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Yvonne Gardelle

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Yvonne Gardelle
A smiling young white woman, wearing a hat, seated in a chair with one hand against her chest and the other in her lap
Gardelle in 1927
Born
Alice Yvonne Clark

October 7, 1897
Chicago, Illinois
DiedJuly 21, 1979
Oceanside, California
Other namesYvonne Chappelle, Alice Y. Gardner, Yvonne Riddle
Occupation(s)Actress, dancer, artist's model

Yvonne Gardelle (October 7, 1897 – July 21, 1979), born Alice Yvonne Clark, also known as Alice Y. Gardner, Yvonne Chappelle, or Yvonne Riddle, was an American actress in silent films, a dancer and an artist's model.

Early life

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Alice Yvonne Clark was born in Chicago. As "Yvonne Gardelle", she was presented in early press as the daughter of a French dancer,[1][2] and the adopted daughter of sculptor Carlton Gardelle, who raised her as his own from early childhood.[3] She married Gardelle in 1922.[4]

After they divorced, she denounced that origin story as a "lurid fabrication",[5] explaining to a Los Angeles newspaper in 1924 that "I never met Mr. Gardelle, whose real name is Gardner, until I was 13 years old."[6] She resumed the name "Yvonne Chappelle" to further remove herself from Gardelle.[5]

A smiling young woman wearing a cloth cap low over her brow, in profile
Yvonne Gardelle in Who's Who on the Screen (1920)

Career

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Yvonne Chappelle started her career as a young dancer in vaudeville.[1][7] In 1914, she danced in a minimal costume as the lead in a pageant called "Revels of Daphne", performed at the General Federation of Women's Clubs meeting in Chicago.[8] The pageant was directed by Clyde A. Gardner,[9] later known as "Carlton Gardelle".[10][11]

Yvonne Chappelle was announced among the cast principals for the Atlantic City, NJ opening of the Ziegfeld Follies.[12]

As Yvonne Chappelle she had small roles in two silent films, As a Woman Sows (1916) and Restitution (1918). As Yvonne Gardelle, she appeared in three more silent films, The Tree of Knowledge (1920), directed by William C. DeMille, The Prince Chap (1920),[3] also directed by William C. DeMille, and Occasionally Yours (1920), directed by James W. Horne and starring Lew Cody.[13] She appeared on screen without clothing as Lilith in a Garden of Eden sequence in The Tree of Knowledge, with Russian dancer Theodore Kosloff.[14][15] She was promoted as "physically perfect" in the publicity surrounding The Prince Chap.[16] In 1921, she appeared in "a series of bathing scenes" in a touring show, Kismet, starring Otis Skinner.[17]

While appearing in a 1925 production of The Ten Commandments, Chappelle modeled with a new automobile, the Auburn Wanderer; the car was advertised as a "sedan by day, bedroom by night", for its convertible back compartment.[18] She also made a 1925 publicity trip in the Diana sedan by Moon Motors.[19] Also in 1925, she sued the Pacific Electric Railway for injuries to her leg, after she was involved in a car accident with a Pacific Electric rail car.[20][21] In 1926 she sang on a radio broadcast,[22] and was a finalist in a newspaper beauty contest in Los Angeles.[23][24]

Yvonne Chappelle Riddle opened a dance school in Tarzana in 1930.[25][26] She also worked in real estate in the 1930s.[27] With her third husband, she wrote a show, Frieda Drake, Proprietor (1942).[28]

Personal life

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She was married to an actor, Roy L. Brooks; they divorced in 1921.[29] She married Carlton Gardelle in 1922.[10][30] They divorced in 1923.[31][32] She married again by the end of 1925,[20] to Mel Riddle, a theatrical publicist.[33] Riddle wrote a song, 'Yvonne', in her honor.[34][35] She died in 1979, aged 81 years, in Oceanside, California.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Want to be Graceful? Work is the Secret". The Los Angeles Times. 1919-06-30. p. 19. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Yvonne Gardelle Signed". Camera!: 14. July 6, 1919 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b Fox, Charles Donald; Silver, Milton L. (1920). Who's who on the Screen. Ross publishing Company. p. 309.
  4. ^ "On the Camera Coast". Motion Picture. 25: 116. April 1923.
  5. ^ a b "Famed Artist Model Reveals Studio Life". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1924-11-06. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Here's More About Artist Model's Life (continued)". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1924-11-05. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Noted Artist-Model Has Row With Gotham Theater 'Angel'". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1924-11-08. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Drapery, or Absence of It, at Pageant Shocks Women". The Shreveport Journal. 1914-06-19. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Scene in Pageant in Honor of Biennial Visitors". Chicago Tribune. 1914-06-11. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "How He Married the 'Daughter' Who Inspired Him". The Buffalo Times. 1923-03-11. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Sculptor Weds Model He Adopted as a Baby". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1923-02-11. p. 105. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "New Ziegfeld Follies at Atlantic City N.J." The Stand Union. Brooklyn, NY. June 6, 1917. p. 8.
  13. ^ "Lew Cody Will be Seen in Feature at the Allen Theater". The Akron Beacon Journal. 1920-10-09. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Screen Bookings". Star Tribune. 1920-03-14. p. 66. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Orpheum". Akron Evening Times. 1920-06-02. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Physically Perfect Woman is Model for Prince Chap". Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise. 1921-01-04. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "'Kismet' (advertisement)". News-Journal. 1921-03-30. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Latest Model of Auburn on Display Here". The Los Angeles Times. 1925-08-02. p. 116. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Diana, Goddess of Ancients, Inspires Diana of Moderns". News-Pilot. 1925-11-04. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ a b "Noted Model, Beauty Sues P. E. for $7700". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1925-09-28. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Wants $7,702 for Shapely Leg Damaged in Collision". The News Tribune. 1925-10-02. p. 32. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Film Actress to Give New Song Over Radio KNX". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1926-01-21. p. 30. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Brunette Beauty Wins Over Blonde in 'News' Contest". Daily News. 1926-11-19. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Gentlemen's Attitude on Blondes Heard Tomorrow". Daily News. 1926-11-16. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ McDonald, Ruth (1930-09-26). "Tarzana Notes". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Birthday Dinner Party". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. 1930-10-10. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Fur Stolen from Vacant Property". Van Nuys News. March 8, 1937. p. 2. Retrieved March 20, 2022 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  28. ^ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1942). Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [C] Group 3. Dramatic Composition and Motion Pictures. New Series. p. 726.
  29. ^ "Noted Beauty is Awarded Divorce". Los Angeles Herald. March 30, 1921. pp. A11. Retrieved March 20, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  30. ^ "Yvonne Gardelle Weds Foster Father". The Buffalo Times. 1923-01-21. p. 71. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Yvonne Gardelle Sues for Divorce". The Buffalo Times. 1923-03-06. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "His Romance is on the Rocks". The Herald Democrat. March 30, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved March 20, 2022 – via Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.
  33. ^ "Yvonne Chappelle Recovering Rapidly". Daily News. 1927-01-08. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ "To Feature 'Yvonne'". The Los Angeles Times. 1925-12-21. p. 25. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ "Publicity and Composition". The Los Angeles Times. 1925-12-06. p. 88. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
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