 Irene and Leslie Cuffe |
All photos are from the Cuffe Ranch Family Photo Albums unless otherwise noted. |
 Cuffe Guest Ranch Entrance off of Whitney Portal Road in Lone Pine, CA - 2021 (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea) |
 Cuffe Guest Ranch Entrance - 2021 (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea) |
| Karen Arnold writes: I wanted to say hello and introduce myself. Leslie Cuffe was my great uncle and Irene was his wife. I just stumbled upon your website, but with a bit of time, I will be able to fill in the blanks and the question marks on the pages. Many of the photos you have marked as Leslie Cuffe, are actually those of my grandfather, Edward. But, no problem. I am familiar with the photos on your site because Chris Langley at the Western Film Museum was kind enough to send me the links to the California heritage site. He was also very helpful in filling in the blanks by explaining that Les was a camera technician for DeMille and Clarence Badger. I am so appreciative that you managed to deal with those images from the California site and make sense of them. Once you make the images large enough to scan, you lose the descriptive titles. I had to go back and forth myself to grab dates etc, so for you to get a name wrong, now and then, is completely understandable since I worked with the format myself and found the process challenging. And, you have added some great stuff about The Golden Princess. There is some great stuff hidden in those pages. I contacted the "Lost City of DeMille Visitor Center" and they had sent their historian to archives at Paramount to look for the photos of the film shoot, and they had NO idea that any of the material from Uncle Les’ albums even existed. I am still in the process of making sense of the Les’ photos from his early years in the silent film industry and in uploading them onto his Life Story on Ancestry.com. I have managed to get all the family details recorded correctly, but there is so much film material that I am still wrestling with. It might interest you to know that he moved to Hollywood in 1921 and went to work for Famous Players Lasky—before it became Paramount Studios. As an interesting aside…the Spanish Flu of 1918 became an important part of Paramount’s rise and ultimately to the anti-trust lawsuit in the 30s. As mom and pop movie theaters closed due to the pandemic, Paramount gobbled them up. My grandfather, Edward Cuffe, worked for Paramount for 40 years in the Transparency Department. All of the albums, as well as an album which travelled down through my branch of the family, were made by my grandfather. Uncle Les died before I was born, but I drove to Lone Pine in 1981 and met Irene. What a character! And, so unlike the rest of the family who were modest to an excess. The men of the family were so modest in fact, that only through research during this past year, did I learn that Les’ older brother Fred designed the first electric Hotpoint range and held all its patents and that my grandfather was part of the team that was awarded a Science and Technology Academy Award. I let my ancestry.com subscription to lapse, but have signed up again starting Christmas Day. I will work again on Les’ LifeStory and finalize the details in January, but I thought you might get a kick out of what I have come up with so far. You will need to scroll through the first pages to get to the movie stuff. About 1916, the pages turn exclusively to Les. December 2021 |
| Karen Arnold writes: Irene is a puzzle and I think I finally cracked the code by getting on the free family heritage site run by the Mormon Church over the past few months. Ha ha, her stage names. That is just the tip of the iceberg. She answered official document differently ( her answers to every Census were different and marriage certificate matched nothing). What I found in the past year made me giggle and you will as well when I share the details. For example, her marriage certificate said she was born in Divine, Russia. Not only does the place not exist, but she was born in Illinois. In the album with the red pages, I found a photo of “my kid sister” and I finally found all her brothers and sisters. I think it was 1931, she made the census taker write “legit stage” next to her occupation of “actress." And, her age changed on every census. And by searching through newspapers.com I found all sorts snippets about her. Since she went to such great lengths to keep everyone guessing, I would be thrilled to share the details because I am sure some of her family members may evidentially stumble on your site. It took me quite a bit of looking to sort the details out. And, their place in Palm Springs? It is on the National Register of Historic Place because it was designed by Paul R Williams. I had watched the documentary on the architect on PBS long before I learned he had designed the property in Palm Springs. https://www.pbs.org/video/hollywoods-architect-3prwsa/ As one of the nation's first black architects, he learned to draw upside down so he would not need to sit next his clients. Instead, he sat across the table from them and sketched their homes. The documentary is full of all sorts of fascinating tidbits about Hollywood in the 20s and 30s and the relationships he forged in the film industry. Did you know that the actress Shirley Palmer was her sister? It didn’t mean anything to me, but I am sure it would mean something to Chris Langely and other early film buffs. Ida and her older sister emigrated about 1911. The family name was Pomerantz. There were 5 children in the family The family adopted the name Palmer when they reached Chicago. Her brother, Tiger, started the Los Angeles Realty firm, Tiger Palmer Realty. December 2021 : |
