Florence was born in Chicago, not far from where Ed Burroughs was raised, on February 20, 1904.  At age 14 she moved to Hollywood in 1918 at the encouragement of Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart.". Realizing her strong resemblance of her petite, 5' "2 daughter to Mary Pickford, her mother, Maude, had sent Florence's photos to the movie star. Pickford wrote back, encouraging her to bring her daughter to Hollywood. A short time later their father back in Chicago sent Florence's sister Mae and brother Eddie to join them in California. Before long they too were working as Hollywood extras for $2 a day and lunch.

Florence's first parts were as Pickford's double, moving on to roles in Sennett two-reel comedies. It is estimated that Florence did between 50 and 70 film shorts and features between 1918 and 1928 -- a partial filmography is included in ERBzine 0891. Later she did most of her work at Fox and Christy Studios. The 5' 2" blond worked as leading lady in a whole series of "Van Bibber" comedies based on the stories of Richard Harding Davis, as well as in a comedy series with Bobby Vernon. She also did a series of westerns with Bull Montana. Her main chance for stardom came in the 1926 disaster epic, The Johnstown Flood. Florence was female lead in the picture but most of the attention went instead to her good friend, newcomer Janet Gaynor, who went on to become a major star.

During these years she dated quite a number of well-known men, including Wilbur May (May Co. founder) and was possibly even married to Charles Smith in the early '20s. The Ventura County Marriage Records indicate that her name at the time of her marriage to Lee Ashton Dearholt on October 28, 1926 was Mrs. Florence Ella Gleistein Smith.  Dearholt (April 4, 1894 Milwaukee, WI - April 27, 1942 Los Angeles, CA) was a fairly well-known movie director/producer/actor who worked with Universal on a number of melodramas during the 1910s. He occasionally acted under the name Richard Holt and worked in many westerns.  After her marriage to Dearholt, they lived to Queen's Road in Hollywood, close to Sunset Strip and.Florence gave up her movie career to have two children: Lee and Caryl Lee. With the arrival of "talkies" Ashton also left acting to concentrate on film production. Through most of his career he had worked outside the studio system and was well-versed in the business side of film making.

On February 14, 1927, Ashton and Florence visited ERB to discuss adapting his books into movies.  This was the start of a long business and social relationship between the Burroughs family and the Dearholts. Florence's young brother, Eddie, was a real Tarzan fan and had many good times with Jack Burroughs, who was about the same age.  Joan Burroughs was seriously trying to launch an acting career, and both she and Florence gave birth to their first children (little Joan Burroughs and Caryl Lee Dearholt) around the same time. The two women became close friends and Florence visited Tarzana quite regularly.  Florence's second child, Lee Ashton Dearholt III was born at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital on June 4, 1929. 

Ed also had a keen interest in the movie industry -- in fact, the film business was one of the main reasons for his move from Chicago to the San Fernando Valley back in 1919. Sometime soon after the meeting with the Dearholts, Ed wrote a home movie script, a silent slapstick melodrama called "Tarzan Pictures Presents 'Them Thar Papers." The cast included all family members, as well as Joan's acting friends James Pierce -- the current film Tarzan -- and Florence Dearholt.  In the years to come Ed presented a number of film ideas to Dearholt, who in return constantly pitched investment deals to Ed.

 
In July of 1933, beset with the pressures of work and a growing rift in his marriage to Emma, Ed took a soul-searching vacation in which he drove his Cord to Springerville in the White Mountains of Arizona. Most of the marriage problems involved Emma's over-dependence on alcohol. Besides offering a chance for personal reflection, one of the purposes of the trip was to inspect a Cochise County, Arizona, gold mine in which he had bought a quarter interest.  Since this was his first vacation without Emma and the children he soon became very homesick and lonely. All during this period he appeared to be drawn closer and closer to Florence. A number of events, locales and Ed's emotional turmoil from this trip found their way into the novel, The Swords of Mars, which he wrote upon his return home. Another indication of Ed's feelings at that time became apparent when the story eventually saw publication: the first letter of the first word of each chapter, when strung together, spell out "TO FLORENCE WITH ALL MY LOVE ED."

That fall,  Ashton Dearholt abandoned Standard Magazine which he had taken over a year earlier, and took a job with RKO Studios. He was then sent to Guatemala on a three month assignment by the studio. Dearholt wrote from Guatemala that RKO wanted Ed to sponsor and endorse a picture-making expedition. Soon after,  Florence Dearholt sought Ed's help in booking passage to join her husband in Guatemala. During Ashton's absence Joan and Florence had rented a house together in Palm Springs.

