Carmelita Geraghty

Biography

Carmelita Geraghty was an American silent-film actress. She started work out as an extra in the early 1920s, using a fictitious name until getting her big break when she was selected as one of the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers (WAMPAS) "Baby Stars" of 1924.^[1]

In the summer of 1925, fellow actress Virginia Valli apparently asked Geraghty to join her as a travel companion on a trip to Europe where Valli was to star alongside German actress Maria Minzenti in a joint Gainsborough-Emelka production directed by Alfred Hitchcock. When assistant director Alma Reville met Valli off the boat at Cherburg, Geraghty's presence — and the unplanned cost to the travel and food budget of an extra person — was relayed back to studio executives who appear to have taken the prompt decision to offer her the co-starring role.^[2] Geraghty was announced to the press as appearing alongside Valli in The Pleasure Garden on the same day filming commenced.^[3]^[4]

Geraghty's career stalled with the introduction of sound and her acting roles diminished until she retired in 1936, aged 35.

Filmography

With Hitchcock...

The Pleasure Garden (1925) — cast: Jill Cheyne

Film Frames

Selection of film frames: Carmelita Geraghty (click image to view larger version or refresh thumbnails)...

Image Gallery

Images from the Hitchcock Gallery (click to view larger versions or search for all relevant images)...

Genealogy

Research Notes

According to Variety (Apr/29/1925), Geraghty has been due to marry Albert Ihsam ("wealthy mining man of Santa Barbara") in June 1925.
After filming The Pleasure Garden, Geraghty returned to America aboard the SS Leviathan (which was the ship that David O. Selznick intended to use for the Titanic project), which departed Southampton on 25/Aug/1925 and arrived into New York on 31/Aug/1925. She was accompanied on the journey by her father, screenwriter Thomas Geraghty (he had sailed to England from New York and arrived into Southampton on 31/Jul/1925).

Links

Notes & References

↑ Wikipedia: WAMPAS Baby Stars
↑ Although most source state that Hitchcock wasn't expecting Geraghty, a report in the Pennsylvanian New Castle News (08/Jul/1925) implies that she was in fact travelling to Germany to make several films.
↑ Hitchcock Annual (2000) - German Hitchcock
↑ News Chronicle (1937) - Life among the Stars

[1] Wikipedia: WAMPAS Baby Stars

[2] Although most source state that Hitchcock wasn't expecting Geraghty, a report in the Pennsylvanian New Castle News (08/Jul/1925) implies that she was in fact travelling to Germany to make several films.

[3] Hitchcock Annual (2000) - German Hitchcock

[4] News Chronicle (1937) - Life among the Stars

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