Category: Reflections on Life

  • Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Dedication

    Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Dedication

    When it came time to dedicate Hairpins and Dead Ends, I couldn’t settle on one, so I chose two important ladies in my life, two larger-than-life characters who had perilous journeys of their own: silent film actress Lina Basquette and Carol Ankerich, my mother. My mom has been gone over two years and the wound […]

  • Hoarders (Not Quite) Anonymous!

    By Michael G. Ankerich Okay, I’m coming clean.  I am finally able to make a confession. Several months ago, while packing the house to move across town, I began asking myself, “Do I have a problem with letting things go? Is it possible that I could be a hoarder?” I was ready to admit that I […]

  • That crazy book man?

      What has happened to my peaceful office where Maebelle and Tallulah napped while I typed away on a new book or spent hours researching the whereabouts of a lost silent film siren? That was then …..   This is now …. Maebelle and Tallulah are no where to be found this afternoon. Ms. Taylor, our other […]

  • Mae Murray’s 1960 Radio Interview

    As I celebrate the publication of my new book, Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips, I wanted to share with you an interview Mae Murray gave in 1960 as she celebrated the release of her first biography by Jane Ardmore, The Self-Enchanted. The interview can be found on YouTube in three parts.  Follow […]

  • (Spell) Bound in Morocco

    Okay, so I’m going to tell you a bit about my recent adventures in Morocco. What, you ask, does this have to do with silent films? Here’s the connection. Way back in 1918, Douglas Fairbanks and Pauline Curley appeared in Bound in Morocco. Pauline is about to be sold into the harem of an evil […]

  • Spending time with a president and Miss Jan

    It’s always a treat to travel into Plains, Georgia, and join the congregation at Maranatha Baptist Church, where former President Jimmy Carter still teaches Sunday School when he’s in  town. Yesterday, the Dooleys, our new neighbors, and I ventured to Plains to get up close and personal with a former president.  They’d never been to […]

  • Remembering Kitty Carlisle and the Jewels of a Jewel

    By Michael G. Ankerich Some of the treasures Kitty Carlisle collected over the years were auctioned yesterday through Sothebys.   The auction house reported today that Kitty’s jewels doubled their overall low estimate. Her Art Deco diamond sautoir brought $146,500 (est. $60/80,000). For me, an old fan of Kitty Carlisle, it’s kind of sad to see […]

  • Miss Lillian and the First Lady Offer Advice

    Yeah, yeah, I know this blog is supposed to be about silent film personalities, but I did warn you in the beginning to expect me to occasionally stray from the path. This is one of those times, the week of the Democratic Convention. In keeping with the festivities going on in Charlotte, North Carolina, I […]

  • Who’s Queen Elizabeth? It’s Queen Barbara!

    By Michael G. Ankerich I admit to being glued to the  tube several weeks ago during the Diamond Jubilee celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years on the throne. I fell in love with Her Royal Highness all over again. Someone offered to give me a copy of Kitty Kelley’s The Royals, but I wasn’t interested in […]

  • My Visit with Barbara La Marr

    My visits with Barbara La Marr happen every time I venture out to Hollywood.  They are rather one-sided, you understand.  I visit her at her final resting spot, a crypt in the Great Mausoleum at the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery (Hollywood Forever). I have never been to Hollywood that I didn’t spend a little time with […]