Vivian Martin

On Broadway from 1901, vivacious, blond Vivian Martin was one of the first stars of the stage to be signed by the fledgling World Film Corporation in 1914 (then under the auspices of Arthur Spiegel and Lewis J. Selznick). Vivian's first step to fame had come in 1911, when the impresario George M. Cohan cast her as an ingénue for "The Only Son". She then had several back-to-back hits in romantic plays which brought her the attention of the film studios. Vivian rapidly emerged as the youngest major star at Paramount-Artcraft, even briefly regarded as a serious rival to the great Mary Pickford and dubbed "the world's sweetheart" (her other nickname was "The Dresden China Figurine"). She acted opposite most of the popular leading men of the period, including Harold Lockwood, Harrison Ford (no relation to THE Harrison Ford), Ralph Graves and Niles Welch. She was inevitably cast as emotive, engagingly sweet or naive mademoiselles, waifs, models, country girls and débutantes. In 1920, Vivian set up her own production company. However, the public were unwilling to accept her in more emancipated roles and her films flopped. Moreover, mounting studio rentals and an expensive lawsuit further diminished what was left of her career. Between 1926 and 1929, Vivian enjoyed a brief resurgence in marital dramas on Broadway, but not enough to resuscitate her acting prospects. By 1935, she effectively disappeared from stage and screen, but remained in public view as a philanthropist, a noted benefactor to the New York Professional Children's School. Vivian was married to Arthur H. Samuels, a former editor for The New Yorker and Harper's Bazaar.