Ouida Bergère

Diminutive red-headed actress, playwright and screenwriter. Her marriage to star actor Basil Rathbone was one of the most enduring in show business, lasting from 1926 until his death in 1967. The Rathbones were legendary in the 1930's for giving the most lavish Hollywood parties at their luxurious mansion in the Los Feliz Hills, replete with a 60-foot dining hall. The villa had once been home to famed heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey and his wife, actress Estelle Taylor. Ouida was of Spanish, French and English extraction and moved to America in her early teens. After completing her education, she joined the Shubert Stock Company in Brooklyn. Having gained experience in vaudeville, she starred in the 1911 Broadway melodrama 'The Stranger' with Wilton Lackaye at the Bijou. A multi-faceted woman, she ran a talent agency during World War I, whose illustrious clients included Adolphe Menjou, Lionel Atwill and Alla Nazimova. From 1915, she forsook the stage for a career as a writer, at once doing articles and short stories for The New York Herald and scenarios/screenplays for motion pictures. In 1921, she wrote the script and designed the costumes for 'Peter Ibbetson'. Her screen writing career lasted until 1923 and included work for Goldwyn, Pathe, First National and Paramount (at one time heading their scenario department). In 1921, Ouida saw Basil Rathboon on stage in the Broadway play 'The Czarina' and was smitten. After meeting at a party two years later, the feeling turned out to be decidedly mutual and Ouida forthwith retired from films to become Hollywood's premier socialite, and, after 1926, Mrs. Basil Rathbone. She continued to write occasional plays, notably 'Sherlock Holmes' in 1953, as a vehicle for her husband.