17 Nov 1924 – How Agnes Ayres Became a Star

Agnes Ayres has no story of hardships. She never trouped with a road show to gain, by hard knocks and brutal treatment of the elements, experience in real life that would teach her how portray dramatic characters on the stage.  The secret of her success is a pretty face.  The story of how Agnes Ayres became a movie star renews hope in the breast of every girl with movie aspirations, despite the warnings of earnest directors and producers who warn away from Hollywood thousands of film-struck young women every year.  Agnes Henkle was a typical small-town girl, with long glittering golden hair and languorous brown eyes with a greenish tinge.  The Henkle Family lived at Carbondale, Illinois when Agnes arrived.  Chicago was the logical place for the education of the young daughter.  So, the family moved.   One of earliest of the motion pictures companies was the old Essanay, which had its studios in Chicago. Pretty schoolgirls then had very little trouble getting work as extra girls at the Essanay Studios.  The pay was $2.50 a day, which was big money for a school girl, who would have been glad to act in the movies just for the glory of being envied by her classmates Agnes Henkle got such work. She had no stage experience, but that wasn’t necessary. All she needed was a pretty face. Her first part was with the “O Henry” pictures, which were produced by Vitagraph. Agnes Henkle became Agnes Ayres for professional purposes and, having taken part in the twenty-five of the picturized “O Henry” stories, she came to be known as the “O Henry” Girl.  She joined the Paramount galaxy of stars and her first picture for that company was “Held by the Enemy”.  She started out in the company with Francis X Bushman and Beverly Bayne, but Agnes fame grew brighter as the glory of those former stars dimmed.  Agnes became one of the leading ingenues of the screen.  When she married first is not just clear in the records of Agnes career and it doesn’t matter anyway, for it wasn’t a happy marriage.  However, when Mrs. Agnes Schuker appeared in Los Angeles before Superior Court Judge Summerfield to ask for a divorce from CPT Schuker an Army Captain she almost got her decree without being recognized as Agnes Ayres, film star.  The plaintiff told the judge tremblingly that her husband was an unsympathetic creature who did not encourage her in her ambitions and that her mother had clothed, fed and sheltered her ever since her marriage in Brooklyn several years before.  The decree was granted. The plaintiff started to make her cheerful exit. Then recently she secretly married Manuel Reachi of the Mexican Consulate, San Francisco whom she met the previous year. The identity of her husband was a big surprise in Hollywood, as Ricardo Cortez had been slated for the honor.  Jesse Laskey one of the most powerful figures in the motion picture industry, thoroughly approved of Agnes charms and agreed that her artistry would be a splendid business investment.  She was given a contract with Famous Players-Laskey Company.  From then on her star meteorically rose.