Pauline Curley; Silent Film Star Retired at Dawn of Talkies

Pauline Curley, silent movie siren who played opposite Douglas Fairbanks in “Bound in Morocco” and “The Turn of the Road,” has died at the age of 97.

Curley, who retired in 1929 to rear her family as “talkies” began to emerge, died Saturday in Santa Monica.

Born Dec. 19, 1903, in Holyoke, Mass., she began acting on stage at 7 and by 12 was making movies in New York and New Jersey studios. She made her debut in “The Unbroken Road” in 1915, but probably achieved her greatest fame in 1917, portraying Princess Irena in “The Fall of the Romanoffs.”

The names of the heroines she played and the titles of the more than 40 films she made reflected the melodrama of the era: Mayme Saunders in “A Case at Law,” Beatrice Forsythe in “The Square Deceiver,” Margery La Tour in “His Daughter Pays.”

Curley’s favorites were her roles opposite Fairbanks in “Bound in Morocco” in 1918 and “Turn in the Road,” in 1919, the first film directed by King Vidor.

She was featured in two western serials with Antonio Moreno: “The Veiled Mystery” and “The Invisible Hand,” both in 1920. Other westerns were among her feature films, including “The Prairie Mystery,” “Cowboy Courage,” “Twin Six O’Brien,” “Prince of the Saddle” and “Two Fisted Buckaroo.”

Curley’s final film was “The Locked Door” in 1929.

She retired from the screen when she married motion picture photography director Kenneth D. Peach. He died in 1988.

Curley is survived by their three children, Kenneth D. Peach Jr., Pauline A. Reynolds and Martin S. Peach; seven grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.