Margarita Fischer
Margarita Fisher was an American actress in silent motion pictures and stage productions. Newspapers sometimes referred to her as "Babe" Fischer.
Early life
Margarita Fischer was born on February 12, 1886, in Missouri Valley, Iowa, although a 1902 newspaper article referred to her as "a native of Silverton, Marion County", in Oregon. Her parents were Johan, a first-generation German-American hotelkeeper, and later noted minstrel, and Katherine "Kate" E. Fischer. She had an older sister, Dorothy, who was two years older and acted in productions with her in their childhood.
Theater
As a child performer, and later as an ingenue star of the stage, Fischer was widely regarded in stock company groups of the Pacific Coast. When she was eight years old, a theatrical manager began using her in "heavy dramatic roles". Billed as "The Wonder Child", she continued in that pattern for several years. Fischer made her stage debut in Portland, Oregon, in the child role of Adrienne in The Celebrated Case. In 1901, she became the leading lady for the Fischer-Van Cleve Company. Her rapidly growing popularity led to her father forming the Margarita Fischer Stock Company. The theatrical group toured up and down the Pacific Coast for a number of years. After her father's death, Fischer acted in several stock companies, including one headed by Grace George.
After Fischer began performing in vaudeville, she met her eventual husband, film director Harry A. Pollard. They formed a team that performed the sketch "When Hearts Are Trumps" in "the principal vaudeville circuits". Some years later the two met again, as actors with the Selig Polyscape Company, with the Imp Company in New York, New York, and even later, with Universal Pictures.
Motion pictures
When Fischer left vaudeville, she began working in films for the Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago. She was in Hollywood silent films from at least 1910 until 1927. Her first screen experience began with the American Company. There followed 3 years as a leading woman for Universal. In 1913 she starred in How Men Propose written and directed by Lois Weber for Universal, which at the time was still based on the east coast. When the American Beauty Company was organized she was engaged for each of the star feminine roles.
She is well known for her role as an African-American slave girl in the Harriet Beecher Stowe three-reel epic Uncle Tom's Cabin. She was co-featured with Harry Pollard in this Universal feature. It was in this role, as Eliza, that Fischer won a long-term contract with the American Film Company in Santa Barbara, California. She received international acclaim as the American Beauty of the screen. Her face was pictured in the heart of a rose, which became one of the movie's trade marks. Pollard directed the Universal superproduction of Uncle Tom's Cabin which was released in 1927. This time Margarita was cast in the more mature role of Eliza.
Other of her motion pictures of note include Lost: A Union Suit, A Joke On Jane, The Quest, Robinson Crusoe, Impossible Susan, Trixie From Broadway, The Thirtieth Piece of Silver, and Any Woman. In April 1916 Fischer and her husband launched the Pollard Picture Plays Corporation. Pollard directed, Margarita acted, and director/producer George W. Lederer was their protégé. Their initial production was The Pearl of Paradise. It was staged in Los Angeles, Honolulu, and the South Sea Islands.
Later years and death
During World War I Fischer changed the spelling of her last name to Fisher because of the anti-German sentiment in America. She is sometimes credited as Margarieta Fisher, Marguerite Fisher, Margarite Fisher, and Margurita Fisher.
In 1944, she was living in San Diego and was a registered Republican.
