{{short description|American actress}}
{{Infobox person | name = Camille Astor | image = CamilleAstor1916.png | alt = A young white woman with dark hair and eyes, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a strand of pearls, and a white dress or blouse with a square neckline | caption = Camille Astor, from a 1916 publication | other_names = Gracy Curry (in 1910), Camille A. Spurlin (after 1915), Camille A. Moore (after 1922) | death_date = September 16, 1944 | death_place = Los Angeles, California | occupation = Actress }}
'''Camille Astor''' (born before 1900 – died September 16, 1944) was an American actress in silent films.
== Early life == Astor usually said to have been born in 1896 in Warsaw, then a part of the Russian Empire. During 1910 court testimony, she gave a different story, saying that she was born in Manchester, England as "Grace Curry", sometime before 1890, though this may also have been an embellished account.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1910-02-04 |title=Fighting for a Reputation; Dancing Girl Denies Charge Made by Wife |pages=17 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99736749/fighting-for-a-reputation-dancing-girl/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She trained as a dancer and was a proficient swimmer as well.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=October 1916 |title=Camille Astor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6v1LAQAAMAAJ&dq=Camille+Astor&pg=RA4-PA19 |journal=Photoplay |volume=10}}</ref><ref>"When She Swims". ''Photoplay''. 10 (July 1916): 105. via Internet Archive</ref>
== Career == Astor was a dancer and actress in Los Angeles from at least 1910.<ref name=":0" /> Films featuring Astor included'' Chimmie Fadden and Chimmie Fadden Out West'' (both 1915, directed by Cecil B. DeMille),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Higashi |first=Sumiko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YWYH7gZ-mE4C&dq=Camille+Astor&pg=PA206 |title=Cecil B. DeMille and American Culture: The Silent Era |date=1994-12-02 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91481-0 |pages=206 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1915-08-02 |title=Victor Moore at Lyric in 'Chimmie Fadden' |pages=3 |work=The Evening Mail |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99735085/victor-moore-at-lyric-in-chimmie/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>'' The Thousand-Dollar Husband'' (1916, starring Blanche Sweet)'', For the Defense'' (1916, directed by Frank Reicher)'',''<ref>{{Cite news |date=1916-03-26 |title='For the Defense'--Fannie Ward Mon-Tues in New Play at Queen |pages=32 |work=The Journal and Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99734955/for-the-defense-fannie-ward-mon-tues/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>'' To Have and to Hold'' (1916, directed by George Melford)'',''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fleming |first=E. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZWiCAAAQBAJ&dq=Camille+Astor&pg=PA250 |title=Wallace Reid: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Idol |date=2013-10-25 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-7725-8 |pages=88, 250 |language=en}}</ref>'' The Garden of Allah'' (1916, starring Helen Ware)'', ''and'' For Those We Love'' (1921, directed by Arthur Rosson). She earned an assistant director's credit on ''The Sowers'' (1916), working with William C. deMille and Frank Reicher.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Slide |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvlUEAAAQBAJ&dq=Camille+Astor&pg=PA127 |title=The Silent Feminists: America's First Women Directors |date=2022-03-15 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-6553-9 |pages=127 |language=en}}</ref> She was adept at languages, and helped with interpreting on some film sets.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1916-05-22 |title=She is Interpreter at Big Film Studio |pages=10 |work=Knoxville Sentinel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99734625/she-is-interpreter-at-big-film-studio/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1915 she offered her services as a "Polish Red Cross nurse" and danced at war relief benefit events in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 23, 1915 |title=Polish Kiddies Dance for Their Fatherland |pages=1 |work=Los Angeles Herald |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19150323.2.3&srpos=5&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Camille+Astor-------1 |access-date=April 14, 2022 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=March 9, 1915 |title=L. A. Girl Offers Services as Polish Red Cross Nurse |pages=1 |work=Los Angeles Herald |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19150309.2.3&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Camille+Astor-------1 |access-date=April 14, 2022 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 21, 1915 |title=Benefit Concert for Polish War Relief |work=Los Angeles Herald |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19150621.2.107&srpos=23&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-Camille+Astor-------1 |access-date=April 14, 2022 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 2, 1917 |title=Form Committee for Poles' Relief |pages=3 |work=Los Angeles Herald |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19170802.2.42&srpos=38&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-Camille+Astor-------1 |access-date=April 14, 2022 |via=California Digital Newspaper Archive}}</ref>
== Personal life == Astor was named co-respondent in the first divorce of real estate broker DeKalb Spurlin in 1910,<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1923-01-27 |title=Wealthy Realty Man Seeks Third Divorce |pages=2 |work=Los Angeles Evening Post-Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99744966/wealthy-realty-man-seeks-third-divorce/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and married him as his second wife in 1915.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 30, 1915 |title=Romance Revealed as Actress and L. A. Man are to Wed |pages=1 |work=Los Angeles Herald |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19150830.2.86&srpos=10&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Camille+Astor-------1 |access-date=April 14, 2022 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1915-09-25 |title='Married Woman Can Follow a Profession and Be Good Wife' |pages=1 |work=Evansville Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99745242/married-woman-can-follow-a-profession/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Based on claims of infidelity and cruelty,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1919-02-25 |title=Spurlin Admits Visits but not Love or Kisses; Wife's Charges in Divorce Suit are Denied |pages=3 |work=Los Angeles Evening Express |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99744662/spurlin-admits-visits-but-not-love-or/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> they divorced in 1919,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1919-02-27 |title=Spurlins Refused Decree of Divorce |pages=6 |work=Los Angeles Evening Post-Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99736401/spurlins-refused-degree-of-divorce/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1919-02-22 |title=Saw Hugging, Kissing Scene from Window, Mrs. Shuebrook Says |pages=9 |work=Los Angeles Evening Express |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99736249/saw-hugging-kissing-scene-from-window/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1919-07-22 |title=Actress Wife Must Not Trail Husband |pages=9 |work=Santa Ana Register |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99736333/actress-wife-must-not-trail-husband/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> but she was threatened by a judge with jail time when she continued to harass her ex-husband in 1920.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1920-01-13 |title=Lawyer's Sentence for Client Adopted |pages=26 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99736520/lawyers-sentence-for-client-adopted/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She married again in 1922, to engineer Jack Moore.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1922-07-13 |title=Passing Through |pages=4 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99735242/passing-through/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She died in Los Angeles in 1944, in her fifties.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20211021100135/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba45103e4 Camille Astor] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}} * {{IMDB name|0040086}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Astor, Camille}} Category:1944 deaths Category:Year of birth unknown Category:American film actresses Category:American silent film actresses Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American women film directors Category:Film directors from California