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{{Short description|Australian actress (1897–1943)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
'''Sylvia Breamer''' (9 June 1897 – 7 June 1943) was an Australian actress who performed in American silent motion pictures beginning in 1917. Her father was Sir James De Courcey Breamer, a commander in the ]. After his death her mother married Judge A.G. Plunkett, formerly of ].
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sylvia Breamer
| image = Sylvia Breamer Stars of the Photoplay.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Breamer, 1924
| birth_name = Sylvia Poppy Bremer
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1897|6|9|df=y}}
| birth_place = ]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|6|7|1897|6|9|df=y}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| spouse= {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|E.W. Morrison|1914|1917|end=divorce}}
* {{marriage|]|1924|1926|end=divorce}}
* {{marriage|Edmund R. Bohan|1931|1940|end=divorce}}
}}
| nationality =
| occupation = Actress
}}
'''Sylvia Poppy Bremer'''<ref> Accessed 6 December 2015</ref><ref>''Los Angeles Times'' 21 Feb 1940, page A3 "Former Actress fights for Cash"</ref> (9 June 1897 – 7 June 1943), known professionally as '''Sylvia Breamer''', was an Australian actress who appeared in American silent motion pictures beginning in 1917.


==Childhood and early career in Australia==
==Silent Screen Actress==
Sylvia Poppy Bremer was born on 9 June 1897 in the Sydney suburb of ], to Frederick Glasse Bremer and Jessie Bremer (née Platt).<ref>In later years she was to claim her father was Captain of ], flagship of the Royal Navy's Australian Squadron, and her uncle the commander of the British cruiser ]. See . Neither claim appears compatible with the historical record. It appears likely she was a grand-daughter of Admiral ] rather than a daughter, as was often claimed by the contemporary US press. See for example ''The Los Angeles Times'', 2 November 1924, P.7, "Sylvia Breamer is married." Accessed 14 December 2015</ref> She had a sister named Doris, who later married actor William J. Kelly.<ref>Rees, Anne (Mar. 8, 2019), "", ''Inside Story''</ref>


From a young age she trained for the stage with Walter Bentley and later at a Sydney Dramatic school run by Douglas Ancelon and Stella Chapman. She started to appear at recitations and on stage from the age of 13, soon after in productions for ] throughout Australia and New Zealand.<ref name = Deacon> ''Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies, Vol 18, No.1, p. 40-65, Oct. 2013.'' {{ISSN|1327-8746}}. Accessed 6 January 2017</ref> The Manly Biographical Dictionary project reports that Bremer lived with her mother Jessie and step-father, Arthur George Crook Plunkett on the East Esplanade, Manly, in the early 1910s.<ref> Accessed 6 January 2017</ref> By 1915 she had come to the notice of reviewers, particularly after she stood in for ] in a lead role in the Sydney run of ]'s play, ''Bought and Paid for''.<ref> Accessed 11 December 2015</ref> By this time she was also famous enough to appear in newspaper advertisements for "Clement's Tonic." In 1914 Bremer married 46 year old E.W. Morrison, a US actor-director who regularly worked for J.C.Williamson.<ref>Ralph L. Marsden (2016) ''Who Was Sylvia?'' p.30, Screencrafts Productions Publications, Melbourne, Australia. {{ISBN|978-0-646-94269-8}}</ref> Like her Australian contemporary ], she determined to try her luck in the United States, and the couple departed for San Francisco in October 1916. The marriage appears to have been short lived however and Morrison returned to Australia in February 1917 without her.
Sylvia's initial film efforts were with Colonel J. Stuart Blackton films. She also performed in releases produced by Mayflower Pictures. Breamer came to ] with her sister, Doris, in 1920. Her mother relocated also, rssiding at 837 South Catalina Street, ].


