Vernon Castle Killed -- 100 Years

[Joe Thompson]

Vernon and Irene Castle were popular ballroom dancers before the war. In 1915, they starred in a film called The Whirl of Life. Also in 1915, Vernon began studying to be a pilot. After he received his license in 1916, he returned to the land of his birth and volunteered to join the Royal Flying Corps. He flew 300 combat patrols over the Western Front and had two confirmed victories. He was assigned to train pilots in Canada, and then his unit went to Texas for the winter. 100 years ago today, on 15-February-1918, he was landing and had to maneuver to avoid another airplane. Castle's plane crashed and he died the same day. Irene had been appearing in movies on her own. Irene Castle became an animal-rights activist. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers played the Castles in their last movie as a team for RKO, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle.

Here is a contemporary newspaper article from the Seattle Star:
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/2018/ ... -fall.html

[daveboz]

My maternal grandfather P.T. Fleischer (cousin of Max and Dave) was at that Royal Flying Corps training school in Texas at the time of Lieutenant Castle’s demise. Some years ago I found amongst my grandfather’s effects a photo postcard showing the location of the training school, on which my grandfather had inscribed an “X” and a note indicating the exact spot where the plane crashed. (If ever I can find it again I’ll post a scan.)

[FrankFay]

I know that some of the serial PATRIA survives, but are any of Irene's feature films around? I had a glass slide for one - the talking point was "IRENE CASTLE - AMERICA'S BEST DRESSED WOMAN".

[Jim Roots]

His "girl-wife"? Even for 1917, that is a disgusting, infantalizing term.

Daveboz, hope you can find that postcard from your boy-grandfather.

(Not implying Dave is responsible for the terminology!)

Jim

[maliejandra]

Jim, I thought the same thing. How demeaning. (Although I still can't get away from referring to myself as a girl, so there's that.)

[FrankFay]

He was 31 at his death, she was 25 - so she was only 6 years his junior, and hardly a "Girl". I can only suppose it was a ploy to emphasize her fragility.

Her book "My Husband" reprints a lot of Vernon's wartime letters, and they make entertaining reading. In reality they had a strained marriage, the stresses of a very full professional career were not helped by his drinking and her personality : a friend of mine talked with two women who knew her (one was a daughter of Arthur Murray) and they were not kind. Their divorce papers had been quietly drawn up just before Vernon went into service & they remain in the Castle archives.

[JFK]

In reality they had a strained marriage, the stresses of a very full professional career were not helped by his drinking and her personality : a friend of mine talked with two women who knew her (one was a daughter of Arthur Murray) and they were not kind.

The Castles were Astles !?
Let's go to the videos:
Castles Silent Film + Fred & Ginger ........... Irene on To Tell The Truth
..
Buddy Holly on Murrays' Show .............. Murrays' Bob Hope Roast
..
Bob Hope Jane Russell Dorothy Lamour
Cliff Arquette Dorothy Collins Tony Bennett Gloria DeHaven
Jayne Mansfield and Johnny Carson Ethel Merman Alan King
Arthur Murray Kathryn Murray Mickey Mantle Rocky Graziano Jmmy Demaret Jon Arnett

[Brooksie]

Their divorce papers had been quietly drawn up just before Vernon went into service & they remain in the Castle archives.

Yowza - I had not heard that anecdote, but everything I have read about Irene's conduct during the production of The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle leads me to believe she was a bit of a pain in the neck. She didn't get along with Ginger Rogers (who, frankly, was a bit of a pain in the neck herself) and attempted to micromanage every aspect of the film. Eventually, RKO paid her several thousand dollars to essentially go the heck away.

[Jim Roots]

Their divorce papers had been quietly drawn up just before Vernon went into service & they remain in the Castle archives.

Yowza - I had not heard that anecdote, but everything I have read about Irene's conduct during the production of The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle leads me to believe she was a bit of a pain in the neck. She didn't get along with Ginger Rogers (who, frankly, was a bit of a pain in the neck herself) and attempted to micromanage every aspect of the film. Eventually, RKO paid her several thousand dollars to essentially go the heck away.

Well, if somebody was making a film about my life, I'd darn well be on the set making sure it tells the truth about what a great, intelligent, and beloved guy I am. And they'd better not cast Danny Devito in my role.

Jim