| Birth: | Oct. 21, 1894 | | Death: | Jan. 11, 1958 | 
Silent film actress. Born on October 21, 1895, to Louise and Madison Purivance in Paradise Alley, Nevada, where she would live until she was three years old. It was then her family left Paradise Alley and moved to Lovelock, Nevada, to run a hotel. In late 1902, her parents divorced and her mother Louise continued to run the business. In 1904, Edna's mother married Robert Nurnburger, who was born in Germany. He was four years older than Louise and they had no children together. By this time, Edna was nine years old. He ran a plumbing business while Louise continued to run the hotel. Robert died on February 7, 1911. Edna finished her schooling in Lovelock in 1913. Edna and her mother left for San Fransico in July that year. While her mother returned to Lovelock, Edna stayed and attended business college for the 1913-1914 school year, and then got a job as a stenographer. During her time in San Fransico, Edna had a love affair but it didn't work out. She then received a message from Essany Studios in 1915. An associate of Charlie Chaplin's had seen her in a coffee shop and thought she was the perfect girl for Charlie's next film. A meeting was arranged at the St. Francis Hotel. While Charlie thought Edna was beautiful he also thought she was too serious for comedies. She was not an actress but Chaplin decided to sign her anyway. He figured she would be "decorative" in his comedies. Edna's first film with Chaplin was "His Night Out". She would go on to star with him in over 34 silent films. She became not only his co star on screen but they also became very close off screen. Charlie even seriously considered marrying her , but he had reservations about her and they never married. In 1923, she made the film "A Woman of Paris" which she starred in and was directed by Chaplin. This was her last film for Chaplin. She dropped out of the Hollywood spotlight afterwards but was kept on Chaplin's payroll up to the time of her death. (bio by: Marta Monk)
Cause of death: Throat cancer
Search Amazon for Edna Purviance | | | Burial:
Grand View Memorial Park
Glendale
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Plot: West Mausoleum (just to the left of the main entrance) |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jun 30, 1999
Find A Grave Memorial# 5800 |
|
|
|
Do you have a photo to add? Click here |
(4.0 after 82 votes)
