Mae Murray (1885-1965) was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter who rose to fame during the silent film era. Known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen," she made her motion picture debut in To Have and to Hold (1916) and became a major star for Universal, appearing alongside Rudolph Valentino in The Delicious Little Devil and Big Little Person (1919). Helleu made this pastel portrait of Murray in New York in 1920; it was reproduced on the cover of Theatre Magazine in May 1921.