100 years ago today, on 1 February 1925, a beautiful young Australian actress from Charters Towers made such a splash in Hollywood, she went ‘1920s viral’ all over the world. Today is the centenary of the Charters Towers-born Lotus May Thompson attempting to throw acid on her legs.

Lotus May Thompson was born in Charters Towers on 26 August 1904, to Archie Thompson and Sarah fellow. She was to have a younger brother, Eric. During the 1890s, her father Archie and his brother Bert worked in the gold mines of north Queensland. In Charters Towers they were to establish ‘Thompson Brothers Mining Company’ and were active in the town, helping to establish the first School of Arts.

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century Charters Towers was certainly well-known as a gold mining town, with daily calls on its Stock Exchange. However, it was also a very creative community. In 1895, the Edison kinetophone made its first Australian appearance in Charters Towers. A combination of the Edison kinetoscope and the phonograph Edison had invented, it synchronised images with sound delivered to an earpiece from a wax cylinder.

Charters Towers had a multitude of creative people. There were Welsh choirs, a number of champion brass bands, and in 1909 even Dame Nellie Melba came to Charters Towers to sing at the Royal Theatre as part of her back-block tours. Charters Towers was to even produce a silent era genuine Hollywood star.

In their early years, Lotus and her brother, Eric, lived at ‘The Defiance Hotel’ in Charters Towers, where their mother worked. As a child, the young Lotus showed talent in school and church theatricals. The family moved to Sydney where she began her career in vaudeville at 13, graduating to full-length feature films by 16.

In 1919, when she was fifteen, Lotus’ admirers entered her in a beauty contest where she was awarded first prize by a unanimous vote of the judges. One of the judges was a young artist. When asked his reason for selecting her he remarked that he chose her not so much for the beauty of her eyes, head, or lovely complexion. Instead, he admired her legs most, as they were “the sort of limbs a Diana or Venus must have had at her age”. The contest won for her the title “the most beautiful girl in Australia”.

Lotus had a fantastic start in Australia as an actress, making her film debut in the 1921 drama Know Thy Child. The Sunday Times, 1 April 1923, p.17 described Miss Thompson as “18 years of age and a blonde of distinctive beauty.”

Over the next four years she starred in eight silent films. being directed at one stage by the greatest Australian film director at the time, Raymond Longford.  

On 5 March 1924, Lotus moved to Los Angeles to break into American pictures. She sailed for California on the Matson liner Ventura, with her mother Sarah. The beautiful blonde actress started working as an extra at Hal Roach studios, Hollywood. She spent most of her time posing for sexy photos and became known for having ‘the best legs in Hollywood’. Her legs typecast her as a ditzy blonde in light comedies and worked as a ‘pinch hitter’ or body double.

This would not do for Lotus, who left for Hollywood to do ‘deep drama’. She felt powerless and this infuriated the eccentric actress who cooked up a scheme to show the world her talents.

On 1 February 1925, in an effort to disfigure herself, Lotus poured acid on her legs hoping to scar them ‘beyond recovery’ and was promptly rushed to hospital by ambulance. She claimed she did it to be taken more seriously as an actress.

“I’ll go mad if they don’t stop it!” she reportedly wailed to her mother. “I know I can play parts, but they won’t give me a chance. It’s legs – always legs! I hate them!”

The story about Lotus May Thompson’s disfigured legs made headlines all over the country and went viral worldwide. She told reporters:

“It’s sickening. I wish I never had any legs. I couldn’t stand it anymore so I decided to mar them so no one would want to look at them anymore.”

The newspapers were all over it, and articles were published all around the world. It didn’t end there — they called her ‘Acid Girl’, questioned her sanity, mocked her ambitions, and there were follow-up in-depth press interviews that finally aroused the interest of directors as well as attention and offers of work from heartthrob actor, Rudolph Valentino.

Eight years later, on a return to Australia, Lotus told the truth. It was entirely a publicity stunt, she confirmed – and her legs underneath the bandages weren’t at all injured. She claimed she pretended to do it to be taken more seriously as an actress.

Lotus May Thompson had a successful career as a silent movie actress although unfortunately many haven’t survived. Her last credited film was in Cecil B. DeMille’s saucy 1930 ‘Madame Satan’, that apparently became her nickname within the media from then onwards.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Lotus was among a group of other ‘former greats’ who accepted $10-$15/day for uncredited roles in some of the great films of the era. Apparently, these actors were encouraged by the movie industry to accept small roles as it was noted that they always did their assignments well and kept the movie ball rolling. It would have been galling though for previous silent screen stars, such as Lotus, who would have been 30 years old in 1935 to now be backing scenery for a ‘talkie’ actor with less experience.

Lotus May Thompson was married twice. Her first marriage was to Edward Churchill, whom she married in 1929. The marriage ended in divorce in 1936, and she remarried the following year to Stanley Robinson. Neither of the marriages produced children.

Even though her film career was never to translate successfully to leading ‘talkies’ lady, by the time it ended in California in 1949, she had appeared in 35 motion pictures.

However, Lotus May Thompson is mainly remembered for her actions on 1 February 1925 when she claimed she had poured acid on her legs in an effort to disfigure herself.

She died in Burbank, California on 19 May 1963, aged 56 years.