Mary Philbin, 90; Starred in Silent ‘Phantom’

Mary Philbin, a star of silent films best known for her role in the 1925 classic version of “The Phantom of the Opera,” has died. She was 90.

Miss Philbin died May 7 in Huntington Beach and was entombed May 10 at Calvary Cemetery in Whittier, a cemetery spokesman confirmed Thursday.

A native of Chicago, Miss Philbin first came to the attention of Hollywood as an also-ran in a beauty contest. The Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, who said that their familiar acronym BPOE also stood for “Best Pickers on Earth,” selected Gertrude Olmsted as the winner of their beauty contest in Chicago. The prize included a trip to Hollywood and the chance to appear in a film at Universal City. Miss Olmsted went on to become a star.

But Carl Laemmle, president of Universal Pictures Corp., was also attracted to the “childish charm” of 16-year-old Miss Philbin, who only won honorable mention in the contest. He invited her and her mother to Hollywood as well.

Miss Philbin was a popular heroine throughout the 1920s, the heyday of the silent movie era, co-starring with such screen legends as Lionel Barrymore and Lon Chaney. Her career ended with the advent of talkies.

When her vintage version “Phantom,” co-starring Chaney, was shown in 1990, a Los Angeles Times critic noted: “Chaney’s acting is restrained compared to that of his co-star, Mary Philbin. As Christine, she throws up a gloriously goofy silent movie performance almost delirious in its excess: One moment she’s the Love Zombie of the Opera; the next, she’s the Hysteric of the Opera.”

In her later years, Miss Philbin, who never married, lived in the Hollywood area but seldom participated in any film-related events or exhibited any of the trappings of her onetime stardom. She occasionally appeared at Hollywood Memorial Park mausoleum to observe the anniversary of the death of another silent film star, Rudolf Valentino.