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FORGOTTEN FILM STARS

Lost Faces of Hollywood

This portrait series focuses on what I consider to be unjustly forgotten film actors and actresses from my favorite Hollywood era: the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The series features Jeanne Eagles, Kay Francis, William Haines, Sessue Hayakawa, Zita Johann, Dorothy Mackaill, Aline MacMahon, Paul Robeson, Helen Twelvetrees, and Anna May Wong. 

Each portrait is painted in oil on canvas, measuring 18″ × 24″.

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FORGOTTEN FILM STARS

Lost Faces of Hollywood

This portrait series focuses on what I consider to be unjustly forgotten film actors and actresses from my favorite Hollywood era: the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The series features Jeanne Eagles, Kay Francis, William Haines, Sessue Hayakawa, Zita Johann, Dorothy Mackaill, Aline MacMahon, Paul Robeson, Helen Twelvetrees, and Anna May Wong. Each portrait is painted in oil on canvas, measuring 18″ × 24″.

Explore the Stars

THE PORTRAITS

Stories Behind the Faces

Each portrait is connected to a different story of ambition, success, struggle, reinvention, or loss. From silent-film icons to pioneering performers who challenged the limitations of their time, these subjects represent a fascinating chapter in cinema history that continues to inspire my work. 

Click on the image to read full bios. 

Jeanne Eagles,

(1890 – 1929)

Eagles started her career as a dancer but eventually found great success as an actress on Broadway in the 1920s, in particular the role of Sadie Thompson in Rain.

Kay Francis,

(1905 – 1968)

After a brief stint on Broadway, Francis moved to Hollywood where she quickly became Warner Bros.' top female star of the early 1930s.

William Haines,

(1900 – 1973)

Haines had a tumultuous early life and ran away from home at age 14 with his boyfriend. He eventually made his way to Greenwich Village and worked as a model until signing with Goldwyn Pictures.

Sessue Hayakawa,

(1886 – 1973)

After getting a degree in political economics at the University of Chicago, Hayakawa stopped in Los Angeles to try acting before returning to Japan.

Zita Johann

(1904 – 1993)

Hungarian-born Johann debuted on Broadway in 1924 and was soon courted by Hollywood. MGM wanted her so badly they gave Johann script approval—an almost unheard-of concession and one they likely regretted as she rejected nearly every film offered.

Dorothy Mackaill

(1903 – 1990)

Born in England, Mackaill became a Ziegfeld girl on Broadway at the age of 17 and began acting in silent films in 1920. After making a smooth transition to talkies, she worked in productions at nearly all the major studios, including MGM, Columbia, and Paramount.

Aline MacMahon

(1899 – 1991)

In 1922, Broadway actress Aline MacMahon became one of the first U.S. students of Konstantin Stanislavski’s Method acting classes. Later, while in a touring company that stopped in Los Angeles, her performance caught the eye of Warner Bros. director Mervyn LeRoy.

David Manners

(1900 – 1998)

Although born in Nova Scotia, Manners grew up in New York City where he later intended to become a publisher and editor like his father.

Paul Robeson

(1898 – 1976)

Robeson led an extraordinary life and found success as an actor, singer, author, athlete, lawyer, and civil rights pioneer. He attended Rutgers University where—despite being the only black student

Helen Twelvetrees

(1908 – 1958)

elen Twelvetree’s too-good-to-be-real name was not a showbiz concoction; it came from her first marriage to actor Clark Twelvetrees whom she met in acting school. In 1929, she went to Hollywood to take advantage of the industry’s struggling transition from silent to sound films.

Anna May Wong

(1905 – 1961)

A Los Angeles native, Wong became the first Asian actress to achieve stardom in Hollywood. She made a number of silent and sound films but was frustrated by almost always being cast as an “exotic” supporting player

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Every Painting Has a Story

From celebrated performers to lesser-known figures of Hollywood’s early years, my Forgotten Film Stars collection brings remarkable faces and stories back into focus through my oil portraits.

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