In February of 1934, Ed left Emma to live at The Garden of Allah, Villa 23, a residential hotel in Hollywood owned by silent movie star Nazimova. His diary entry is in capital letters: "LEFT HOME AT DINNER TIME."  Most of his time was now spent with Florence and a few days later the couple took a trip to Palm Springs. Ed's children's efforts to persuade him to try a reconciliation were unsuccessful and he encouraged them to help Emma draw up divorce papers. All through the spring Ed and Florence, Ashton and actress Ula Holt were inseparable. Ed was a regular dinner guest at the Dearholts, they dined out together, went out to parties together, and even visited Gay's Lion's Farm together. Ashton had brought Ula back from the Guatemala shoot with the idea of having her move into the Dearholt household. Florence wanted no part of this arrangement and their marriage started to dissolve. A divorce decree was granted to the Dearholts on March 29 but nothing seemed to change socially or business-wise between Ed and Dearholt. Meanwhile, Emma, Ed's wife of 34 years, was taking the separation very hard.  She was despondent and kept hoping that Ed would come to his senses and return to her -- she even started taking flying lessons thinking that Ed might be impressed. Sadly, the marriage was over.

Ed moved from The Garden of Allah to 2029 Pinehurst Road on April 17th. He and Florence were in contact every day. Finally in June, things come to a head. Upset over his children's attitudes toward his marriage split, Ed phoned Hulbert in Chicago, where he was on a promotional tour for the Tarzan radio program, asking him to take the first plane home. Anxious to restore closeness with his sons and to present his side in the marriage split, Ed met with the boys to bring about a reconciliation. The boys were somewhat understanding but there was no hope of smoothing things out with Joan who was especially bitter over her father's taking up with her close friend Florence. She felt that Florence had used her to get to her father. There appeared to be no turning back. Ed, Florence with her two children, and Mrs. Gilbert then went on a summer vacation in Big Basin at Santa Cruz and on to San Francisco. They returned home to a whirl of social affairs.

In October Ed moved temporarily into the Dearholt apartment in West Hollywood when the lease on his Pinehurst Road home ran out. A few days later he and Florence travelled to Las Vegas where he took up residency. He spent his time playing tennis, writing, phoning Florence, and making brief visits to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Emma was making plans to contest the divorce and moved to 10452 Bellagio Road in Bel Air. OnOctober 28 The Los Angeles Times reported that ERB has taken up residence in Las Vegas, hinting that most temporary residents are there to get quick divorces.

On November 11 Florence drove back to Las Vegas with Ed, while Ashton took care of the children. The next day Walter Winchell reported that ERB was staying at the Apache Hotel in preparation to end 34 years of marriage. His next bride will be Florence Dearholt of Queens Road, Hollywood. Emma refused to go along with divorce plans. Ed wrote in his diary that Emma was bent on ruining him.

Ed and Dearholt had tossed around many schemes over the years and finally one of them came to fruition in 1934. ERB, Dearholt and two other investors, Stout and Cohen, had formed BTE: Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises with offices at 8476 Sunset Boulevard. The main purpose for the company was to produce Tarzan pictures and give Ed some control over how the ape man was presented on screen. Plans were made to take a crew to Guatemala to film what would become a Tarzan serial and feature: The New Adventures of Tarzan and Tarzan and the Green Goddess. The lead roles went to Olympic Medal-winner Herman Brix and the inexperienced Ula Holt. Ed guaranteed the bank loan for the expedition which sailed for Guatemala on December 1.

The New York Times reported that Ed filed for the divorce at the end of his six-week residency.  After consultations with her attorney Emma decided not to offer objections. On December 6 Ed was granted a "quickie" divorce on the grounds of his wife's "extreme cruelty" and "incompatibility of temperament." Emma received a generous settlement. Ed was quick to point out that Florence's marriage came to an end as a result of Ashton's interest in Ula Holt. Both in distress, Ed and Florence were drawn together as sufferers in common. Ed obviously felt deep guilt over the burden and upset that the breakup had put on Joan, Hully and Jack. A few weeks later Ed and Florence announced their engagement during a special Christmas breakfast at the Gilbert home on Lexington Avenue in Los Angeles.

