Zita Moulton

{{Infobox person

| name =

| image = Zita Moulton - Dec 1922 Shadowland.jpg

| image_upright =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1883

| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, US

| death_date = December 25, 1987 (aged 104)

| death_place = El Paso, Texas, US

| other_names = Zita Gordon

| alma_mater = Radcliffe College

| occupation = Actress, model, dress seller

| years_active = 1921–1937

| spouse = Harvey M. Gordon

| children = 2

}}

File:Zita Moulton - Jan 1923 Shadowland.jpg

Zita Moulton (1883 – December 25, 1987), also known as Zita Gordon, was an American model and actress who appeared in theatre and film in the 1920s and 30s. She was featured in fashion photographs throughout the period{{cite news |editor1-last=Thorold |editor1-first=W. J. |editor2-last=Hornblow |editor2-first=Arthur |editor3-last=Maxwell |editor3-first=Perriton |editor4-last=Beach |editor4-first=Stewart |date=1922 |title=Originality And Distinction Are Combined In The Personal Frocks of Zita Moulton |work=Theatre Magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEQ5AQAAMAAJ |volume=36 |publisher=Theatre Magazine Company |page=47 |access-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730194249/https://books.google.com/books?id=vEQ5AQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author= |date=1923 |title=Fashion As Interpreted By The Actress |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FwNMAQAAMAAJ |work=Theatre Magazine |volume=37 |page=48 |publisher=Theatre Magazine Company |access-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-date=September 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220919031036/https://books.google.com/books?id=FwNMAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author= |date=1922 |title=Smart Accessories Which Denote Distinctive Fashion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlFaAAAAYAAJ |work=Arts & Decoration |volume=18 |page=58 |publisher=Hewitt Publishing Company |access-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730210114/https://books.google.com/books?id=xlFaAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }} and performed in Duffy stage productions.{{cite news |author= |date=November 5, 1930 |title=Zita Moulton Hurt In Crash |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106694952/zita-moulton-hurt-in-crash/ |work=The San Francisco Examiner |access-date=August 23, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824035059/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106694952/zita-moulton-hurt-in-crash/ |url-status=live }}

A Bostonian, Moulton began performing on stage after a bet from her fiancé at the time that she would be able to get an acting job within 24 hours. Performing in productions starting in 1921, she had a number of main roles before being cast in multiple films alongside Francis X. Bushman starting in 1923. These shows increased her popularity and she was featured in many fashion magazines of the time, including Vogue. She continued in theatre and film roles until she left acting in 1937 before moving to El Paso, Texas, and becoming a dress shop owner and spending her time caring for stray and sick animals.

Career

Born in Boston, Moulton graduated from Radcliffe College. At the age of 16 while engaged, she made a bet with her fiancé that she would be able to get hired for the theatre within 24 hours. She went to a local Boston booking agency and asked for a part in a stage play, and was assigned to a theatre company located in Toronto, Canada, for two weeks before being assigned to another company for a longer five-month contract. She later had a major role in a 1921 production of Leo Ditrichstein's Toto as Baroness de Verdiere, one of the six main cast members. Then she was given the lead role in Smooth as Silk that same year and kept on with the production until 1922. She was contracted beginning in 1923 to films involving Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne, starring in their 1923 release of Modern Marriage.{{cite news |last=Webb |first=Mary Margaret |date=March 5, 1953 |title=Actress Tells How She Ran Up Stairs, Got Breathless Start In Show Business |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108254518/actress-tells-how-she-ran-up-stairs/ |work=El Paso Herald-Post |access-date=August 24, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824230508/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108254518/actress-tells-how-she-ran-up-stairs/ |url-status=live }} After the film's premiere, she and the other actors went on tour across the United States and acted out the first scene of the film on theatre stages across the country. This promotional tour was the first "personal appearance" done by film actors.

