Agnes Ayres

Agnes Ayres
Ayres, 1921
Born	Agnes Eyre Henkel (1891-04-04)April 4, 1891 Carbondale, Illinois, U.S.
Died	December 25, 1940(1940-12-25) (aged 49) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Other names	Agnes Eyre Agnes Rendleman
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1914–1929, 1936–1937
Spouse(s)	Frank Schuker ​ ​ (m. 1918; div. 1921)​ S. Manuel Reachi ​ ​ (m. 1924; div. 1927)​
Children	1

Agnes Ayres (born Agnes Eyre Henkel; April 4, 1891^{[citation needed]} – December 25, 1940) was an American actress who rose to fame during the silent film era. She was known for her role as Lady Diana Mayo in The Sheik opposite Rudolph Valentino.^[1]

Early life and career[]

Agnes Eyre Henkel was born on April 4, 1891 in Carbondale, Illinois, the second child to Solon Augustus Henkel and Emma Slack Rendleman. She had an older brother, Solon William Henkel. After her father's death, her mother remarried to Franklin "Frank" Rendleman, a farmer, in 1895.^{[citation needed]} She left school after completing the 8th grade,^{[citation needed]} and the family moved to Chicago when Ayres was a teenager. She had ambitions to study law, and in 1910 she was working as a bookkeeper.^{[citation needed]}

She began her career in 1914 when she was noticed by an Essanay Studios staff director and cast as an extra in a crowd scene.^[1] After moving to Manhattan, New York City with her mother to pursue a career in acting, Ayres was spotted by actress Alice Joyce. Joyce noticed the physical resemblance the two shared which eventually led to Ayres being cast in Richard the Brazen (1917), as Joyce's character's sister. Ayres' career began to gain momentum when Paramount Pictures founder Jesse Lasky began to take an interest in her. Lasky gave her a starring role in the Civil War drama Held by the Enemy (1920), and also lobbied for parts for her in several Cecil B. DeMille productions.^[2] During this period Ayres divorced Franklin "Frank" Schucker, an army officer whom she had wed during World War I.^{[citation needed]} She also began a romance with Lasky.^[3]

Agnes Ayres as Helen Allen in the 1920 film Go and Get It - Munsey's Magazine, 1920

In 1921, Ayres shot to stardom when she was cast as Lady Diana Mayo, an English heiress, opposite "Latin lover" Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik. Ayres later reprised her role as Lady Diana in the 1926 sequel The Son of the Sheik. Following the release of The Sheik, she went on to have major roles in many other films including The Affairs of Anatol (1921) starring Wallace Reid, Forbidden Fruit (1921), and Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923).

Ayres, c. 1921

By 1923, Ayres' career began to wane following the end of her relationship with Jesse Lasky. She married Mexican diplomat S. Manuel Reachi in 1924.^[4] The couple had a daughter,^[5] before divorcing in 1927.^[6]

Ayres lost her fortune and real estate holdings in the Wall Street Crash of 1929.^[1] That same year, she also appeared in her last major role in The Donovan Affair, starring Jack Holt. To earn money, she left acting and played the vaudeville circuit. She returned to acting in 1936, confident that she could make a comeback — but, unable to secure starring roles, and somewhat overweight, Ayres appeared in mostly uncredited bit parts and finally retired from acting for good in 1937.^[4]

Later years and death[]

After her retirement, Ayres became despondent and was eventually committed to a sanatorium. In 1939, she also lost custody of her daughter to Reachi.^[4]

She died from a cerebral hemorrhage on December 25, 1940, at her home in Hollywood, California, at the age of 42; she had been ill for several weeks.^[1][7] She is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. In 1960, Ayres was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 6504 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to the film industry.^[8]

Her daughter Maria Reachi had a small part in the movie East Side, West Side (1949).^[9]

Selected filmography[]

Ayres on a lobby card for The Sheik

Further reading[]

• Michael G. Ankerich (2010). Dangerous Curves atop Hollywood Heels: The Lives, Careers, and Misfortunes of 14 Hard-Luck Girls of the Silent Screen. BearManor. ISBN 978-1-59393-605-1.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agnes Ayres.

• Agnes Ayres at IMDb
• Agnes Ayres at AllMovie
• Agnes Ayres at Find a Grave
• Photographs and literature at Virtual History