Born 1904 as Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré in Blaye, France, French-American actress and singer Lili Damita was offered a role in film as a prize for winning a magazine beauty competition in 1921, she appeared in several silent films before being offered her first leading role in Das Spielzeug von Paris (1925) by Hungarian-born director Michael Curtiz. She was an instant success, and Curtiz directed her in two more films: Fiaker Nr. 13 (1926) and Der goldene Schmetterling (1926).
Damita continued appearing next in German productions directed by Robert Wiene (Die große Abenteuerin; 1928), G.W. Pabst (Man spielt nicht mit der Liebe; 1926) and British director Graham Cutts (The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927).
Damita made her American film debut in The Rescue in 1928. She was leased out to various studios, appearing with stars and leading men such as Maurice Chevalier, Laurence Olivier, James Cagney, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant. Her films included box office successes The Cock-Eyed World (1929), the semi-silent The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) and This Is the Night (1932).
Lili Damita married actor Errol Flynn in 1935 and retired from the screen. She died of Alzheimer’s disease in 1994, in Palm Beach, Florida, aged 89.
Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see the beauty of young Lili Damita in the 1920s and 1930s.
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