1. Mary Loretta Philbin was an American film actress of the silent film era, who played Christine Daae in the 1925 film The Phantom of the Opera opposite Lon Chaney, and Dea in The Man Who Laughs alongside Conrad Veidt.
11 Facts About Mary Philbin
1. 2.
Mary Philbin was an only child, and was named after her mother, Mary.
3.
Mary Philbin's father, John Philbin, was born in Ballinrobe, County Mayo, Ireland, and had emigrated to America in 1900.
4.
Mary Philbin began her acting career after winning a beauty contest sponsored by Universal Pictures in Chicago.
5.
Mary Philbin made her screen debut in 1921, and the following year was honored at the first WAMPAS Baby Stars awards, a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States.
6.
Mary Philbin played a few parts during the early talkie era and most notably dubbed her own voice when The Phantom of the Opera was given sound and re-released.
7.
Mary Philbin spent the remainder of her life after leaving the film industry as a recluse, living in the same home in Huntington Beach, California.
8.
Mary Philbin died of pneumonia at age 90 in 1993, and was buried at the Calvary Cemetery in east Los Angeles, California.
9.
From 1923 to 1927, Mary Philbin was in a relationship with Paul Kohner.
10.
Ultimately, Mary Philbin chose to not marry anyone and Kohner went on to marry Lupita Tovar in 1932.
11.
However, when Kohner died, he was found to still have the love letters Mary Philbin had written to him in his possession.