Act 1: Birth, Childhood, and Early Career

Veteran fan magazine writer Herb Howe tells of penning an article about Nita back in the lush, golden days and submitting it to her in fear and trembling for an okay.  Nita, always a wit, asked for only one change.  She wanted the line “Nita Naldi was born over a...

Photographs

Act 2: Film Career

If you ask me—you did ask me, didn’t you, dear?—No woman can be expected to vamp completely if she’s going to have to be refined about it. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Nita may have done extra work during the late ‘teens, but her first confirmed film role was in the 1920...

Act 3: Marriage, Later Years

Very cosmopolitan and consequently fascinating is J. Searle Barclay, Jr., who chases around the circles leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake. New York, little London, Glenwood Springs and Littleton—they all know the festive J. In early 1929 Isabella Barclay...

Filmography

Information on Nita’s films was derived from Wid’s Film Daily, Wid’s Yearbooks (1920-1928), Film Daily, Motion Picture News, Motion Picture World, The Motion Picture Almanac 1929,  the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) database, the American Film...