Margaret Leahy

At 18 years of age, Margaret Leahy set up a costume shop in England designing women's clothing and modeling her designs for interested buyers. In 1922, Constance and Norma Talmadge, Joseph Schenck and film director Edward Jose held a contest in England to find a new leading lady. The contestants numbered nearly 80,000, and after looking at the screen tests and much debate, she was named the winner! Norma Talmadge stated that Leahy had "a perfect film face ... splendid eyes, a supple body, and convincing expressions ... her features are so perfect, and her character so distinctive!" Leahy and the three finalists were all taken to Hollywood, but it was Leahy who soon began appearing in newspaper ads. (The other finalists were Agnes Souret known as the loveliest girl in France and; Katherine Campbell, who had won two previous beauty titles.) Prior to arriving in Hollywood, Leahy toured several major cities in Europe and was greeted with hundreds of cheering fans and photographers as the new movie star that was about to be born. In November of 1922, she sailed on the 'Aquitania' for America arriving in New York on December 3rd and was greeted by a huge crowd which included Norma and Constance Talmadge, D.W. Griffith, Mae Murray and Marion Davies. After a short stay in New York, Leahy boarded the train for Hollywood with the Talmadges. When she arrived in Hollywood she was met by Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford. She began working with director Frank Lloyd who was going to make her a 'star.' Apparently things didn't go as planned and Lloyd threatened to quit unless they got rid of her. It was at this point that Joseph Schenck put Leahy in the 1923 film "Three Ages" opposite Buster Keaton, as she was promised one film as a contest winner - sadly, it was to be her first and last film. After the film finished shooting, there were no attempts to put her in any other films as she was labeled as being untalented and incapable of learning how to act. It was then that she was named one of the 'Wampas Baby Stars for 1923' alongside Evelyn Brent, Eleanor Boardman and Laura La Plante. This amounted to nothing and Leahy decided that she did not want a film career after all and went so far as to sue Joseph Schenck for $50,000 for breach of contract and injured feelings. She remained in California and became an interior decorator for Bullock's department store, going by the name of Marion Meade.