Actress. Born Martha Ehrlich, she took her professional name from her hometown of Mansfield, Ohio. In 1912 she moved with her mother to the Bronx and became a popular model for fashion photographer Alfred Cheney Johnson and illustrator Harrison Fisher. This led to mostly decorative roles in such Broadway shows as "The Century Girl" (1916), "On With the Dance" (1917), and concurrent appearances in Flo Ziegfeld's "Follies" and "Midnight Frolics" revues (1918 and 1919). She also began working in films, beginning in 1917 with three Max Linder comedy shorts, and in 1920 she settled in Hollywood. Her best-known screen performance is as John Barrymore's fiancee in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1920). Among her other movie credits are "Broadway Bill" (1918), "Women Men Love" (1920), "Gilded Lies" (1921), and "Queen of the Moulin Rouge" (1922). In 1923 Mansfield signed a contract with Fox and was given the female lead in "The Warrens of Virginia", a big-budget Civil War melodrama. It was her most important film to date and might have made her a star. Tragically, she would not live to complete it. Mansfield retired to her car, having just finished shooting her scene when her 1860s hoop skirt caught on fire. It is speculated that a match is the cause of the fire, but it has never been determined who is responsible for lighting it. Despite the frantic efforts of co-star Wilfred Lytell, and her chauffeur, to extinguish the flames, Mansfield was horribly burned. She died the following day. Mansfield was 24. Few of her films survive today.
Actress. Born Martha Ehrlich, she took her professional name from her hometown of Mansfield, Ohio. In 1912 she moved with her mother to the Bronx and became a popular model for fashion photographer Alfred Cheney Johnson and illustrator Harrison Fisher. This led to mostly decorative roles in such Broadway shows as "The Century Girl" (1916), "On With the Dance" (1917), and concurrent appearances in Flo Ziegfeld's "Follies" and "Midnight Frolics" revues (1918 and 1919). She also began working in films, beginning in 1917 with three Max Linder comedy shorts, and in 1920 she settled in Hollywood. Her best-known screen performance is as John Barrymore's fiancee in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1920). Among her other movie credits are "Broadway Bill" (1918), "Women Men Love" (1920), "Gilded Lies" (1921), and "Queen of the Moulin Rouge" (1922). In 1923 Mansfield signed a contract with Fox and was given the female lead in "The Warrens of Virginia", a big-budget Civil War melodrama. It was her most important film to date and might have made her a star. Tragically, she would not live to complete it. Mansfield retired to her car, having just finished shooting her scene when her 1860s hoop skirt caught on fire. It is speculated that a match is the cause of the fire, but it has never been determined who is responsible for lighting it. Despite the frantic efforts of co-star Wilfred Lytell, and her chauffeur, to extinguish the flames, Mansfield was horribly burned. She died the following day. Mansfield was 24. Few of her films survive today.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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