Carla Laemmle (1909–2014)

Carla Laemmle was the professional name of Rebekah Isabelle Laemmle, born in Chicago, Illinois. She was the paternal niece of Universal Pictures studio founder Carl Laemmle, who invited her father Joseph to bring his family to Los Angeles in the early 1920s. There she became a ballet dancer and actress, making her screen debut in 1925. She is known primarily for her roles in the early silent film versions of The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and Dracula (1931). She continued to appear in small film roles until the late 1930s, when she left the movie business. She briefly came out of retirement in 2001 to play a vampire in The Vampire Hunters Club. In 2009, with Daniel Kinske, she published the memoir Growing Up with Monsters: My Times at Universal Studios in Rhymes, illustrated by Jack Davis. On October 3, 2010, she appeared in the BBC Four documentary "A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss," sharing memories of her early film work with Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi. In November 2010, she made an appearance in the documentary "Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood" for Turner Classic Movies, and in May 2011 she appeared in Paul Merton's "Birth of Hollywood" on the BBC.