 Irene Cuffe |
 Irene Cuffe |
 Irene Cuffe at Casa Palmaras |
 Irene Cuffe at Casa Palmaras- 1934 |
 Leslie and Irene Cuffe |
 L/R: Irene's sister and Irene before she married Leslie Cuffe |
Return to Those Thrilling Days of "Gunga Din"
(Article by Bill Hughes)
 L/R: Leslie Cuffe, Irene, Mrs & Mr. Herbert Weber At Casa Palmaras - 1934 |
 L/R (back): Bob George, Herbert Weber, Harry Weber, Leslie Cuffe L/R (front): Mrs. Weber Sr., Irene Cuffe, Mrs. Weber Jr. |
 Irene Cuffe |
 Irene Cuffe at Casa Palmaras in 1934 |
 Irene Cuffe and Leslie Cuffe - 1934 |
 Irene Cuffe |
 Irene Cuffe standing in front of her first home. |
 Leslie and baby Shirley Cuffe |
 Irene Cuffe |
 Irene Cuffe |
 L/R: ?, Irene Cuffe, Leslie Cuffe |
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 Cuffe movie industry aquaintences L/R: Clarence Badger (director), Bordie, Martin |
Cuffe movie industry aquaintences |
 Irene(Ida) Cuffe (Photo courtesy of Hal Eaton) |
 Irene and Leslie Cuffe - April 1934 (Photo courtesy of Hal Eaton) |
 Unknown Cuffe movie industry actress/friend |
 Cuffe Guest Ranch brochure (Photo courtesy of Hal Eaton) |
10/23Ancestry Search - Ida Palmer (Irene Cuffe): 1906-2002
(Ancestry search courtesy of Karen Arnold)
10/23Ancestry Search - Leslie Eugene Cuffe: 1897-1949
(Ancestry search courtesy of Karen Arnold)
 L/R: ?, ? Irene Cuffe |
 Leslie Cuffe with a couple of friends filming a movie in Owens Valley |
 One of the many theaters owned by Leslie & Irene Cuffe |
 L/R: Shirley Cuffe, Leslie Cuffe, Irene Cuffe, ? at Whitney Portal - circa 1948 |
 Irene Cuffe taking a snooze at Whitney Portal - circa 1948 |
 L/R: Irene Cuffe, Leslie Cuffe relaxing at Casa Palmaras - 1934 |
 Casa Palmaras, Palm Springs, CA - circa 1934 |
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 Leslie Cuffe in downtown Bishop, CA - Circa 1925 |
 Frank Wood's projection room at Lasky Studio |
 L/R: Leslie Cuffe, a bevy of silent movie stars, ? - July 4th, 1926 |
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 Production set at Quadalupe for the 1923 silent movie production of the "Ten Commandments." |
 Cuffe Guest Ranch |
 Cecil B. DeMille's "camp" for his 1923 silent movie production of the "Ten Commandments" at Quadalupe, CA. |
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 Water pump house for the Cuffe Guest Ranch |
 Cuffe Guest Ranch |
 Water pump house for the Cuffe Guest Ranch |
 Cuffe Guest Ranch entrance. |
 Leslie Cuffe |
 Leslie Cuffe |
 Leslie Cuffe's mother |
 On location filming with Clarence Badger at North Lake, Bishop, CA |
 Rockliff Fellows - Actor One of the many silent film stars Irene & Leslie worked with |
 Phylis Haver - Actress One of the many silent film stars Irene & Leslie worked with |
 On location filming with Clarence Badger in Pine Creek Canyon |
 On location filming with Clarence Badger in Pine Creek Canyon |
 Betty Bronson & Leslie Cuffe on the set of The Golden Princess in Pine Creek Canyon, - 1925 |
 Leslie Cuffe |
 Irene Cuffe |
 Irene Cuffe |
 L/R: Leslie Cuffe, Patsy Morgan, Olive Borden at Lasky Studios - 1923 |
 Leslie Cuffe |
 Water pump house for the Cuffe Guest Ranch |
 View out of one of the Cuffe Guest Ranch rooms. (Photo courtesy Kammi Foote) |
 Irene Cuffe at home on her guest ranch. (Photo courtesy Rick Olson) |
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The Golden Princess - 1923 Directed by Clarence Badger |
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 Clarence Badger's - The Golden Princess. (Photo courtesy ebay) |
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 Neil Hamilton (Photo courtesy IMBD) |
 Betty Bronson in The Golden Princess. (Photo courtesy ebay) |
 Neil Hamilton and Betty Bronson (Photo courtesy IMBD) |
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Ed Thistlethwaite | |
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Big Pine Citizen Newspaper |
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A Thousand Acres of Nothing - 'Aim Morhardt and Lee Early | |
Old Timers Inyo County |
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Eastern Sierra Nevada Power Plant Construction |
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A Trip Through the California Sierras - 1904 |
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  Sign Guestbook View Old Guest Book Entries Oct 1999 - Feb 2015 (MS Word) |
 CONTACT the Pigmy Packer |
 View Guestbook View Old Guest Book Entries Oct 1999 - Feb 2015 (PDF) |
This page was last updated 01 May 2024