Mary Philbin

Philbin was born on July 16, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, into a middle-class, Irish-American family and raised Catholic. She was an only child, and was named after her mother, Mary. Her father, John Philbin, was born in Ballinrobe, County Mayo, Ireland, and had emigrated to America in 1900.

Philbin began her acting career after winning a beauty contest sponsored by Universal Pictures in Chicago. After she moved to California, Erich von Stroheim signed her to a contract with Universal, deeming her a "Universal Super Jewel." She 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. During the 1920s, Philbin starred in a number of high-profile films, most notably in D. W. Griffith's 1928 film Drums of Love. In 1927, she appeared in Edward Sloman's Surrender with Ivan Mosjoukine, though her most celebrated role was in the Universal horror film The Phantom of the Opera in 1925. Philbin's ethereal screen presence was noted in a 1924 edition of Motion Picture Classic, in which she was referred to as "one of the astonishing anomalies of motion pictures. Pat O'Malley once said of her: 'If I were superstitious I would think that the spirit of some great tragedienne of a forgotten past slipped into Mary's soul when she heard the camera begin to click.'" 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. She retired from the screen in 1930.

Philbin spent the remainder of her life after leaving the film industry as a recluse, living in the same home in Huntington Beach, California. In 1988, she attended a memorial service for Rudolph Valentino, her first public appearance since 1931. Her final public appearance was at Los Angeles opening of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera in 1989. She died of pneumonia at age 90 in 1993, and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.

From 1923 to 1927, Philbin was in a relationship with Paul Kohner. They had been introduced to each other by Erich von Stroheim. They secretly became engaged in 1926, but never married due to the disapproval of both Kohner’s mother and Philbin's parents (Kohner was Jewish, and the Philbin family were staunch Catholics). In 1929, they were rumored to be going to marry in June of that year, but it never happened. During their relationship, Philbin had a short-lived affair with Western star Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. Ultimately, Philbin chose to not marry anyone and Kohner went on to marry Lupita Tovar in 1932. However, when Kohner died, he was found to still have the love letters Philbin had written to him in his possession. She, in turn, had also kept his, and was heartbroken at his death.