“Once you become a star, you are always a star!” Maybelline Girl, Mae Murray, rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen"

"One of the many Beautiful Stage and Screen Stars who wear and highly recommend Maybelline Beauty Aids''.

May Murray appeared in this Maybelline ad while starring with Rudolph Valentino in The Delicious Little Devil in 1919. 

Purchase this Comedy/The Delicious Little Devil (1919) DVD

The Delicious Little Devil is a silent film drama/comedy produced by Universal Film Manufacturing Company in 1919 stars Mae Murray and features a "pre-star" Rudolph Valentino. Purchase the card at Silent Cinema Inc. lobby card

Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips (Screen Classics) (Hardcover) The real-life silent screen queen of the 20s was defined, not only by her screen allure, but also by her fabrications, her fictions, her pretenses, her litigiousness and her decidedly odd behavior.

she was once "The Merry Widow," or a hardworking professional silent screen actress who got lost in her own publicity.

Mae Murray could not let go of the fantasy that Hollywood had and it destroyed any hope of her leading a normal life out of the spotlight.

 Murray's life could be the model for Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.  She was a Ziegfeld Girl, a successful dancer and a successful Silent Film movie queen. 

Click on the video and enjoy Maybelline's beautiful

Movie Legend, Mae Murray.

Why is it that so many of these Silent Film Stars lives in so tragically? Mae Murray's sad ending.

When the Talkies took over many turned to Alcohol and died young like Mary Eaton.

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Maybelline Art Deco ads transform from black and white into eye-popping color during the 1930s

                  Vertical ad in Photoplay magazine 1935

                  Full page black and white ad in 1936

       Same image used on first carded merchandise in 1936

During the 1930s Depression. Maybelline mascara was no longer sold through the classifieds in magazines, it was now sold in dime stores, produced in smaller boxes and dropped from 75 cents to 10 cents.  Profits soared and were put right back into advertising.  This full page, glossy color ad from 1937 is a perfect example of Maybelline's transformation from black and white to color.

Maybelline was the first to develop carded merchandise.


Read the whole story in my book, The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.  

Maybelline family honors Noel A. for his duty in the Navy - 1945.

In Memory of Noel Allen Williams for his service to his Country during WW11.

Born and raised in Chicago, the son of Maybelline Vice President Noel J. Williams, Noel A. Williams grew up in a sheltered world of comfort, stability and opportunity.  He and my father, Bill Williams were close first-cousins their entire life and when Bill moved to California with his mother Evelyn in 1936 to be near Tom Lyle, it was just a matter of time before Noel A. would follow.

Noel joined the Navy, left Chicago and headed to Southern California where he was stationed in San Diego, close enough to visit his uncle Tom Lyle at the Villa Valentino and Bill of Course.

Noel A. at the Villa Valentino with his uncle Tom Lyle Williams and TL's private Secretary Dorothy Mullander.

Here is a picture of my father Bill in civilian clothes on the left standing next to Dorothy Mullander, Maybelline's executive secretary with Noel A. in his Navy uniform at Tom Lyle's Villa Valentino in the Hollywood Hills.

Noel J. visits California to say goodbye to his 18 year old son before he ships overseas.  Dad looks forward to Noel A. returning home safely, going College and taking a position in the Maybelline Company. 

"Not so fast dad," as Noel A. has other plans which might include a girl he's leaving behind and maybe moving to California.  But for now status-quo is the word.

The girl he leaves behind is his 17 year old childhood sweetheart, Jean Kilroy. 

While Noel A. is overseas his uncle Tom Lyle creates this beautiful Maybelline advertisement targeting young women like Jean who are waiting for their men to return.  Noel A. does return home but not before being wounded by shrapnel on his thigh.  He was one of the lucky ones. 





Noel A. Williams 1925 -1994.

If you'd like to know more about Noel A. and why he gave

 up an opportunity to take over his father's position

in the Maybelline Company - for a life in California - pick up your copy of The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It and walk through the 20Th Century with the family who put the first

 eye beautifier on the market in 1915 to 1967. 

Thank you for following The Maybelline Blog and be sure to tell your friends!!!       

PS: Noel Allen Willliams is Chuck, Nancy and Jim Williams father.