806 N. Rodeo Drive with owner Charlotte Greenwood standing on the front Porch. Source: Western Family [a bi-weekly publication],  May 26, 1949, pp. 4B-5B. Photo courtesy of  Grant Menzies

In January of 1935 Ed and Florence picked out a home at 806 Beverly Hills, which was currently occupied by Maurice Chevalier and Ed moved out of 7933 Hillside Avenue, Hollywood. Emma, who was also an ERB, Inc. stockholder,  was put on the company payroll for tax purposes as a copyreader/proofreader and received a salary of $21,600 for the year. Ed started sending her manuscripts but she was really was in no condition to complete the work involved. Plans were started for an April wedding with Ed's attorney, Frank McNamee drawing up the legal documents.

"Edgar Rice Burroughs, 59, author, whose chief bid for fame is founded on his stories of the Strange Adventures of TARZAN, is seen with his new bride, the former Mrs. Florence Gilbert Dearholt, Actress, on their return to Los Angeles, Calif, after their wedding at Las Vegas, NV." 

On April 1st, LA Times photographers started to stake out Ed's house and on April 4th Ed and Florence took a Western Air Express flight to Las Vegas. They were married at the court house at 10:20 by Judge William Orr with witnesses McNamee and Mrs. Keller. No family members were present. Joan, who had been Florence's close friend, would never speak to her again.  The couple then flew back to Los Angeles where they were met at the airport by five newspaper cameramen. The next day the newlyweds boarded the S.S. Lurline for a 40-day Hawaiian honeymoon at the Royal Hawaiian, Honolulu. During the voyage they dined at the Captain's table with many dignitaries, including Jeanette McDonald and her mother. They docked at Honolulu on April 11 and received leis sent by Florence's friend Janet Gaynor, who had a cottage on the island. During their month-long honeymoon on the island paradise the newlyweds swam, took surfing lessons and relaxed on the tropical beaches. Ed and his bride returned from their Hawaiian honeymoon to live in Beverly Hills at 806 Rodeo Drive. Their first dinner guests were Ashton and Ula. Two months later Ashton Dearholt and Ula Holt were married.

April 8:  Pretty rough yesterday. We did not go down to dinner although neither of us was actually sick. We played safe, for it is a long way from E deck, where the dining room is, to A deck and our cabin. Went down to breakfast and met Captain Berndstrom for the first time. He is very pleasant. 

 We played tennis deck twice today. It is a lot of fun. Like tennis except that the court is smaller, the racket's solid like ping pong rackets, and the balls heavier than tennis balls. We play with Carl Cooper?, a friend of Dr. Kurtz?, and a chap named Carter Galt? who lives in Honolulu and is descended from one of the original Missionary families. 

April 9: Last night the Captain gave a beautiful birthday, dinner in honor of Mrs. Buchagnimi, who sits at his table. Lovely dessert, a present for Mrs. Buchagnimi, a birthday cake, a birthday cake, ice cream mould into two good sized miatures of the Lurline, and a decoration carved from a solid block of ice -- a lion; very well done and very striking -- about the size of Jack's tiger, perhaps larger. Jeannette MacDonald and her mother came down for the first time. 

April 10: Played deck tennis in the morning and contact in the afternoon. There are horse races every morning at 11, movies at 8:30 pm and dancing afterward. Plenty to do. The sun came out for a while yesterday, and last evening was clear; but it is overcast again this morning (7:30 am). Tomorrow we dock about 9. Shall mail this on the ship. 
          Lots of love to you all, Papa 

The first months of marriage were filled with an exhausting and relentless parade of parties, dinners, late nights and theatre going. During all this Ed had to commute each day to his Tarzana office. In mid-October the Burroughses leased their Beverly Hills house to Fred Astaire and rented a home for eight months at Arena Road, Palm Springs. Florence's children, Lee, age six, and Caryl Lee, age four, had already become very attached to Ed ("Ebby"). Ed, suddenly a father again to two lively youngsters,  pleased the children by telling them the same cliffhanger stories he once had told to Joan, Hulbert and Jack. When they weren't driving around Palm Springs and through the countryside in Ed's sporty Pierce-Arrow, they spent much of their time at the trendy Palm Springs Racquet Club owned by Ralph Bellamy and Charles Farrell. Bellamy became a "kind of stepfather" to young Lee and Caryl. The children were given swimming lessons by Johnny Weissmuller and tennis instruction by world champion tennis players. In early November, Ed, still suffering from an old bladder obstruction problem, entered the Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, under the name John B. Downs. A long period of  convalescence followed. During his stay in room 823 he did some writing, including the light verse, "Dear Old Eight-Two-Three."
The doctors come and see me;
They shake their heads and say,
"You for dear old eight-two-three
Until the judgment day." By late December he was well enough to return home to carry on his recuperation in Palm Springs and by January he was playing tennis again.

