The Picture Show Annual (1926)

Picture Show Annual 125 A YORKSHIRE GIRL OROTHY MACKAILL was selected to star with Johnny Hines in the Torchy Comedies at the beginning of her screen career because she was considered an ideal type of American beauty ! A strange thing, considering that she was born in Yorkshire, England, wasn’t it ? Stranger, too, when you look at her and realise that she is very English both in appearance and mannerisms. Still, it's a compliment that she should have been chosen as the typical beauty of a country which is famed for its pretty girls. Dorothy has made her strides to fame pretty rapidly, for now she is only about twenty-three years of age, and she has two or three years of screen stardom to her credit apart from the years when she was known in vaudeville. She inherited her ability as a dancer and singer from her parents—who were stage folk. And when the family moved to London she decided to put her dancing ability to some account. So she started a dancing class, and became not only popular but very well known. It was as a dancer in " Joybells ” at the London Hippo- drome that she really gained public notice, and here also she gained a little advice, which has led to her eventual stardom on the screen. An American producer happened to see her in this revue and advised her to go to New York. She did so, first of all joining the renowned Follies because of her good looks and dancing ability, and as I have 2 Jready explained, eventually travelling to the pictures because she was a “ typical American beauty." And although her screen debut was made in comedies, she was soon picked out to play more dramatic roles ; which was a good thing, for her talents deserved better recognition. Two of her best films were “ Mightly Lak’ a Rose " and “ The Fighting Blade,” in which her performances were never-to-be-forgotten. Warren Kerrigan A REAL HOME LOVER T he greater number of screen stars are pretty pleasure- loving when it comes to spare time pursuits, while a smaller percentage prefer to sit by the fireside, or potter around the home. Warren Kerrigan is one of the latter, only more so ! He is indeed the greatest home lover of all the artistes who work on the films. He loves horses, chickens, dogs, cosy rooms, a big fireplace, books—everything that appertains to the home lover. And it is at home that you are sure to find him when his picture-making activities end each day. Right from early childhood Warren has been devoted to his home and his family; he has a great sense of loyalty to all those of his own blood. The outside world and outside friends have meant nothing to him compared with his own. And, strangely enough, though he is a very handsome fellow now, he was a decidedly ugly baby. That is what his mother says, anyway. “ Warren was the ugliest baby 1 ever saw. He was a twin and was so thin and bony that he had to be carried about on a cushion, and I wondered what he would turn out like. Still, I needn’t have worried." Which is quite true, for he has been an ideal son. As a kiddie he was a very excellent artist, and did some really remarkable drawings. He would, as a matter of fact, have become an artist if it hadn’t been for the persuasion of his sister, Kathleen, who had gone on the stage. She told him he ought to be an actor rather than an artist, and he drifted on the stage through her influence and his affection for her. When Warren first started work on the screen, he prom- ised his mother that he would only appear in pictures that were wholesome, and he has kept his promise. That is probably why his pictures are not so frequent as others, but what they miss in quantity they make up for in quality, and so they are worth waiting for. Dorothy Mackaill