==Silent screen actress==
Her first Hollywood movie was ''Athalie'', a story of spiritualism, directed by Sid Franklin, formerly the director of ]. The film was based on a work by ].
],'' 1918.]]
Breamer worked at Brunton Studios. Her work with director Franklin was released by ].
Within a few months of arriving in the US, Breamer had appeared on stage in Boston and been tested by ].<ref> Accessed 11 December 2015</ref><ref> Accessed 8/1/2016</ref>


Her first movie for Ince was ''The Pinch Hitter'', released in April 1917, where she took the leading female role next to ]. In 1918, she changed the spelling of her surname to Breamer, apparently to sound less German.<ref> Accessed 10 December 2015</ref> After Ince left the ], she made numerous films for a variety of producers, including Ince and J. Stuart Blackton and opposite leading men including ], ], ], ] and ]. Her film output was significant - she had appeared in forty films by 1924 and was an established and bankable star. In 1917 Ince had "predicted a future for Sylvia Breamer equally brilliant to that of his first Australian acquisition, Enid Bennett; and the initial assessment was, as the ] put it, that she "surpassed Bennett as actress by a long way."<ref name = Deacon/> Breamer's final leading role in a film was in ''Lightning Reporter,'' in 1926, opposite ]. When no further film roles came her way she returned to the stage, appearing in a number of plays in 1926–30.<ref>Ralph L. Marsden (2016), pp. 179-183 and 231-235</ref>
In 1921 Sylvia was signed by Director General Lloyd B. Carleton to make features produced by the Rubayat Press and Photoplay Corporation. Sylvia traveled with a ] film crew on location in ]. This was during the making of ''Bavu'' (1923). The group left ] in an effort to complete scenes of the deaths of ] characters in the ]n ]. Among others the film featured actors ] and ].


In the early 1930s she famously criticized life and work in Hollywood. She reportedly said she "now loathes pictures and everything Hollywood means. There can be no real friendship in Hollywood - nothing but jealousy and sham."<ref> Accessed 9/1/2016</ref>
==Personal life==


She had one minor role in a talkie, a supporting part in the 1936 ], ] vehicle ''Too Many Parents.''
When she came west from ] Sylvia had just divorced William Morrison, a director. She married him when she was only sixteen years old. On 1 November 1924 the actress married Dr. Harry W. Martin at the ] in ]. Martin, 34, formerly practiced medicine in ]. He served in ] and relocated to Los Angeles after being discharged from the ].


==Personal life and death==
Miss Breamer was an avid horsewoman. Another hobby was seeking ] at ]. She owned beautiful jewelry. A diamond bracelet was taken from her just before she departed ] to come to Hollywood. The bracelet was valued at $1,200.
Breamer's sister Doris joined her in the United States in the 1920s, marrying actor William J. Kelly in 1925. Breamer's mother and step-father also moved to the US in the early 1920s.


On 1 November 1924 Breamer married ] at the ] in ], announcing she would be retiring from films. Their divorce in 1926 was acrimonious and public, with Martin accusing her of cruelty.<ref>''The Los Angeles Times'' "Physician seeks divorce." 20 April 1926. Page A10. Accessed 13 December 2015</ref> Martin later went on to a long marriage to the columnist ].
Sylvia Breamer died in New York City in 1943.


In 1931, Breamer's engagement to actor ] was announced, but it appears the marriage did not eventuate. In 1940, she was again in the news following a dispute over money after a divorce from aspiring politician Edmund R. Bohan.<ref>''The Los Angeles Times.''"Sylvia Breamer loses suit." 15 March 1940. Page A.1. Accessed 13 December 2015</ref>
==Selected filmography==
* '']'' (1919)
She died in her apartment in the ] on 7 June 1943 as a result of a heart attack.<ref>Ralph L Marsden (2016) p.214</ref>

==Partial filmography==
{{div col}}
* '']'' (1917)
* '']'' (1917)
* '']'' (1917) *incomplete
* '']'' (1917)
* '']'' (1917)
* '']'' (1918)
* '']'' (1918)
* '']'' (1918) *lost film
* '']'' (1918) *lost film
* ''A House Divided'' (1919)
* '']'' (1919) *lost film
* '']'' (1919) *lost film
* '']'' (1920)
* '']'' (1920)
* '']'' (1920)
* '']'' (1920)
* '']'' (1921)
* '']'' (1921)
* '']'' (1921)
* '']'' (1921)
* '']'' (1922)
* '']'' (1922)
* '']'' (1922)
* '']'' (1922)
* '']'' (1922)
* '']'' (1922)
* '']'' (1923)
* '']'' (1923)
* '']'' (1923)
* '']'' (1923) *lost film
* '']'' (1923) *lost film, only one reel survives
* '']'' *was considered lost until found in June 2020
* '']'' (1923) *lost film
* '']'' (1924)
* '']'' (1924) *lost film
* '']'' (1924) *lost film
* '']'' (1925)
* '']'' (1925)
* '']'' (1926)
* '']'' (1926) * '']'' (1926)
* '']'' (1936)
{{div col end}}


