Julia Faye

Her last film role was as a dowager in The Buccaneer (1958).

Was one of the silent film stars who were honored with citations from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their help "in making Hollywood the film capital of the world." The event was held at the Academy Award Theater in 1951.

However, by the early 1930s her career was already in decline. Perhaps hoping to emulate Macpherson, she proceeded to study screenwriting for three years under De Mille's tutelage, but, in the end, to little avail. Eventually, offers from Hollywood dried up and her money ran out. To his credit, De Mille continued to support Julia by putting her on the payroll as one of his regular stock players. She went on to appear in cameos and bit parts in his films for another two decades, usually without dialogue.

Dynamite (1929), co-scripted by another De Mille protégé and mistress (not to mention fierce rival), Jeanie Macpherson, gave Julia her best opportunity to shine in a meatier role.

One of her rare leading lady roles was that of country girl Dorcas in His Dog (1927), a DeMille Pictures Corporation production co-starring Joseph Schildkraut.

She was featured in billed supporting roles in a number of De Mille's big-budget extravaganzas, including The Ten Commandments (1923) (as Pharaoh's wife), The Volga Boatman (1926) (as a gypsy) and The King of Kings (1927) (as Martha).

which contributed to her having a pretty good career for the better part of the 1920s.

She appeared in more Cecil B. DeMille films than any other actress. Her first DeMille film was The Woman God Forgot (1917), in which she played Geraldine Farrar's handmaiden. In the early 1930s, she left acting in order to study singing and also began to write; she also remarried during this time, but this second marriage lasted less than a year. This explains her absence in some DeMille epics of the 1930s, such as The Sign of the Cross (1932), Cleopatra (1934), The Crusades (1935), and The Buccaneer (1938). In the late 1930s, she returned to films with the help of DeMille, who gave her her last notable roles: Delilah (Hedy Lamarr)'s maidservant Hisham in Samson and Delilah (1949) and Aaron (John Carradine)'s wife Elisheba in The Ten Commandments (1956).

Julia Faye's career is inextricably linked to director Cecil B. DeMille. He was her mentor, while she was for many years his mistress (a liaison which was tolerated by De Mille's long-suffering wife Constance Adams). Julia was born in Richmond, Virginia, of French-American parentage. She had a Southern drawl which she never lost. When she was six months old her family moved to St. Louis, MO, where she spent most of her early childhood. She was educated at Illinois State University. Her parents intended for her to have a teaching career, but Julia had other ideas. She started out as a model for fashion magazines, touted as "the girl with the perfect legs" and "the prettiest feet and ankles in America". Her photo shoots did not escape the attention of De Mille, who summoned her for an audition (though, according to author Charles Higham, it was actor Wallace Reid who first introduced Julia to De Mille at a party). Her "pegs" certainly passed muster and Julia was fast-tracked to the silver screen, initially appearing in a few small roles at Fine Arts=Paramount. Casting directors were also eager to utilize her as a "leg model", doubling for actresses deemed less endowed in that department. In 1916 Julia moved to Keystone as one of Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties and knockabout comediennes, occasionally as leading lady and at times performing her own stunts. Despite limitations to her acting ability, Julia was possessed of sophistication, wit and charm.

Appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's two remakes of The Squaw Man (1914): The Squaw Man (1918) and The Squaw Man (1931).

Her father, Robert J. Maloney, was born in West Virginia. His family eventually settled in Newton, Kansas, where he worked for the Santa Fe Railroad and married in 1890, two years before Faye's birth. He died before 1901.

Her mother, Emma Louise Elliott (1872-1955), was born in New Castle, Indiana. After the death of her husband, she went to live with her parents and worked as a dressmaker. In 1901, she remarried to Cyrus D. Covell.

Was named after her maternal grandmother, Julia Ann (Crandall) Elliott (1851-1896).

Her paternal grandfather, Thomas Maloney, was born in Ireland and settled in Virginia in the 1850s.