Silent film star Mae Murray built one the largest early homes in Playa Del Rey; set on the sand at Ballona Creek.
The mansion, although lost by Murray in litigation in the early 1930’s, was forever remembered by locals as, “Mae’s Place.”
The lawsuit against Mae was filed by Mrs. Rosemary Stack; mother of soon to be actor Robert Stack.
In later years the house was a private residence, a LMU boarding house, and a half-way house for recovering drug addicts. It almost washed away in this storm on January 9, 1940.
The tiny (5'2") Mae, once called Miss Itsy Poo of '22, was a giant presence in her film industry. She formed a production company (Tiffany Pictures) with her 3rd husband, director Robert Z. Leonard, and she was a founding trustee of The Motion Picture Fund (which helped her in her declining years).
Mae was reportedly worth $3 million by 1925.
Silent films gave way to sound films, which did not suit her voice. But Murray's 1922 silent film Peacock Alley, was reissued partly in sound in 1930, but it too failed and Mae Murray gave way to Hollywood excess.
At her death, Mae Murray left several boxes and suitcases filled with clothing, scripts, books, photos, costumes and mementos that were valued at $120 and sold at auction by a state for $357.
The Mae Murray mansion was demolished in the 1970’s.
Comments