Carmel Myers

Though she is little remembered today, silent screen star Carmel Myers had a high-flying career in her heyday and she was ranked among the screen's most glamorous and enticing vamps. She was born at the turn of the century in San Francisco, the daughter of immigrant parents. Her father, a rabbi, emigrated from Australia, while her mother came from Austria. Her older brother, Zion Myers, would grow up to become a successful writer and director in Hollywood. The family moved to Los Angeles when she was in her early teens and her father, an acquaintance of director D.W. Griffith, advised Griffith on the biblical scenes for his movie Intolerance (1916), for which Carmel received a bit role as a dancer.

Signed by Universal, Carmel rose quickly up the ranks appearing with Rudolph Valentino in A Society Sensation (1918) and All Night (1918). She later branched out and worked for other studios. Her most prestigious film was the epic extravaganza Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), in which she portrayed Iras, the evil Egyptian seductress out to snare both Ramon Navarro and Francis X. Bushman. Outrageously adorned, she was a tremendous hit and MGM signed her up for their pictures The Devil's Circus (1926) and Tell It to the Marines (1926), with each showcase striving to outdo the costumes she wore for "Ben-Hur."

Carmel managed the transition into talkies but, due to her age, she started appearing more and more in supporting roles until she was finally left with nothing but bit parts. In the 1950s she tried television, making her debut in July 1951 with an interview show called, fittingly, The Carmel Myers Show (1951), in which she conversed with such show biz elite as Richard Rodgers and Sigmund Romberg, but the show lasted only one season. Married three times, she eventually turned to real estate and she also founded Carmel Myers, Inc. which distributed French fragrances. She died on November 9, 1980.