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}}

* ], ''Flashes'', 4 March 1920, Page III4.
* Los Angeles Times, ''Flashes, Sylvia Breamer Engaged'', 3 December 1920, Page III4.
* Los Angeles Times, ''Convert Plane Into Sled for Location Work'', 21 January 1923, Page III34.
* Los Angeles Times, ''Bagging Grunion Is Sport'', 2 June 1924, Page B3.
* Los Angeles Times, ''Sylvia Breamer Is Married'', 2 November 1924, Page 7.
* Rothwell-Smith, Paul. Silent Films! the Performers (2011) ISBN: 9781907540325

{{Commons category|Sylvia Breamer}} {{Commons category|Sylvia Breamer}}
*
*
*
*


==External links==
{{Authority control|VIAF=22072393}}
* {{IMDb name|0106442}}
* (1920). Video of preserved print rediscovered at the New Zealand Film Archive.

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->
| NAME = Breamer Sylvia
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American actress
| DATE OF BIRTH = 9 June 1897
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 7 June 1943
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breamer Sylvia}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Breamer Sylvia}}
] ]
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Latest revision as of 12:29, 8 October 2024

Australian actress (1897–1943)

Sylvia Breamer
Breamer, 1924
BornSylvia Poppy Bremer
(1897-06-09)9 June 1897
Sydney, Australia
Died7 June 1943(1943-06-07) (aged 45)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActress
Spouses
E.W. Morrison ​ ​(m. 1914; div. 1917)​
Dr. Harry Martin ​ ​(m. 1924; div. 1926)​
Edmund R. Bohan ​ ​(m. 1931; div. 1940)​

Sylvia Poppy Bremer (9 June 1897 – 7 June 1943), known professionally as Sylvia Breamer, was an Australian actress who appeared in American silent motion pictures beginning in 1917.

Childhood and early career in Australia

Sylvia Poppy Bremer was born on 9 June 1897 in the Sydney suburb of Double Bay, to Frederick Glasse Bremer and Jessie Bremer (née Platt). She had a sister named Doris, who later married actor William J. Kelly.

From a young age she trained for the stage with Walter Bentley and later at a Sydney Dramatic school run by Douglas Ancelon and Stella Chapman. She started to appear at recitations and on stage from the age of 13, soon after in productions for J. C. Williamson throughout Australia and New Zealand. The Manly Biographical Dictionary project reports that Bremer lived with her mother Jessie and step-father, Arthur George Crook Plunkett on the East Esplanade, Manly, in the early 1910s. By 1915 she had come to the notice of reviewers, particularly after she stood in for Muriel Starr in a lead role in the Sydney run of George Broadhurst's play, Bought and Paid for. By this time she was also famous enough to appear in newspaper advertisements for "Clement's Tonic." In 1914 Bremer married 46 year old E.W. Morrison, a US actor-director who regularly worked for J.C.Williamson. Like her Australian contemporary Enid Bennett, she determined to try her luck in the United States, and the couple departed for San Francisco in October 1916. The marriage appears to have been short lived however and Morrison returned to Australia in February 1917 without her.

Silent screen actress

Sylvia Breamer in Photoplay, 1918.

Within a few months of arriving in the US, Breamer had appeared on stage in Boston and been tested by Thomas H. Ince.