Florence Burroughs featured in a magazine wine ad
Click for enlargement 1
Click for enlargement 2

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As seen in one of our collections of ERB book inscriptions, 
www.erbzine.com/mag7/0782.html
ERB dedicated numerous books to Florence.
The one shown here - a dedication in LOST ON VENUS - is typical. 
Ed took this habit of dedications a huge step forward, however,
when he concealed a love note in the actual text of his book, SWORDS OF MARS

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"To Florence With All My Love Ed"

Burroughs created that acrostic message to Florence Gilbert Dearholt in SWORDS OF MARS, using the first letter of the Prologue and each of the twenty-four chapters. He wrote the novel in November and December, 1933, which was on the brink of his separation and divorce from Emma. "Blue Book Magazine" serialized SWORDS in six, monthly installments, beginning in November, 1934.

Meanwhile, Ed Burroughs and Ashton Dearholt (Florence's future ex-husband) remained close friends and even entered into a new business partnership. Ashton had developed a romantic attraction to a young actress, and the four of them often socialized together. Ed and Emma were divorced in November, 1934; he and Florence announced their engagement in December. (See the "Edgar Rice Burroughs Bio Timeline, 1930-39" at ERBzine: http://www.erbzine.com/bio/years30.html.)

Although Florence was – or certainly soon became – aware of the acrostic, it seems that the public may not have caught on until Irwin Porges' Burroughs biography was published during the 1975 ERB centennial. Porges writes that the acrostic was "revealed in [my] interviews with Ed Gilbert [Florence's brother] and Florence, October 9, 1968 and May 23, 1969." (Porges, p. 763, note 18)

On February 15, 1936 Ed paid a special tribute to his bride. Swords of Mars, which he had written back in late 1933, was published by ERB Inc. The encrypted acrostic formed from the first letters of each chapter were now visible for the world to see: "To Florence with all My Love Ed."  

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May of that year saw them return to Los Angeles to stay in a succession of residences: 2315 North Vermont Avenue, the Hearst-owned Chateau Elysee at 5930 Franklin Avenue and Sunset Plaza apartments (June 1937) at 1220 Sunset Plaza Drive, a luxury bungalow complex at the opposite side of Columbia Studios,  Hollywood. They then lived at 716N Rexford in Beverly Hills until 1940 when they moved to Hawaii.

Time Magazine Subscription Address Label

Ed taking a photo ~ 1938

Florence On A Cruise ~ 1936

Ed Rowing a Boat ~ 1939

By all appearances it was a happy marriage and they were together constantly -- she even accompanied him on business trips to Chicago and New York where he was seeking outlets for Tarzan radio shows and for the films produced by BTP: Burroughs-Tarzan Pictures, the renamed BTE.  The Burroughs finances had been hit hard by failed investments, excessive spending and high overhead, fewer magazine markets and dwindling book sales brought on by the depression. Fast-living and worries over troubled finances were starting to take their toll on the aging author.

In May of 1937 Ed suffered the first of what would be a long string of heart problems. He was struck with angina pains after the over-exertion of rowing and playing tennis with his young family during a vacation. His enthusiasm and interest in his young family did not let up however. He even created a book of poetry and illustrations for Caryl - just as he had done for his niece Evelyn - "Li'l B. Her Book."  By June finances had improved enough for them to move to the Sunset Grove, a stylish art deco aparment building above Sunset Strip. Fellow residents in the building included Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Bellamy (The Awful Truth, His Girl Friday, Rosemary's Baby) and mobster Johnny Roselli. Roselli was a Chicago/Las Vegas "businessman" who served as a liaison between the mob and the Hollywood. Years later he would become a prominent name in the conspiracy theories surrounding the deaths of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy. Roselli was victim of what was probably a mafia hit in July 1976.

Johnny Roselli

Ralph Bellamy

Lee Dearholt Chase 1938

They carried on with the Hollywood-style of life to which Florence was so accustomed: fine restaurants, clubs, theatres and late-night dinner parties with bridge, backgammon and mah-jong sessions.  A staff of three - a cook, nanny and chauffeur - helped in the running of the household and raising of the children. In the fall, Ed enrolled stepson Lee in the Hollywood Military Academy in Brentwood hoping that his studies would improve. He was driven to and from the academy by the family chauffeur. The boy, a shy child, was not happy in this military school that was largely populated by the offspring of the motion picture community. He was soon removed. Looking back on this in later years, Lee felt the venture would have been successful if he were a few years older.