Fischer died in Encinitas, California of heart disease in 1975. She was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Filmography
There, Little Girl, Don't Cry *shortTrimming of Paradise Gulch *shortAfter Many Years *shortRomeo and Juliet in Our Town *shortThe Way of the Red Man *shortThe Cowboy's Strategem *shortHis First Long Dress *shortThe Road to Richmond *shortBig Medicine *shortThe Kentucky Pioneer *shortFor Her Country's Sake *shortSettled Out of Court *shortThe Early Settlers *shortThe Vampire *shortThe Merry Wives of Windsor *shortTwo Lucky Jims *shortIn the Wilderness *shortThe Squaw and the Man *shortThe Tenderfoot's Round-Up *shortAn Arizona Romance *shortBuddy, the Little Guardian *shortBertie's Bandit *shortThe Mission in the Desert *shortThe Sheriff's Sweetheart *shortOver the Hills *shortThe Girl and the Half-Back *shortA Pair of Gloves *shortThe Portrait *shortA Lesson to Husbands *shortThe Trinity *shortThe Worth of a Man *shortMrs. Matthews, Dressmaker *shortWho Wears Them? *shortThe Rose of California *shortThe Call of the Drum *shortBetter Than Gold *shortThe Baby *shortSqunk City Fire Company *shortWhere Paths Meet *shortThe Dove and the Serpent *shortA Melodrama of Yesterday *shortOn the Shore *shortThe Land of Promise *shortJim's Atonement *shortThe Return of Captain John *shortNothing Shall Be Hidden *shortLove, War and a Bonnet *shortThe Parson and the Medicine Man *shortHearts in Conflict *shortThe Hand of Mystery *shortBig Hearted Sim *shortHer Burglar *shortOn the Border Line *shortThe Exchange of Labels *shortThe Employer's Liability *shortBetty's Bandit *shortThe Tribal Law *shortA Fight for Friendship *shortTrapped by Fire *shortThe Regeneration of Worthless Dan *shortAn Indian Outcast *shortRomance and Reality *shortThe Rights of a Savage *shortThe Mountain Girl's Self-Sacrifice *shortThe Old Folks' Christmas *shortThe Great Ganton Mystery Until Death *shortA Friend of the Family *shortThe Wayward Sister *shortThe Turn of the Tide *shortIn Slavery Days *shortThe Boob *shortThe World at Large *shortThe Shadow *shortThe Stolen Idol *shortDraga, the Gypsy *shortA Woman's Folly *shortA Wrong Road *shortRobinson Cruesoe *shortThe Power of Heredity *shortWhen the Prince Arrived *shortSally Scraggs, Housemaid *shortUncle Tom's Cabin *shortA Woman's Stratagem *shortThe Evil Power *shortThe Light Woman *shortThe Diamond Makers *shortThe Fight Against Evil *shortPaying the Price *shortShon the Piper *shortLike Darby and Joan *shortThe Thumb Print *shortThe Primeval Test *shortThe Missionary Box *shortHis Old-Fashioned Dad *shortA Tale of the Lonely Coast *shortThe Boob's Dream Girl *shortWithering Roses *shortFooling Uncle *shortBess, the Outcast *shortSally's Elopement *shortThe Wife *shortThe Sacrifice *shortThe Professor's Awakening *shortItalian Love *shortClosed at Ten *shortThe Girl Who Dared *shortThe Peacock Feather Fan *shortSweet Land of Liberty *shortRetribution *shortMlle. La Mode *shortThe Man Who Came Back *shortA Flurry in Hats *shortEugenics Versus Love *shortHer Heritage *shortThe Courting of Prudence *shortJane, the Justice *shortDrifting Hearts *shortNancy's Husband *shortThe Dream Ship *shortThe Tale of a Tailor *shortVia the Fire Escape *shortThe Other Train *shortA Joke on Jane *shortHer 'Really' Mother *shortA Midsummer's Love Tangle *shortA Suspended Ceremony *shortSuzanna's New Suit *shortThe Silence of John Gordon *shortSusie's New Shoes *shortA Modern Othello *shortThe Motherless Kids *shortThe Only Way *shortCaught in a Tight Pinch *shortThe Legend of Black Rock *shortNieda *shortMotherhood *shortWhen Queenie Came Back *shortCupid and a Dress Coat *shortThe Quest The Lonesome Heart The Girl from His Town Infatuation The Miracle of Life The Dragon The Pearl of Paradise Miss Jackie of the Navy The Butterfly Girl The Diamond Thieves *shortRobinson Cruesoe *shortThe Sin Unatoned *shortThe Human Flame *shortThe Devil's Assistant The Girl Who Couldn't Grow Up Miss Jackie of the Army Molly Go Get 'Em Jilted Janet Ann's Finish The Primitive Woman The Square Deal Impossible Susan Money Isn't Everything Fair Enough The Mantle of Charity Molly of the Follies Put Up Your Hands! Charge It to Me Trixie from Broadway The Tiger Lily The Hellion The Dangerous Talent The Thirtieth Piece of Silver The Week-End Their Mutual Child The Gamesters Payment Guaranteed Beach of Dreams K – The Unknown Any Woman