Edna Purviance

Edna Purviance (21 October 1895 – 13 January 1958) was an American actress during the silent movie era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with him. She was also romantically involved with him for two years.

Edna Purviance was born as Olga Edna Purviance on October 21, 1895, in Paradise Valley, Nevada, to Louisa Wright Davey (1863–1950) and Madison Gates Purviance (1849–1932). Her mother was an English immigrant and her father was an American wine merchant to the western mining camps. She had a sister, Bessie Purviance Hill (1882–1967).

When she was three, the family relocated to Lovelock, Nevada, where they owned and operated a hotel. Her parents divorced in late 1902 when she was 6 years old. Her mother continued to run the hotel and married Robert Nurnberger, a German plumber, in 1904. 

Growing up, Purviance was a talented pianist. She finished her schooling in Lovelock, Nevada, in 1913, following which, she and her mother moved to San Fransico, California. Her mother eventually moved back to Lovelock, but she stayed in San Francisco and attended business college for the 1913-1914 school year. After finishing college, she got a job as a stenographer. 

In 1915, while Purviance was working as a secretary in San Francisco, she was spotted at a coffee shop (Tate's Café) by an associate of Charlie Chaplin who was looking for a leading lady for his second film with Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, A Night Out. Purviance met Chaplin at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco and was immediately signed, although Chaplin was concerned that she might be too serious for comedic roles. Her lack of experience before the camera didn't bother him; in fact, he considered it an asset for his own distinctive approach to directing. He would act out the entire story and expect his actors to follow his example to the letter. Purviance adapted well to this approach and was also unprotesting when asked to perform numerous repeat takes of any given scene.

From 1915 to 1923, Purviance co-starred in all but one of the thirty-five films Chaplin made. She was his female lead for more films than any other actress in his career. One of Purviance's most prominent roles in Chaplin movies came with the two-reeler The Immigrant (1917), in which Chaplin carries a reluctant Purviance into a registrar's office to apply for a marriage license. In the film, her mother's role was played by Kitty Bradbury—this on-screen relationship was also seen in The Kid(1921) and The Pilgrim (1923).

By 1922, Chaplin felt that Purviance, who was then 27 years old, was becoming too mature for comedy. He attempted to launch her as a dramatic actress and cast her as "Marie St. Clair" in A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate, alongside Clarence Geldart and Carl Miller. This was her first leading character and Chaplin played only a minor role in the film. The film shows a French girl (Purviance) who is about to marry her sweetheart when a misunderstanding causes her to move to Paris where she becomes the mistress of a wealthy man Pierre Revel (played by Adolphe Menjou.) The film, unfortunately, failed at the box office. The average moviegoer of the time was just not interested in a Chaplin movie that did not feature the Little Tramp—however, her performance and Chaplin's innovative direction were appreciated by astute critics.

Two years later, Chaplin made another attempt to re-launch Purviance. As a producer, he enlisted Josef von Sternberg to direct A Woman of the Sea (1926), with Purviance in the leading role of "Joan." The film, unfortunately, never saw the light of day because the finished product did not please Chaplin. He later burned the negative.

By that time, Purviance's career was also on a decline. After two decades, in 1947 and 1952, she had minor, uncredited roles in two more Chaplin films: Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight, respectively. This was the last time she was seen on the screen.

Purviance and Chaplin were romantically involved during the making of his Essanay, Mutual, and First National films of 1915 to 1917. Their romance ended around the time when Chaplin married actress Mildred Harris—though, the two continued to work together for years to come. It's often been speculated that had they married, Chaplin would have been spared the grief he found with the younger Mildred Harris and Lita Grey.

In 1938, Purviance married John P. Squire, a Pan-American Airlines pilot. They remained married until his death in 1945.

Purviance died from throat cancer on January 13, 1958, at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Hollywood. Her remains are interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

• In Richard Attenborough's 1992 biographical drama on Chaplin, titled Chaplin, Purviance was portrayed by Penelope Ann Miller.
• More recently, in 2010, she was played by Katie Maguire in the film Madcap Mabel(2010).

Short subjects

All short subjects directed by Charlie Chaplin.

Feature films