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| Celesta Zimlick |
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born:
07 September 1901 Los Angeles, California, United States of America |
died:
15 March 1978 Los Angeles County, California, United States of America (age 76) |
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American actress and interpretative dancer, known for her Apache and peacock dance work, who appeared in silent films of the early 1920s. She worked for Al Christie, Universal, and L-KO, and served as leading lady in comedies starring Billy Engle, and the duo of Slim Summerville and Bobby Dunn. She variously went by the first names Celesta or Celeste, and alternately spelled her surname either Zimlick or its natural Zimlich; she routinely went by Celesta in her later life. Her parents were Eva (née Bieber, 1872-1939) and John Julius Zimlich (1862-1951), who married on 16 February 1891 in St. Louis, Missouri. On 21 April 1919, Celesta married chauffeur/mechanic Ralph Clarence Larsen (1901-1933); a very brief union for these two teenagers (both of whom fudged their ages on the certificate and license), they were living apart with their respective families by the 1920 U.S. Census next January. In 1921, Celesta was leading lady in comedies starring minister-turned-screen comic George LeRoi Clarke, some directed by Fred Jefferson. Two years later, in March 1923, Clarke, who had a wife and three children, was arrested for violating the Mann Act in New Orleans, Louisiana. Preceding the arrest, he and Celeste reportedly traveled through various cities to New Orleans on a three-week "honeymoon," registering at a New Orleans hotel as "Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert"; Celesta told her parents she was going on a shopping trip in New York, while Clarke told his family he was going to Mexico. To fund the trip, Celesta sold a Russian wolfhound worth $950 in exchange for $100 in cash and two diamonds that were supposedly worth $400 each; however, it was discovered that the diamonds were, in fact, glass. Out of desperation, Celesta wired her parents back home in California for money; they obliged, but also notified authorities, leading to Clarke's arrest. Clarke claimed to be a believer in "dual love," and that love should not be confined to just one woman, while Celesta insisted that her and Clarke's relations were purely platonic; these claims won Clarke a dismissal of the Mann Act violation charges. Celesta further claimed that she left for New York with the Fanchon Company of dancers, with Celesta stopping off in New Orleans due to homesickness and lack of funds, and that she never saw Clarke while they were both in New Orleans. Despite his beliefs, Clarke claimed that he would give up Celesta for the sake of his family and that he would "be a good boy in the future." Alas, later that month, Mrs. Mabel A. Clarke filed for divorce from George, naming Celesta as co-respondent; George did not contest the suit. Thankfully, happier times were ahead for Celesta a year later when, on 27 April 1924, she married salesman Charles Burnet Wood (1897-1974); Wood would later become a building contractor, a gold mine manager, an inspector for the Los Angeles International Airport, and a senior inspector with the Harbor Department for 14 years until his retirement in 1967. Celesta and Charles remained together just in time to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary before Charles' passing on 6 October 1974. |
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Real name: Celestine Mary Zimlich |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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