Grandma Goes to Hollywood, Classic Pics ...

[MikeKardec]

In the early 1920s my mother's mother came to Los Angeles from Hot Springs, AR. She was one of the 1925 Wampas Baby Stars, a group selected as up and comers by Hollywood publicity types. For a few years she had a minor career in "pictures" before returning in her 20s to finish high school. By the end of the 1920s she was back in Southern California, made another picture or two and married a land developer ... but that's another story.


She's the first lady in from the left.










With the guy in the giant white hat.


She worked under the name Joan Meredith and did a few more films than her IMDB page would suggest, taking a bump up from extra to a featured role in a bunch of two reelers. The Wampas thing killed that, no more extra work for their girls.

 

[Fading Fast]

Really enjoyed your story (and the great pictures), but didn't understand this line "The Wampas thing killed that, no more extra work for their girls."?

 

[Frunobulax]

Me too. More info, please?

Also, very cool. Great pics.

 

[AmateisGal]

Such cool pictures!!!

 

[Benzadmiral]

Cue "You Oughta Be In Pictures . . ." Neat stuff.

 

[BobHufford]

How cool is that? Love the pics (and those big hats).

 

[MikeKardec]

Really enjoyed your story (and the great pictures), but didn't understand this line "The Wampas thing killed that, no more extra work for their girls."?

The Wampas girls were "stars" and once you were chosen the studios would no longer let you work extra ... possibly for fear of diluting your "brand." It turned out to be a tough middle ground, noted as an up and comer but not yet having arrived at true stardom ... or even solid featured status. If you look at the names of the Wampas Stars (check Go-ogle) you'll see plenty like Clara Bow and Fay Wray. They were accurate picks for the most part but it was tough until you broke through.

My grandmother was pulled in different directions. I think she and her sister had a fairly deep though pretty civil competition. Her sis was smart, she actually ended up being my grandfather's business partner and she successfully ran her own lakeside development at Crestline (a mountain resort near LA) for 40 years. Catherine (my grandmother) wanted to complete school to keep up with her smart sis. Unfortunately her sister may have wanted to keep up with grandmother's beauty and ended up being married many times.

As was often the case when an actress married outside the profession, Catherine stopped acting when she got married.

 

[MikeKardec]

Here's a few more ... I have a few more "on the set" shots somewhere but they are not turning up.



The last one is from the early 1930s, after she married my grandfather. He had trained AEF pilots during WWI, the Army wouldn't allow him to fight as he was from the Austro Hungarian Empire. Maybe he wasn't yet a citizen at that time either, it is unknown.