Her first movie for Ince was The Pinch Hitter, released in April 1917, where she took the leading female role next to Charles Ray. In 1918, she changed the spelling of her surname to Breamer, apparently to sound less German. After Ince left the Triangle Film Corporation, she made numerous films for a variety of producers, including Ince and J. Stuart Blackton and opposite leading men including William S. Hart, Will Rogers, John Gilbert, Frank Mayo and Wallace Beery. Her film output was significant - she had appeared in forty films by 1924 and was an established and bankable star. In 1917 Ince had "predicted a future for Sylvia Breamer equally brilliant to that of his first Australian acquisition, Enid Bennett; and the initial assessment was, as the Lone Hand put it, that she "surpassed Bennett as actress by a long way." Breamer's final leading role in a film was in Lightning Reporter, in 1926, opposite Johnnie Walker. When no further film roles came her way she returned to the stage, appearing in a number of plays in 1926–30.

In the early 1930s she famously criticized life and work in Hollywood. She reportedly said she "now loathes pictures and everything Hollywood means. There can be no real friendship in Hollywood - nothing but jealousy and sham."

She had one minor role in a talkie, a supporting part in the 1936 Frances Farmer, Lester Matthews vehicle Too Many Parents.

Personal life and death

Breamer's sister Doris joined her in the United States in the 1920s, marrying actor William J. Kelly in 1925. Breamer's mother and step-father also moved to the US in the early 1920s.

On 1 November 1924 Breamer married Dr. Harry Martin at the Glenwood Inn in Riverside, California, announcing she would be retiring from films. Their divorce in 1926 was acrimonious and public, with Martin accusing her of cruelty. Martin later went on to a long marriage to the columnist Louella Parsons.

In 1931, Breamer's engagement to actor Douglas Wood was announced, but it appears the marriage did not eventuate. In 1940, she was again in the news following a dispute over money after a divorce from aspiring politician Edmund R. Bohan.

She died in her apartment in the Royalton Hotel on 7 June 1943 as a result of a heart attack.

Partial filmography

References

  1. Sydney Morning Herald, 12 June 1897 Accessed 6 December 2015
  2. Los Angeles Times 21 Feb 1940, page A3 "Former Actress fights for Cash"
  3. In later years she was to claim her father was Captain of HMS Powerful, flagship of the Royal Navy's Australian Squadron, and her uncle the commander of the British cruiser HMS Queen Mary. See Photoplay, 1 Sep 1918 – 31 Dec 1918, Chicago, Photoplay Magazine Publishing. "The Daughter of the Powerful" by Julian Johnson. Neither claim appears compatible with the historical record. It appears likely she was a grand-daughter of Admiral Sir James John Gordon Bremer rather than a daughter, as was often claimed by the contemporary US press. See for example The Los Angeles Times, 2 November 1924, P.7, "Sylvia Breamer is married." Accessed 14 December 2015
  4. Rees, Anne (Mar. 8, 2019), "An Australian in Silent Hollywood", Inside Story
  5. ^ Desley Deacon, 2013. "From Victorian Accomplishment to Modern Profession: Elocution Takes Judith Anderson, Sylvia Bremer and Dorothy Cumming to Hollywood, 1912-1918." Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies, Vol 18, No.1, p. 40-65, Oct. 2013. ISSN 1327-8746. Accessed 6 January 2017
  6. John Macritchie, Manly Biographical Dictionary, City of Manly Accessed 6 January 2017
  7. Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930) 21 March 1915 Accessed 11 December 2015
  8. Ralph L. Marsden (2016) Who Was Sylvia? p.30, Screencrafts Productions Publications, Melbourne, Australia. ISBN 978-0-646-94269-8
  9. The Mirror of Australia (Sydney, NSW : 1915 - 1917) 17 March 1917 Accessed 11 December 2015
  10. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938) "Behind the Silver Sheet" by Kathleen Ussher, p. 13, 27 June 1923 Accessed 8/1/2016
  11. Punch (Melbourne, Vic.: 1900 - 1918), 18 July 1918 Accessed 10 December 2015
  12. Ralph L. Marsden (2016), pp. 179-183 and 231-235
  13. Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954) 14 December 1930, Page 11, "Miss Sylvia Breamer Outspoken" Accessed 9/1/2016
  14. The Los Angeles Times "Physician seeks divorce." 20 April 1926. Page A10. Accessed 13 December 2015
  15. The Los Angeles Times."Sylvia Breamer loses suit." 15 March 1940. Page A.1. Accessed 13 December 2015
  16. Ralph L Marsden (2016) p.214

External links

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