Jeanie Macpherson
Jeanie Macpherson was a prominent American actress and screenwriter born into a well-off Boston family. Her early life included a brief foray into studying in Paris, which was cut short by her family's financial struggles. Starting her career as a chorus member at the Chicago Opera House, she transitioned into acting in Broadway productions, eventually catching the attention of the burgeoning film industry. Macpherson joined D.W. Griffith’s acting company and later Universal Studios, where an unexpected turn of events led her to write and direct her first screenplay.
Her collaboration with director Cecil B. DeMille marked a significant phase in her career, as they worked closely on various projects, particularly historical and biblical films. Macpherson is best known for her screenplays for classics like "The Ten Commandments" and "Joan the Woman," where she offered nuanced portrayals of complex characters. Over time, her writing evolved from escapist narratives to more realistic social dramas, even as she returned to the grand historical themes for which she gained fame. Macpherson's legacy is marked by her ability to adapt from silent films to talkies, contributing significantly to early American cinema until her death in 1946.
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Jeanie Macpherson
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- Born: February 26, 1905
- Died: 1946
Biography
Jeanie Macpherson was born into an affluent Boston family and developed into a remarkably beautiful, petite woman with an exotic appearance. When she was in her teens, her parents sent her to Paris to study in a school run by Mademoiselle DeJacques. Her stay in Paris was cut short quite precipitously, however, when her family’s fortunes failed, making it necessary for her to return to the United States and look for work.
Macpherson began her acting career as a member of chorus of the Chicago Opera House. She took voice lessons and accepted whatever acting jobs she could find. Her work with road companies led to a role in 1914 as Tita, a Spanish girl, in the Broadway production of the musical Havana, which had a year’s run.
Macpherson became interested in the emerging field of motion pictures and persuaded D. W. Griffin to let her join his acting company, Biograph, with which she acted in several films in New York. She worked with director Oscar Apfel, who in 1913 had worked with a young, relatively unknown filmmaker, Cecil B. DeMille. Apfel left New York for southern California, which was fast becoming the filmmaking center of the United States, and Macpherson, offered a position as an actress with Universal Studios, soon followed.
Although she was hired to act, she soon wrote a screenplay because of an accident. She starred in the film The Tarantula, whose director, Edwin August, left for New York immediately after the filming. Following his departure, the only copy of the film was accidentally destroyed. Macpherson took over, rewriting the screenplay from memory and directing the refilming. As recompense, Universal offered Macpherson her own production company.
The following year, Macpherson met DeMille and began a productive association that would very much influence her future. DeMille, a perfectionist, taught Macpherson how to control and focus the material about which she was writing. The two of them shared a contempt for human weakness, a sentiment that pervaded their collaborations on screenplays based upon biblical, historical, or fictional characters.
During their early association, Macpherson often acted in films for which she and DeMille wrote the screenplays. However, in 1915, Macpherson abandoned acting to become a full-time screenwriter. Her first venture into writing a sprawling historical film came with Joan the Woman, in which Macpherson humanized Joan of Arc. Director DeMille employed hundreds of extras to create the frame for this film, portraying Joan as a frightened woman rather than a hallowed saint.
Macpherson went on to write the screenplays for such popular biblical epics as The Ten Commandments and The King of Kings. She also adapted James M. Barrie’s play, The Admirable Crichton, as the film Male and Female, starring Gloria Swanson. As the era of the flapper emerged in the 1920’s, DeMille and Macpherson decried the sexual freedom that prevailed and attacked it in some of their productions.
When Macpherson succumbed to cancer in 1946, she had moved from writing escapist, historical films to writing realistic social dramas but had then returned to the historical films for which she is best remembered. She moved gracefully from writing silent films to writing films with dialogue.