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Edna Purviance

| deathplace = Hollywood, California, United States | restingplace = Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California, United States | yearsactive = 1915 - 1927 | spouse = John P. Squire (1938-1945) | awards = }}

Edna Purviance (October 21 1895 – January 11 1958) was an American actress during the silent movie era. She was the leading lady in many Charlie Chaplin movies. In a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with Chaplin.

Early life

Edna Purviance (pronounced Purr-VYE-ance) was born in Paradise Valley, Nevada, to Louis and Madison Gates Purviance. When she was three, the family moved to Lovelock, Nevada, where they assumed ownership of a hotel property. Her parents divorced in 1902, and her mother later married Robert Nurnberger, a German plumber. Growing up, Purviance was a talented pianist. She left Lovelock in 1913, and attended business college in San Francisco.

Career

In 1915, Chaplin was working on his second film with Essanay Studios, working out of Niles, California, one hour southeast of San Francisco. He was looking for a leading lady for A Night Out, and one of his associates noticed Purviance at a Tate's Café in San Francisco and thought she should be cast in the role. Chaplin arranged a meeting with her, and although he was concerned that she might be too serious for comedic roles, she won the job.

Chaplin and Purviance were romantically involved during the making of his Essanay, Mutual, and First National films of 1915-1917. Purviance appeared in 33 of Chaplin's productions, including the 1921 classic The Kid. Her last film with him, A Woman of Paris, was also her first lead role. She went on to appear in two more films: The Sea Gull, also known as A Woman of the Sea — which Chaplin never released — and Education de Prince, a French film released in 1927, just before she retired as an actress. Chaplin kept her on his payroll until her death.

Personal life

Although she was romantically involved with Chaplin for several years, Purviance eventually married John Squire, a Pan-American Airlines pilot, whom she wed in 1938 and who died in 1945. Recently, silent black-and-white and colour films have been discovered; these show a glimpse into their life together from the late 1930s and early 1940s, and over 50 production stills from her unreleased film The Sea Gull have also come to light. These stills have been published with the original title list from the film.

She died of cancer on January 13, 1958, at the age of 62 (as per her official California death certificate). She is interred in the Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

In other media

She was portrayed by Penelope Ann Miller in the film Chaplin.

Legacy

Despite her being Chaplin's leading lady in dozens of films, and more so than any other actress, she does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. However, there exists a petition with hundreds of signatures to get her a star.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1915	A Night Out	The Headwaiter's Wife
	The Champion	Trainer's Daughter
	In the Park	Nursemaid
	A Jitney Elopement	Edna
	The Tramp	Farmer's Daughter
	By the Sea	Man in Top Hat's Sweetheart
	Work	Maid
	A Woman	Daughter of the House
	The Bank	Edna, a Secretary
	Shanghaied	Daughter of the Shipowner
	A Night in the Show	Lady in the Stalls with Beads
	Burlesque on Carmen	Carmen
1916	The Floorwalker	Manager's secretary
	Police!	Daughter of the House
	The Fireman	Girl
	The Vagabond	Girl Stolen by Gypsies
	The Count	Miss Moneybags
	The Pawnshop	Daughter
	Behind the Screen	The Girl
	The Rink	The Girl
1917	Easy Street	The Mission Worker
	The Cure	The Girl
	The Immigrant	Immigrant
	The Adventurer	The Girl
1918	A Dog’s Life	Bar Singer
	Triple Trouble	Maid	created by Essanay after Chaplin left from outtakes of Police and unfinished film Life
	Shoulder Arms	French Girl
	The Bond	Charlie's Wife
1919	Sunnyside	Village Belle
1919	A Day’s Pleasure	Mother
1921	The Kid	Mother	feature
1921	The Idle Class	Neglected Wife
1922	Pay Day	Foreman's Daughter
1923	The Pilgrim	Miss Brown
1923	A Woman of Paris	Marie St. Clair	feature
1926	A Woman of the Sea	Joan	Unreleased film, considered lost.
1927	Education de Prince		feature