Carol Dempster
Dempster in 1920
Born	(1901-12-09)December 9, 1901 Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	February 1, 1991(1991-02-01) (aged 89) La Jolla, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park,Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1916–1926
Spouse	Edwin S. Larsen ​ ​ (m. 1926; died 1978)​

Carol Dempster (December 9, 1901 – February 1, 1991) was an American film actress of thesilent film era.^[1] She appeared in films from 1916 to 1926, working withD. W. Griffith extensively.

Born inDuluth, Minnesota, Dempster was the daughter of a captain on the Great Lakes and the youngest of four children. The family moved to California when her father decided to change careers. While dancing in a school program, Dempster was noticed byRuth St. Denis and went on to become the youngest graduate in the first class of St. Denis's school of dance.^[2]

Dempster's first feature role came in 1919 in the Griffith directedThe Girl Who Stayed at Home oppositeRobert "Bobby" Harron. Dempster followed this with Griffith'sThe Love Flower (1920),Dream Street (1921),One Exciting Night (1922) andIsn't Life Wonderful (1924),America (1924),Sally of the Sawdust (1925), andThat Royle Girl (1925). Dempster appeared opposite such notable actors asJohn Barrymore,Richard Barthelmess,William Powell,Ivor Novello, andW. C. Fields.

In 1926 Dempster acted in her final film, a Griffith vehicle entitledThe Sorrows of Satan (1926), co-starringAdolphe Menjou,Ricardo Cortez, and the Hungarian vampLya De Putti. Dempster then retired from the screen to marry wealthy banker Edwin S. Larson in 1926.^[1]

Dempster's critical stock was never very high, in part because she was unable to live up to the performances ofLillian Gish, whom she replaced as Griffith's leading lady. Her somewhat "ordinary" appearance and animated acting style were frequently criticized.^[4] Also, with a few exceptions, the films she appeared in were not among Griffith's more popular works. In recent years, however, viewers and critics alike have slowly begun to appreciate her performances, particularly in two later films,Isn't Life Wonderful andThe Sorrows of Satan.^[5][6]

Dempster died inLa Jolla, California, in 1991 at the age of 89 fromheart failure and was buried at theForest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery inGlendale, California. Upon her death, Dempster left $1.6 million to the San Diego Museum of Art, which was used to expand the museum's collections of prints and drawings.^[7]

All features were directed byD. W. Griffith exceptSherlock Holmes, which was directed byAlbert Parker.The Hope Chest, a product of the New Art Film Company from 1918, was produced by Griffith but directed byElmer Clifton.

• Gish, Lillian (1969).The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.ISBN 978-0-13-536482-6.
• Geduld, Harry M. (1971).Focus on D.W. Griffith. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.ISBN 978-0-13-365205-5.
• Brown, Karl (1973).Adventures with D.W. Griffith. New York:Farrar, Straus and Giroux.ISBN 978-0-374-10093-3.
• Koszarski, Richard. 2008.Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff. Rutgers University Press.ISBN 978-0-8135-4293-5

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCarol Dempster.

• Carol Dempster atIMDb
• Carol Dempster at Golden Silents
• Carol Dempster at Virtual History

• 1901 births
• 1991 deaths
• American film actresses
• American silent film actresses
• Actresses from Duluth, Minnesota
• 20th-century American actresses
• Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)

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