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Olive Thomas

Oct 20, 1894 - Sep 10, 1920 (25 years old) in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, USA

Olive Thomas (born Oliva R. Duffy;[1] October 20, 1894 – September 10, 1920) was an American silent-film actress, art model, and photo model.

Thomas began her career as an illustrator's model in 1914, and moved on to the Ziegfeld Follies the following year. During her time as a Ziegfeld girl, she also appeared in the more risqué show The Midnight Frolic. In 1916, she began a successful career in silent films and would appear in more than 20 features over the course of her four-year film career. That year she also married actor Jack Pickford, the younger brother of fellow silent-film star Mary Pickford.

On September 10, 1920, Thomas died in Paris five days after ingesting her husband's syphilis medication, mercury dichloride, that brought on acute nephritis. Although her death was ruled accidental, news of her hospitalization and subsequent death were the subject of speculation in the press. Thomas' death has been cited as one of the early scandals in Hollywood that was heavily publicized.

Known For

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Tom Sawyer
Choir Member (Uncredited)
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Betty Takes a Hand
Betty Marshall
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Broadway Arizona
Fritzi Carlyle
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Footlights and Shadows
Gloria Dawn
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Sigrid Holmquist
Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
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The Glorious Lady
Ivis Benson
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Love's Prisoner
Nancy, later Lady Clevela
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The Flapper
Genevieve 'Ginger' King
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Madcap Madge
Madge Flower
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Heiress For a Day
Helen Thurston

Credits

Images

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