was dying of liver failure. The injury she sustained to her spine while filming The Perils of Pauline had continued to cause her pain, which she eased with drugs and alcohol. A year before her death, White got her affairs in order, purchased a plot in Cimetière de Passy (Passy Cemetery) near her home and arranged her own funeral. In early July 1938, she checked herself into the American Hospital of Paris in the suburb of Neuilly, due to issues with her liver. She slipped into a coma on August 3, 1938, and died the following day of what was identified in her obituaries as a "liver ailment" (likely cirrhosis due to years of heavy drinking). She was 49 years old. White was buried in Cimetière de Passy after a small, private funeral. White left the majority of her fortune, including jewelry and property, to Theodore Cossika. She also bequeathed money to her father, nieces, and nephews, and willed $73,000 to charities. Legacy Pearl White's place in film history is important in both the evolution of cinema genres and the role of women. Like many silent films, many of White's films are now considered lost. The Perils of Pauline is only known to exist in a reduced nine-reel version released in Europe in 1916, but The Exploits of Elaine survives in its entirety and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1994. In 2008 the condensed version of Perils of Pauline was also inducted into the Nation Film Registry. All of her films were made at studios on the East Coast, as White reportedly never visited Hollywood. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Pearl White has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6838 Hollywood Blvd. The 1947 Paramount Pictures film The Perils of Pauline, starring Betty Hutton, is a fictionalized biography of Pearl White. Selected filmography (for extensive list of her films see the Pearl White filmography) See also Notes Sources Davis, Lon. 2008. Silent Lives: 100 Biographies of the Silent Film Era. Forward by Kevin Brownlow. BearManor Media, Albany, Georgia. Johaneson, Bland, "Good-by, Boys, I'm Through," Photoplay, April 1924, p. 31. Retirement announcement. External links Pearl White at the Women Film Pioneers Project 1889 births 1938 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Missouri Alcohol-related deaths in France American child actresses American expatriates in France American film actresses American silent