Entering films in 1913, bubbly actress Louise Fazenda, born in Lafayette, Indiana on June 17th, 1895, evolved into a very popular comedienne and later proved herself a gifted character actress as well. Her father was a merchandise broker who moved the family to Los Angeles when Louise was young. Louise was not a dreamer, just a normal, lively girl, and she had no plans for a show business career at first.
She attended Los Angeles High School and St. Mary's Convent. One Christmas holiday she decided she needed some extra pocket money and a friend suggested she try show business. As a result she obtained a little work in stock and then at Universal's Joker comedy division as an extra. She found the work fascinated her and she continued to enjoy its novelty. By 1915 she was doing increasingly notable work in comedy for Mack Sennett and Keystone Studios. Her co-star at Sennett in the early days was Mabel Normand, who was romantically involved with Mack Sennett. Whenever Mabel complained that she wanted better roles Mack would simply say "Ok, then I'll send for Fazenda." That usually kept Mabel in line.
Louise even branched out into drama occasionally, portraying prominent roles in films like "The Kitchen Lady" (1918), "Down On The Farm" (1920), and "The Beautiful and the Damned" (1922) and "Main Street" (1923), the latter two for Warner Brothers studio. Her best known character was her humorous country bumpkin girl, featuring a costume of spit curls, pigtails, and a calico dress.
Her energetic talents were used in early musicals and flapper films, as well as slapstick comedies. Louise experienced a smooth transition to the sound era, and continued making films for studios like Warner Brothers, Paramount, and M-G-M until 1939, when she retired, becoming a philanthropist and an art collector. Louise was married twice, once to director Noel Smith from 1917 till 1926, and then to Warner Brothers producer Hal Wallis, with whom she had a son. Their marriage lasted from 1927 until Louise's death from a cerebral hemorrhage on April 17th, 1962 in Beverly Hills, California. ~ Copyright 2004 goldensilents.com
Vintage Bio from "Who's Who On The Screen" (1920): "Louise Fazenda, famous Mack Sennett comedienne, was born in Lafayette, Indiana and educated in Los Angeles. After a short season in stock she secured an emergency engagement with Universal, going from there to Keystone and Mack Sennett.
Miss Fazenda scored notable success in "The Kentucky Lady," "Her First Mistake," "Her Screen Idol," "The Village Chestnut," "The Village Smithy," "The Foolish Age," "Hearts and Flowers," "Treating 'Em Rough," "Back to the Kitchen," and "Down on the Farm." She is five feet, five inches tall, and weighs a hundred and thirty-eight pounds. Her hair is light and her eyes are blue. In spite of her remarkable characterizations of homely girls, Miss Fazenda is one of the screen's most beautiful actresses."