Carol Dempster

Carol Dempster was an American actress of the silent era who made films between 1916 and 1926, most of them under the direction of D. W. Griffith. Born in Duluth, Minnesota, she grew up in California and was spotted by Ruth St. Denis while dancing in a school program, becoming the youngest graduate of the dancer's school. She took her first feature role in 1919, playing opposite Robert Harron in Griffith's The Girl Who Stayed at Home, and went on to appear in his The Love Flower (1920), Dream Street (1921), One Exciting Night (1922), Isn't Life Wonderful (1924), America (1924), Sally of the Sawdust (1925) and That Royle Girl (1925), working alongside John Barrymore, William Powell, Ivor Novello and W. C. Fields. She made her last film, The Sorrows of Satan (1926), and retired. Critics were often harsh about her acting, though later viewers have come to appreciate Isn't Life Wonderful and The Sorrows of Satan.