Classic Movie Travels: Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda was born on June 17, 1895, in Lafayette, Indiana. She was the daughter of Joseph Fazenda and Nelda Schilling Fazenda. Louise was born in the ground floor northwest room of her maternal grandparents’ house on North Salisbury Street, while her mother was visiting her brother. Louise’s father was a merchandise broker from Mexico and her mother was a native of Chicago, Illinois.
The family soon moved to California, where Joseph operated a grocery store. Fazenda attended Los Angeles High School and St. Mary’s Convent. After school, she delivered groceries for her father’s business by a horse-drawn wagon. While appearing in a high school performance, she was discovered by a talent agent working for Mack Sennett.
Fazenda began her film career in 1913, namely in bit parts. She later became a character actress and displayed a knack for slapstick comedy in silent films. During this period, she worked with numerous other comedy greats, including Ben Turpin, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and more. She left the film industry for a brief period to perform in vaudeville.
In 1917, she married director and writer Noel M. Smith. They divorced in 1926.
In the following year, she married Warner Bros. producer Hal B. Wallis. At the time, he was working as a publicist. She accepted his proposal in a speech before the National Press Club in Washington, closing her talk by saying, “I appreciate you newspapermen. In fact, I have such an appreciation of newspapermen that I think I’ll marry one when I get back to California.” The couple had one son: Harold “Hal” Brent Wallis. Fazenda and Wallis remained married until her passing.
By the time sound entered films, Fazenda was securing more serious roles, including an antiwar film called The Road Back (1937). Her last film would be The Old Maid (1939), capping her career at roughly 265 films.
Fazenda and Wallis traveled extensively. They also boarded two British children during World War II. They lived on a 30-acre property in the San Fernando Valley.
Fazenda passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage in Beverly Hills, California, on April 17, 1962. She was 66 years old. At her funeral, stories of her volunteer work caring for children at UCLA Medical Center in addition to rooming and boarding children during World War II were shared. She was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
Fazenda’s birthplace was located at 1104 N. Salisbury St., West Lafayette, Indiana. In 1900, Fazenda and her parents resided at 629 Kohler St., Los Angeles, California. In 1920, Fazenda and her family resided at 1132 Lemoyne St., Los Angeles, California. All of these homes have since been razed.
In 1930, she and Wallis resided at 5402 W. 9th St., Los Angeles, California. Her parents lived next door at 5400. Today, her home stands, but the one at which her parents resided does not.
In 1940, she, Wallis, and their son resided at 5100 Woodman Ave., Sherman Oaks, California. In addition, a maid (Anne Baffish), butcher (Edward McGuigan), cook (Martha McGuigan), and governess (Louisa Baker) resided with them. This home does not exist.
Fazenda is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, celebrating her work in motion pictures. It is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California.
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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub
Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.
Annette Bochenek, Ph.D., is a film historian, professor, and avid scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the “Hometowns to Hollywood” blog, in which she profiles her trips to the hometowns of classic Hollywood stars. She has also been featured on the popular classic film-oriented television network, Turner Classic Movies. A regular columnist for Classic Movie Hub, her articles have appeared in TCM Backlot, Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, The Dark Pages Film Noir Newsletter, and Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.