Her theatre roles resulted in her being featured in glamour magazines, including Vogue, Town & Country, and Theatre Weekly. Throughout the 1920s, she was shown in advertisements as a "clothes horse" for presenting clothing styles and brands. In 1932, she was signed for roles in Sinners in the Sun and alongside George Arliss in A Successful Calamity.{{cite news |last=Kingsley |first=Grace |date=February 22, 1932 |title=Zita Moulton Signed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108255748/zita-moulton-signed-by-grace-kingsley/ |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=August 24, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220825104024/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108255748/zita-moulton-signed-by-grace-kingsley/ |url-status=live }}

Personal life

During her initial contract in Toronto, Moulton met a Canadian officer named Captain Harvey M. Gordon and they married six years afterwards. He became sick in 1953 and, in order to stay near him and his hospital, Moulton opened a dress shop in El Paso, Texas. Harvey Gordon died from his illness on May 10, 1955.{{cite news |last=Carroll |first=Ann |date=February 15, 1957 |title=Remedy for 'Track Blues' Can Be Had in Court Suit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108476361/remedy-for-track-blues-can-be-had-in/ |work=El Paso Herald-Post |access-date=August 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828160345/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108476361/remedy-for-track-blues-can-be-had-in/ |url-status=live }} Moulton continued living in El Paso until her death on December 25, 1987, at the age of 104.{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Mary Margaret |date=December 29, 1987 |title=Ex-actress, 104, dies in El Paso |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89197553/zita-moulton-gordon-obit-aged-104/ |work=El Paso Times |access-date=August 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828153238/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89197553/zita-moulton-gordon-obit-aged-104/ |url-status=live }}

Moulton's personal hobby was caring for animals, ranging from dogs to seagulls to seals, and she frequently had healing animals in her home. She considered the most important event in her life was her 1939 radio appearance on the Dave Elman's Hobby Lobby show where she discussed her hobby referred to as "Kindness To Animals".{{cite news |last=Bird |first=Drury |date=July 23, 1954 |title=El Paso Woman Has Hobby Of Being Kind To Animals |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108477116/el-paso-woman-has-hobby-of-being-kind/ |work=El Paso Times |access-date=August 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828161316/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108477116/el-paso-woman-has-hobby-of-being-kind/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Bird |first=Drury |date=November 9, 1958 |title=Animals Age Quickly, Need Special Treatment |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108475981/animals-age-quickly-need-special/ |work=El Paso Times |access-date=August 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828155026/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108475981/animals-age-quickly-need-special/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Bird |first=Drury |date=November 19, 1961 |title=Story Moral: Don't Give Up All Hope When Dog Is Lost |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108475661/story-moral-dont-give-up-all-hope/ |work=El Paso Times |access-date=August 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828154251/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108475661/story-moral-dont-give-up-all-hope/ |url-status=live }}

Theater

Toto (1921) as Baroness de Verdiere{{cite news |author= |date=1921 |title=Is That So! |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BmxDAQAAMAAJ |work=Dramatic Mirror and Theatre World |volume=83 |page=617 |publisher=Dramatic Mirror Incorporated |access-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731185730/https://books.google.com/books?id=BmxDAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}
Smooth as Silk (1921) as Rosina{{cite news |editor1-last=Thorold |editor1-first=W. J. |editor2-last=Hornblow |editor2-first=Arthur |editor3-last=Maxwell |editor3-first=Perriton |editor4-last=Beach |editor4-first=Stewart |date=1921 |title=Mr. Hornblow Goes To The Play |work=Theatre Magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XycoAAAAMAAJ |volume=33 |publisher=Theatre Magazine Company |page=342 |access-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730221423/https://books.google.com/books?id=XycoAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}
The Common Law (1922) as Rita Tevis{{cite news |author= |date=January 9, 1922 |title=Two New Players Join Payton Stock Company |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106689795/two-new-players-join-payton-stock/ |work=The Scranton Times-Tribune |access-date=July 31, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731204943/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106689795/two-new-players-join-payton-stock/ |url-status=live }}
Johnny Walker (1922) as Margery Dawes{{cite news |author= |date=September 8, 1922 |title=At The Theatre: "Johnny Walker" At Broadway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108261248/at-the-theatre-johnny-walker-at/ |work=The Daily Record |access-date=August 24, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220825105246/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108261248/at-the-theatre-johnny-walker-at/ |url-status=live }}
His Chinese Wife (1926) as Cecelia Sturgis{{cite news |author= |date=November 2, 1926 |title="His Chinese Wife" At The Castle SQ |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106692897/his-chinese-wife-at-the-castle-sq/ |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=July 31, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731212726/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106692897/his-chinese-wife-at-the-castle-sq/ |url-status=live }}
This Thing Called Love (1929){{cite news |author= |date=May 8, 1929 |title=In Stage and Screen Comedies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106688062/in-stage-and-screen-comedies/ |work=Los Angeles Evening Post-Record |access-date=July 31, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731202722/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106688062/in-stage-and-screen-comedies/ |url-status=live }}
The Skull (1929){{cite news |author= |date=February 26, 1929 |title='Skull' Now In Second Week |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108455158/skull-now-in-second-week/ |work=The San Francisco Examiner |access-date=August 27, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828030942/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108455158/skull-now-in-second-week/ |url-status=live }}

