshots celebrates 25 years of production. It looks at the content of...

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Emma

as Emma Thatcher
Released: 1932-01-02

When Fred Smith's wife dies in childbirth, Emma Thatcher, who has been nanny to the couple's...

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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1975-08-06

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American...

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Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1940-07-31

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including...

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Hollywood: The Dream Factory

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1972-01-10

A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading...

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The Girl Said No

as Hettie Brown
Released: 1930-03-15

A comedy romance in which breezy Haines, as a young lady killer, tries to capture the heart of...

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Tugboat Annie

as Annie
Released: 1933-08-04

Tugboat, the Narcissus, is owned and captained by Annie Brennan, and among her crew are her...

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The Hollywood Revue of 1929

as Self
Released: 1929-11-23

An all-star revue featuring MGM contract players.

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The Callahans and the Murphys

as Mrs. Callahan
Released: 1927-06-18

The story of two feuding Irish immigrant families living in a tenement.

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Going Hollywood

as Herself - Premiere Clip (archive footage)
Released: 1933-12-22

The film tells the story of Sylvia, a French teacher at an all-girl school, who wants to find...

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Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1993-02-06

Actress Sharon Stone hosts this documentary about the life and career of 1930s sex symbol Jean...

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Prosperity

as Maggie Warren
Released: 1932-11-18

Longtime friends become feuding mothers-in-law when their children marry.

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The Big Parade of Comedy

as Marie Truffle in 'Reducing' (archive footage)
Released: 1964-09-02

Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.

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Reducing

as Marie Truffle
Released: 1931-01-03

Culture shock bombards a woman and her family when they leave their hick town to help her sister...

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The Vagabond Lover

as Ethel Bertha Whitehall
Released: 1929-12-01

A zany musical about an amateur musician in search of work who impersonates a big band leader.

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The Christmas Party

as Herself (uncredited)
Released: 1931-12-17

In this holiday short, Jackie Cooper wants to throw a Christmas party for his friends on his...

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Hollywood: The Selznick Years

as Carlotta Vance (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 1961-12-31

Henry Fonda hosts this retrospective on the career and films of iconic filmmaker David O....

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The Joy Girl

as Mrs. Heath
Released: 1927-09-03

Though she loves one man, an ambitious Palm Beach girl marries another, whom she thinks is rich....

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Christopher Bean

as Abby
Released: 1933-11-17

When the painter Christopher Bean dies, some unscrupulous art dealers try to get several of his...

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Broadway to Hollywood

as Vaudeville Act (archive footage)
Released: 1933-09-15

In this through-the-years saga about a show business family, the fame of husband and wife...

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Breakfast at Sunrise

as Queen
Released: 1927-10-23

While plotting together to win back their lovers, the rich Madeleine and the penniless Pierre...

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Chasing Rainbows

as Bonnie
Released: 1930-01-10

The road-show troupe of a top Broadway show go cross-country while taking the audience along on...

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Bringing Up Father

as Annie Moore
Released: 1928-03-18

The wealthy Jiggs is tired of being left out of the swanky parties thrown by his social-climbing...

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The March of Time

as Self - Old Timer Sequence
Released: 1930-09-01

Unfinished pre-Code era film consisting of three sections with past performers from the stage...

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Caught Short

as Marie Jones
Released: 1930-05-10

Landladies Polly Smith and Marie Jones, who operate boardinghouses on the same side of the...

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Let Us Be Gay

as Mrs. Bouccicault
Released: 1930-07-11

Dowdy housewife Kitty dotes on her self-centered husband but divorces him when his mistress...

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Politics

as Hattie Burns
Released: 1931-02-26

A widow's decision to run for mayor kicks off a battle of the sexes in a small town.

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Screen Snapshots (Series 25, No. 1): 25th Anniversary

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1945-09-06

A look back at 25 years of Columbia's series of newsreels chronicling the film industry and the...

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Tillie's Tomato Surprise

as uncredited
Released: 1915-09-26

Tillie Todd gives her rich Aunt Sally a dime-store tomato pincushion for her birthday, claiming...

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Dangerous Females

as Sarah Bascom
Released: 1929-11-16

Roommates panic and plan when they hear a radio report of a murderer loose in their neighborhood.

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