Picture-Play Magazine

This July 1923 issue of America's Picture-Play Magazine is remarkable for featuring not one but two Melbourne-born Australians on its cover. On the front of one of the early 20th century's most recognisable magazines is actress Mae Busch, and fellow Australian Henry Clive painted her portrait.

Known as the ‘versatile vamp’, Busch appeared in over 130 films between 1912 and 1946. She reached the pinnacle of her career in 1923, appearing in Erich von Stroheim's Foolish Wives, billed as the first million-dollar movie. Busch successfully transitioned to ‘talkies’ and appeared in several Laurel and Hardy comedies, often as Oliver Hardy’s wife. For her contribution to the film industry, Mae Busch was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.  

Henry Clive was also a Hollywood silent film actor and a set designer for Charlie Chaplin. By the 1920s, he was better known for painting some of Hollywood's biggest stars, earning him the moniker of the ‘cover girl artist’.