Daughter-in-law of Charlotte Smith.
Discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. for his "Follies of 1915". He also cast her in the "Ziegfeld Midnight Frolics", which was a racier, after-hours show atop the New Amsterdam Theater for mostly male audiences. She often wore nothing but balloons, which the gents would eagerly burst with their cigars. She also became Ziegfeld's mistress.
Found poisoned in her room after consuming mercury bichloride tablets dissolved in alcohol. The circumstances around this event were mysterious but were officially determined to be accidental. She died five days later in the American Hospital in Neuilly.
Her ghost has been said to haunt the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City.
Her personal belongings were sold at auction in New York for $26,931. Fellow screen star Mabel Normand bought a 14-karet gold cigarette case for $50, a 20-piece toilet set for $1,425, a diamond pearl brooch and sapphire pin for $500 and a platinum set with star sapphire for $425 (22 November 1920).
Irish-American descent
Oldest of three. Younger brothers were James (born 1896) and William (born 1899).
Sister-in-law of Mary Pickford and Lottie Pickford.
Was the first actress to play a 'Flapper' which would become a huge fad in the coming years.