Seductive Facts About Barbara La Marr, The Tragic Screen Siren
Hollywood chews up starlets and spits them out—but no one knew this better than the silver screen’s original vamp, Barbara La Marr.
Barbara La Marr Facts
1. She Was A Dark Beauty
In the 1920s, Barbara La Marr was the vamp of Hollywood, using her dark good looks to seduce audiences across America. She was the femme fatale everyone wanted to know more about—but if they could have peered inside her life, they would have been shocked to their core. And when her end finally came, it was unimaginably dark.
Read on for the tragic story of Barbara La Marr.
2. She Was An LA Baby
At first glance, Barbara La Marr’s origin story is as classic as the come. Growing up as "Reatha Watson" at the turn of the century, she got into dancing in Vaudeville shows when she was just a child.
Her family eventually moved to Los Angeles to try their fortunes—and although she was still just a teenager, this is when it all started to go wrong.
3. She Did Anything To Pursue Her Dreams
Los Angeles rubbed off on La Marr, and suddenly she wanted to be “the greatest tragedienne and wield a dagger". But when La Marr was 15 years old, her thirst for fame brought her to dark places. At that tender age, she began performing in racy burlesque shows. After all, she was going to break into the fantasy realm of Hollywood.
Only, La Marr didn’t realize her world was about to transform into a real-life nightmare.
