Elaine Hammerstein

Elaine Hammerstein

Elaine Hammerstein, 1921
Born (1897-06-16)June 16, 1897
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died August 13, 1948(1948-08-13) (aged 51)
Tijuana, Mexico
Cause of death Car accident
Spouse(s) James Walter Kays
(married 1926–1948)

Elaine Hammerstein (June 16, 1897 – August 13, 1948) was an American silent film and stage actress.

Musical lineage

Elaine Hammerstein was the daughter of opera producer Arthur Hammerstein and the granddaughter of Oscar Hammerstein I. Her father once remarked he was more interested in his daughter's career than in his own. Hammerstein was Arthur's daughter by his first marriage, to Jean Allison Hammerstein. When the couple divorced, the mother did not ask for permanent custody of Elaine but instead requested that her daughter be allowed to choose for herself when she reached the age of maturity.

Theater

Hammerstein is frequently reported to have graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1913, at the age of 17. In fact, there is no record in the college's archives of her having ever attended the school. In any case, she appeared in her first Broadway production that year. This was a musical entitled High Jinks, which featured actor Snitz Edwards. After school she was given a position in production work by her father. In 1915 she performed on Broadway a second time, in the The Trap. In the drama she acted opposite actor Holbrook Blinn.

Hammerstein in Shadowland magazine (September 1919)

Movies

From this work Hammerstein went into motion pictures. She appeared in 44 movies from 1915 until 1926. Among her film credits are The Girl From Nowhere (1921), The Drums of Jeopardy (1923), Reckless Youth (1922), Broadway Gold (1923), and The Midnight Express (1924), opposite William Haines. With the latter film, the studio tried to promote Hammerstein and Haines as a couple, however, in real life, Haines was a gay man.

Marriage

Hammerstein wed James Walter Kays in Los Angeles, California, on June 10, 1926.[1] Kays was a Los Angeles fire commissioner[1] and had also served as finance director for the California Democratic Party.[2]

Upon her marriage, Hammerstein retired from acting.[2] Her last film appearance is in the Columbia Pictures drama Ladies of Leisure (1926).

Death

In August 1948, while returning from a trip to the Mexican border town of Tijuana, the Kays and three friends were traveling at high speed up a curving hillside road when they struck an oncoming car. The six occupants of the Mexican vehicle all survived with minor injuries, but Hammerstein and her companions were trapped when their car skidded off the embankment and tumbled down the hill. Hammerstein, Kays and their three passengers – Los Angeles residents Jane Shafer Richards, Gladys Goldie Hall, and Richard Garvey Jr. – were all killed.[2][3]

At her death Elaine Hammerstein Kays was 51 years old and her husband was 66. They are interred at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles.

Selected filmography

More than half of Elaine Hammerstein's films are lost. This list identifies films that survive, in whole or in part.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Only Members of Immediate Family at Wedding Ceremony". The Times. San Mateo, CA. UP. June 10, 1926. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Five Prominent L.A. Residents Killed in Crash". The San Bernardino County Sun. San Bernardino, CA. August 15, 1948. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Five Killed in Crash". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, MO. AP. August 14, 1948. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ Nitrateville Thread, "Paint and Powder (1925)"
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