from 1912 to 1914. White then took a vacation in Europe. Upon her return, she signed with Eclectic Film Company, a subsidiary of Pathé in 1914. Pathé director Louis J. Gasnier offered her the starring role in film serial The Perils of Pauline, based on a story by playwright Charles W. Goddard. The film features the central character, Pauline, in a story involving considerable action, which the athletic Pearl White proved ideally suited for. The Perils of Pauline consisted of 20 two-reel episodes that were released weekly. The serial proved to be a hit with audiences and made White a major celebrity; she was soon earning $1,750 a week. She followed this with an even bigger box office hit, The Exploits of Elaine (1914–1915). Over the next five years, White appeared in the popular serials The New Exploits of Elaine (1915), The Romance of Elaine (1915), The Iron Claw (1916), Pearl of the Army (1916–1917), The Fatal Ring (1917), The House of Hate (1918), The Lightning Raider (1919) and The Black Secret (1919–1920). In these serials, White flew airplanes, raced cars, swam across rivers, and did other similar feats. She did much of her own stunt work until Pathé decided that they could not risk injuring one of their most popular stars. (She had already injured her spine during the filming of The Perils of Pauline, an injury that caused her pain for the rest of her life.) A male stunt double wearing a wig performed the majority of the more dangerous stunts in White's later films. The public was largely unaware that White and other actors used stunt doubles, but in August 1922, the truth was revealed. During the filming of White's final serial, Plunder, John Stevenson, an actor who was doubling for White, was supposed to leap from the top of a bus on 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue onto an elevated girder. He missed the girder and struck his head. Stevenson died of a fractured skull. After the filming of Plunder was complete, White traveled to Europe for another vacation. By 1919, White had grown tired of film serials and signed with Fox Film Corporation with the ambition to appear in dramatic roles. Over the next two years White appeared in ten drama films for Fox but her popularity had begun to wane. Later years At the Pathé movie studio she met Blanche Azurello and both travelled