“…the breath of scandal had wilted her career and burned away her health.” Los Angeles Times, March 1, 1930

Mabel Normand was, as so many of my subjects were, misunderstood. She was famed for her astonishing comedic talent during the silent film era but her private life was dogged with scandal which fuelled her addictions and self-destructive behaviour. In this drawing I have superimposed my hands onto a standard publicity photo, as if she is holding up the edges of her own mouth in a forced smile.

The following is an excerpt from ‘The Great Heart. Hollywood Pays Tribute to Tragic, Stoic Mabel Normand’ By Charleson Gray: “I can take it on the chin,” was her cry to the last. She could endure anything. That was her credo, the smiling challenge to the powers of darkness that she could withstand the slings and arrows of whatever outrageous fortune it might be their whim to direct toward her.

The title of this new pieces comes from a poem written by Mabel herself:

Short, Short Story

I’m bad, bad, bad!
But I’ll really keep my engagement.
If there was one sprig of poison-ivy
In a field of four-leaf-clovers,
I’d pick it up.
If it was raining carbolic acid,
I’d be the dumb-bell sponge.

Mabel Normand (1893 - 1930)