Dempster had a lengthy relationship with director D.W. Griffith while he was estranged from his wife, actress Linda Arvidson.
The other actresses in Griffith's stock company -- particularly Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Miriam Cooper and Mae Marsh -- detested Ms. Dempster because she mimicked their acting styles rather than developing a style of her own. This resentment grew when Griffith -- who had become obsessed with Dempster -- turned away from his stock actresses because he thought he now had a little bit of all of them wrapped up in one package.