Despite what numerous Burroughs biographers have reported, Lee had fond memories of his relationship with his step-father. He remembered Ed as being a good and kind father if somewhat distant because of his pre-occupation with his writing and business ventures. One fond memory was the time Ed had taken the boy to a baseball game at Wrigley Field only to find that it was sold out. They then drove over to the airport to where the Goodyear Blimp was moored in time to take an hour-long ride over the city. 

Lee recalled that Ed and Florence had taken numerous "secret" trips that have never been reported in previous biographies. In 1937 they flew in the China Clipper to Hawaii -- a 24 hour flight. Those early days of trans-oceanic flights were quite an adventure.The passengers sat in wicker seats, under which were four shoe boxes containing the meals to be eaten during the course of the flight. The long hours in the air were made even more uncomfortable by the deafening engine noise. After the Hawaiian stopover, the Clipper went on to Hong Kong via Midway, Wake Island, and Manila. There is some indication that the couple may have taken the flight all the way to Hong Kong. 

Another trip taken around that time was through the Panama Canal to New York via the Empress of Japan. They drove cross-country back to Los Angeles in the new Packard that had been stowed on the liner.

In August of 1938 Ed and Florence sailed to Honolulu on the S.S. Lurline for a planned two-week visit with Wayne and Mary Pflueger -- he was to dedicate a book to Mrs. Pflueger a few years later.They returned on The Empress of Japan, arriving in Vancouver in October. They then drove down to Tarzana along the Pacific coast.

Ed paid another book tribute to Florence in February 1939. The dedication in the latest ERB, Inc. release, Carson of Venus, was "To Florence Gilbert Burroughs."  Florence underwent major surgery that summer after which the family moved to luxurious 716 North Rexford Drive (rent $300 per month) to make Florence's recuperation more pleasant. 

After eight months, however, the cost of maintaining two establishments (he was paying for Emma's expensive home in Bel-Air), high spending, and the loss of income resulting from the war in Europe forced them to consider a move. In November, 64-year-old Ed suffered several more slight angina attacks, possibly brought on by the stress of financial worries.

On April 18, 1940, Florence, Lee and Caryl Lee, along with their maid and Packard sedan, sailed to Hawaii aboard the S.S. Matsonia on April 18th. Ed had stayed behind to  rent out the Beverly Hills home and left for Hawaii on the 24th on the S.S. Monterey. The Burroughs royalties had taken a setback due to WWII and this move was designed to cut living expenses. 

They rented a ramshackled beach house on Kailula Bay, Lanikai, Oahu for $125 a month. Ed's office was in the garage and he wrote there almost every day, turning out new novels of Venus, Mars, Pellucidar, and Tarzan. ERB's last visit from John Carter took place at Lanikai. He even wrote a poem, "Mud in your Ai, or May  1940," which he sent to Hulbert.

Mrs. Edgar Rice Burroughs, wife of the prolific creator of Tarzan, is here again, with son Lee and daughter Caryl Lee and said that Mr. Burroughs is planning to follow them soon, probably on the Monterey next week. They're staying for the summer, taking a house at Kailua, and Mr. Burroughs will knock off another thriller while basking in the Hawaiian sun. The Burroughs live in Tarzana, Cal., which should be proof of the author's fame when he has a postoffice to his name. Such is success, after a hectic career as cavalry man, salesman, goldminer, storekeeper, cowpuncher, policeman, infantry major and finally book-writer.

Last week Mrs. Edgar Rice Burroughs and two children arrived in Honolulu for the summer, and Mr. Burroughs arrived yesterday, stating that while here he'll continue writing.

"Another book?" he was asked.

"Another!" he retorted, "I'll write a series of books in Hawaii -- though not about Hawaii."

The creator of Tarzan comes from Tarzana, Cal., his extensive estate, and the family has taken a house at Kalama.

Mr. Burroughs will make a special broadcast over KGU tonight at 6:30 o'clock introducing a new series of transcribed Tarzan dramatizations, the first of which will be heard over KGU tomorrow evening.

"Tarzan is on the radio now," he said. Asked if his Mars stories had been dramatized for radio, he said they would be soon, adding that they would be guaranteed not to scare the listening public into believing Mars was attacking the Earth, as Orson Welles once unintentionally convinced thousands of listeners.

Mr. Burroughs was last here two years ago. He said yesterday his 52 books (not counting scenarios, comic strips, short stories, etc.) have sold 25,000,000 copies and have been translated into 57 languages in the last 20 years.