Bergere, Ouida (1885–1974)

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Bergere, Ouida (1885–1974)

American screenwriter and playwright. Name variations: Ouida Fitzmaurice, Ouida Bergère, Ouida Rathbone, Mrs. Basil Rathbone. Born Dec 14, 1885 (some sources cite 1886), in Spain; died Nov 29, 1974, in New York, NY; sister of B.C. Branch; m. Louis Weadock (div.); m. George Fitzmaurice (film director; div.); m. Basil Rathbone (actor), April 18, 1926 (died July 1967); children: Cynthia (adopted, Oct 1939).

Began career as child actor with Shubert Stock Co. in Brooklyn, then played in vaudeville; made Broadway debut in The Stranger (1911); appeared as actress in films and collaborated on screenplays with 1st husband, among them On With the Dance and The Cheat (1920s); wrote screenplays for Paramount, including Idols of Clay, Bella Donna, Garden of Allah and Peter Ibbetson; during WWI, started a talent agency, with such clients as Alla Nazimova and Richard Barthelmess; following war, wrote screen-plays for MGM, Pathe and Paramount, as well as several plays, including The Vicious Circle, That Woman and Sherlock Holmes (1953).

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