Screen legends of the 20th century this weekend. An interview with Mary Astor by CBS Reporter Charles Collingwood for Person To Person on August 25, 1961.
Mary Astor (born May 3, 1906, Quincy, Ill., U.S.—died September 25, 1987, Woodland Hills, Calif.) was an American motion-picture and stage actress noted for her delicate, classic beauty and a renowned profile that earned her the nickname “The Cameo Girl.” With the ability to play a variety of characters ranging from villains to heroines to matrons, Astor worked in film from the silent era to the 1960s.
Astor’s early career was directed by her German-immigrant father, who entered her into a beauty contest at age 14; a year later she appeared in her first film, Sentimental Tommy (1921), although her role was cut from the release print. After a few bit parts in two-reelers, Astor was selected by John Barrymore to costar in Beau Brummel (1924). The two also began a lively, romantic offscreen relationship, with the legendary, 40-year-old Barrymore helping to hone the teenage Astor’s natural acting gifts. After the affair ended, Astor starred again with Barrymore in Don Juan (1926), the first silent movie with sound-on-disc Vitaphone music and sound effects. Perfecting her vocal technique in several stage productions, Astor made a successful transition to talkies.
Married four times, Astor had numerous extramarital affairs, many of which she detailed explicitly in her notorious “purple diary,” which was made public in the mid 1930s. The diary was released in the midst of a bitter her custody and fight between Astor second husband, Franklyn Thorpe. Although Astor claimed that parts of the diary were forgeries, she admitted in her 1959 autobiography that she had had affairs with such personalities as actor John Barrymore, publisher Bennett Cerf and playwright George S. Kaufman. Astor had troubles in other areas as well.
Although she made as much as $4,000 per week at the height of her popularity, she lost most of her money and slipped into poverty. Her stormy love life, combined with her financial problems, contributed to bouts with alcoholism and three failed suicide attempts.
Astor did make a professional comeback. A priest-psychologist encouraged her to write her autobiography as a means of therapy. The 1959 publication of “My Story” impressed reviewers with its sincerity and literary ability, and encouraged Astor to write novels, the first of which, “The Incredible Charlie Carewe,” was published in 1960 to good reviews.
By 1961, when she impressed critics as the evil mother in “Return To Peyton Place,” Mary Astor’s comeback was complete. “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte” in 1965 was her last film.
This interview was conducted during her comeback period when her career was very much looking up.
August 25, 1961 with Charles Collingwood, somewhere in Malibu.
