Leila Marie Koerber (1868-1934) began her stage career in the 1880s and was a star on Broadway by the time she was 24. In 1914 she appeared with Chaplin and Mabel Normand in Hollywood’s first feature-length comedy, Tillie’s Punctured Romance.
By the early 1920s Dressler’s career was in decline, only to revive in 1927 when she was teamed with Polly Moran in The Callahans and the Murphys. Her stage experience meant that sound presented no problems, and by 1931 she was one of MGM’s top stars, winning an Academy Award for Min and Bill (1930). By 1934 she was dead from cancer.
Dressler was a natural comedian and makes on the the few genuinely funny contributions to The Hollywood Revue of 1929 ‘singing’ ‘For I’m the Queen’. She went to feature in a supporting role in Chasing Rainbows, in which she and Moran combine to steal the picture.
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