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vintagedreamsofsennett · 10 months

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A Submarine Pirate (1915) / Willful Ambrose (1915) / Bombs! (1916) / The Feathered Nest (1916) / Her Torpedoed Love (1917) / Hearts and Flowers (1919) / Down on the Farm (1920)

From her Keystone debut in 1915 to her last First National comedy in 1922, Fazenda was one of Sennett's top comedy stars—appearing in nearly 60 Sennett shorts and features during that time.

Fazenda became familiar audiences as the hayseed girl who was forever falling prey to the shifty city slicker or evil mortgage holder, with her spit curl, ribbon-tied pigtails and calico dress. Just as often, she was the hard-working blue-collar girl who would leave her dreary job as a waitress or maid to collect a healthy inheritance—pursued by the usual assortment of Sennett fortune hunters. With hazel eyes and light brown hair, Fazenda could just as easily put on a blonde wig and play attractive, vampish roles.

Born in Lafayette, Indiana, the daughter of a Mexican-born grocer and American-born mother, Fazenda's family moved to LA by 1900—where she attended Los Angeles High School and St. Mary's Convent. She debuted in dramatic stock with Miss Del Valle in LA and later appeared with Virginia Brissac. Louise got her start in films at Universal in 1912 under the direction of Wilfred Lucas, but by 1913 was appearing alongside Max Asher, Harry McCoy, Bobby Vernon, Gale Henry, Lee Morris, Billy Franey, Heinie Conklin and the other featured players in Universal's Joker Comedies.

When her Sennett contract ended in Sep 1920, Fazenda joined Special Pictures Corp. briefly in late 1920; then she appeared in a trio of California Producers Corp.'s Punch Comedies (1921) co-starring Chester Conklin and John Henry Jr. That came before a brief return to Sennett for a couple of appearances during 1921-22. Fazenda starred in some of Jack White's Mermaid Comedies (1923-24) before settling into roles in features. With the coming of sound, Louise returned to shorts for Christie (1929) and Darmour (1930). She continued with feature support in films. Fazenda found a second home at Warner Brothers, becoming a familiar character face in musicals.

On March 7, 1919, Fazenda married Sennett director Noel M. Smith, to whom she'd been engaged since 1917; they separated on August 14, 1923, and divorced on August 1, 1926. On November 24, 1927 she married Warner Bros. publicity director Hal B. Wallis, soon to became Warners' studio manager and then a long-time film producer. Fazenda retired from the screen in 1939, and remained married to Wallis until her death at 66 in Beverly Hills of a cerebral hemorrhage, leaving Wallis and son Brent. She is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.

-Walker, B.E., 2010, Mack Sennett's Fun Factory, McFarland&Company, Inc., Publishers, pp. 502~504

#louise fazenda #a submarine pirate 1915 #willful ambrose 1915 #bombs! 1916 #the feathered nest 1916 #her torpedoed love 1917 #hearts and flowers 1919 #down on the farm 1920 #책 인용

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