Filmography

Modern Marriage (1923) as Nita Blake{{cite news |author= |date=June 24, 1923 |title=Old Favorites In Person at Miller Monday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106690679/old-favorites-in-person-at-miller-monday/ |work=The Wichita Eagle |access-date=July 31, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731210941/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106690679/old-favorites-in-person-at-miller-monday/ |url-status=live }}
Big Money (1930) as Michael{{cite book |last=American Film Institute |author-link=American Film Institute |date=1997 |title=The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlLbRAPOgP0C |publisher=University of California Press |page=58 |isbn=9780520209695 |access-date=July 24, 2022 |archive-date=April 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422105840/https://books.google.com/books?id=rlLbRAPOgP0C |url-status=live }}
The Expert (1932) as Miss Lippincott
A Successful Calamity (1932)
Sinners in the Sun (1932) as Florence Nelson{{cite book |last1=Nollen |first1=Scott Allen |last2=Nollen |first2=Yuyun Yuningsih |date=December 26, 2019 |title=Chester Morris: His Life and Career |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sdjHDwAAQBAJ |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=270 |isbn=9781476677293 |access-date=July 24, 2022 |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731193455/https://books.google.com/books?id=sdjHDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
The Tenderfoot (1932){{cite news |last=Cameron |first=Kate |date=May 21, 1932 |title=Joe E. Brown Cavorts In Slick Comedy At Strand |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108456175/joe-e-brown-cavorts-in-slick-comedy-at/ |work=New York Daily News |access-date=August 27, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828033338/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108456175/joe-e-brown-cavorts-in-slick-comedy-at/ |url-status=live }}
Employees' Entrance (1933) as Marion{{cite news |author= |date=February 16, 1933 |title=Department Store Life Revealed On Screen In "Employees' Entrance" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108455523/department-store-life-revealed-on/ |work=The Paducah Sun-Democrat |access-date=August 27, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828031837/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108455523/department-store-life-revealed-on/ |url-status=live }}
Hoosier Schoolboy (1937){{cite book |last=Marill |first=Alvin H. |date=December 8, 2004 |title=Mickey Rooney: His Films, Television Appearances, Radio Work, Stage Shows, and Recordings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5WZOvH8VSUC |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=94 |isbn=9780786420155 |access-date=July 24, 2022 |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731195208/https://books.google.com/books?id=h5WZOvH8VSUC |url-status=live }} as school girl
It Happened in Hollywood (1937) as Englishwoman{{cite book |last1=Kinnard |first1=Roy |last2=Crnkovich |first2=Tony |date=July 11, 2015 |title=The Films of Fay Wray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eyOCpuGkuykC |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=151 |isbn=9781476604152 |access-date=July 24, 2022 |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731195359/https://books.google.com/books?id=eyOCpuGkuykC |url-status=live }}
The Awful Truth (1937) as Lady Fabian{{cite news |author= |date=November 12, 1937 |title=State and Orpheum: "The Awful Truth" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108477869/state-and-orpheum-the-awful-truth/ |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=August 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828162836/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108477869/state-and-orpheum-the-awful-truth/ |url-status=live }}

References

Category:1883 births

Category:1987 deaths

Category:American film actresses

Category:American stage actresses

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:Actresses from Boston

Category:Radcliffe College alumni

Category:American women centenarians