known as "the girl who is too beautiful" the dancer, script writer & actress packed a lot into a very short life. she was adopted at one month in 1896 and given the name raetha watson in yakima, washington. at age 14 she was brought in front of a judge for her underage dancing and it was he who pronounced her too beautiful to be in the big city alone and unprotected. reporter adela rogers st. johns witnessed the scene and wrote a 2 page newspaper story that started the legend.
in 1913 at the age of 17, her first husband jack lytell swept her off her feet - literally. the story was that he swooped down on horseback and grabbed her from her slow moving car carrying her away. a few months after the wedding they had a heated argument and he rode off into a thunderstorm. he died 2 days later of pneumonia.
in 1914 she met and married lawrence converse (of the converse shoe family). 24 hours later he was charged with bigamy and carted off to jail where he beat his head against the bars moaning he had to have her, to possess her magnificent beauty. 2 days later he died of a blood clot on the brain.
around 1915 she married phil ainsworth, a popular musical comedy actor & ballroom dancer. he began forging checks to maintain a lavish lifestyle filled with expensive items for his beautiful bride. he was sent to san quentin and she divorced him around the end of 1917.
in 1918, she married her dance partner, ben deeley, who was in his 40s and indulged in alcohol and gambling.
it was around this time that she decided to go to hollywood to be a writer. 2 years later, at the age of 22, she had gained success as a script "doctor" and screenplay writer. one day mary pickford saw her and exclaimed "my dear, you are too beautiful to be behind the camera!" spurring her to become an actress.
in 1921 she met with success starring opposite douglas fairbanks in "the three muskateers". she divorced husband number 4 during filming. she went on to star opposite john gilbert in 'arabian love' in 1922, and opposite ramon novarro in "prisoner of zenda" and "trifling women".
on her 13th film, 1923's "souls for sale" she sprained her ankle. it is rumored that the studio doctors administered morphine, cocaine & heroin for the pain. she would go on to face an addiction that would ultimately take her life. that same year, she married her fifth, and last, husband cowboy star jack dougherty.
she gained 35 pounds (she was only 5'3") due to her over indulgence in food, alcohol & drugs & reacted by going on a starvation diet of liquids, cocaine, and supposedly, sugar coated tapeworms.
in 1926, during the filming of "the girl from montmarte", she collapsed and fell into a coma. she died of tuberculosis & nephritis on january 30, 1926.
she is quoted as saying "i take lovers like roses, by the dozen" and was rumored to have had many torrid affairs including ernest hemingway, john gilbert and mussolini.
she was known to exclaim: "i cheat nature. i never sleep more than 2 hours a day. i have better things to do." and indeed it seemed she did.
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