The Kidnapping that Created a Star

One girl’s tragic path to becoming Barbara La Marr

Foreground: A photo of Barbara La Marr. From Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain). Background: Annexations to the city of Los Angeles in 1918. From Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).

The power of celebrity status is well known to most modern audiences, leading many to crave it. It doesn’t come easy though; a perfect sequence of events have to fall in place, and the hopeful has to be savvy enough to exploit it while also being able to hold the attention of a frequently fickle public. A mythology has to be built. In the early 20th century, a young girl would be caught up in a curious string of events that gave her the limelight.

A Capture in California

It was a typical Monday morning on the 30th of December 1912 in the Watson household, in their apartment at 1229½ South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles (Snyder 2017: 39). William Watson, the father in the family, left early to go to his job at a local newspaper, leaving the home to fall into its usual rhythm. Later, Rose entered her daughter’s bedroom, only to find it empty. Reatha Watson had vanished.

The photo of Reatha that appeared in the Los Angeles Evening Herald of 4 January, 1913 (Snyder 2017: 41).

The 16-year-old girl had mentioned nothing about going out, but her black velvet suit and auto coat were missing. On the 2nd of January, the distraught parents received a letter…