Hope Hampton

Hope Hampton (Mae Elizabeth Hampton; February 19, 1897 – January 23, 1982) was an American silent motion picture actress and producer, who was noted for her seemingly effortless incarnation of siren and flapper types in silent-picture roles during the 1920s. She also at one time was an aspiring opera singer.^[1]

Hope Hampton
Born	Mae Elizabeth Hampton (1897-02-19)February 19, 1897 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Died	January 23, 1982(1982-01-23) (aged 84) New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, Producer
Years active	1918–1938
Spouse	Jules Brulatour (m.1924-1946; his death)
Children	1

Early life

Texas-born, Philadelphia-bred beauty contest winner Hampton was discovered by U.S. silent cinema pioneer Jules Brulatour while working as an extra for director Maurice Tourneur. She made her screen debut in 1920's A Modern Salome, and went on to feature prominently in several Brulatour-financed films. Her last starring role was in The Road to Reno (1938) with Randolph Scott and Glenda Farrell. In 1923, Hampton wed her manager Brulatour, and they remained married until his death in 1946.

Later life

Hampton was trained as an opera singer by voice teacher Estelle Liebling, the teacher of Beverly Sills.^[2] After retiring from motion pictures at the dawn of sound, she turned to opera and made her debut with the Philadelphia Opera in Manon. The idea that she ever toured with the Metropolitan Opera is belied by a look at the company's online archives. She returned to the screen in The Road to Reno (1938), a film directed by her husband. Later she was known as The Duchess of Park Avenue, a leading member of New York's social set.

In 1978, she was crowned Queen of the Beaux Arts Ball.^[3] She presided with King Arthur Tracy.

She died of a heart attack at the age of 84.

Personal life

Hampton and Brulatour took a honeymoon trip to Egypt, there a Sheikh offered Brulatour £10,000 British pounds to buy his wife. Brulatour smiled at the Sheikh and told him that Mrs. Brulatour's jewels were worth more than that.

Brulatour also gave Hope Hampton a 5-story home on Park Avenue (built in 1885 and redesigned in 1921 by Emery Roth), which became Tour Hope Hampton and was listed for $9 million in 2016.^[4]

Complete filmography

Hope Hampton on the cover of Motion Picture Classic magazine, Feb 1922, cover art by Benjamin Eggleston (1867-1937).

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1918	Woman
1920	A Modern Salome	Virginia Hastings	Lost film
1921	The Bait	Joan Grainger	Lost film
	Love's Penalty	Janis Clayton	Lost film
1922	Stardust
	The Light in the Dark	Bessie MacGregor	A condensed 33 minute version survives, the original is lost
1923	Lawful Larceny	Marion Dorsey	Lost film
	Hollywood	Herself	Lost film
	The Gold Diggers	Jerry La Mar	An incomplete copy exists, with reels 2 and 3 missing
	Does It Pay?	Doris Clark	Lost film
1924	The Truth About Women	Hilda Carr	Lost film
	The Price of a Party	Grace Barrows	Incomplete
1925	Fifty-Fifty	Ginette	Lost film
	Marionettes		Short subject
	Lover's Island	Clemmy Dawson
1926	The Unfair Sex	Shirley Chamberlain
1927	Springtime of Love		Short subject
	The Call of the Sea		Short Subject
1938	The Road to Reno	Hope Hampton
1961	Hey, Let's Twist!	Herself	Cameo

References

1. The Opera Singer and the Silent Film by Paul Fryer, c.2005
2. Dean Fowler, Alandra (1994). Estelle Liebling: An exploration of her pedagogical principles as an extension and elaboration of the Marchesi method, including a survey of her music and editing for coloratura soprano and other voices (PhD). University of Arizona.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. Tzeses, Jennifer (August 3, 2016). "Tour Hope Hampton's $9 Million Park Avenue Home". Architectural Digest. Retrieved May 11, 2021.

External links

• Hope Hampton at IMDb
• Hope Hampton at the Internet Broadway Database
• Hope Hampton: Broadway Photographs(Univ. of South Carolina)