Silent Film Actors

Lionel Barrymore was born on April 28, 1878. He was the eldest of the children of actors Georgiana Drew and Maurice Barrymore. Maurice Barrymore legal name was Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe and Lionel's birth name was Lionel Blythe.

His siblings Ethel and John as well as Georgina Drew's parents, brothers and sister all were actors. Lionel at first was the most reluctant to accept acting as a profession. From early youth he was interested in art.

Even with his other interests he started his stage career in his 20s. After many years spent in Paris, in 1910 he came back to Broadway, where he established his reputation as dramatic actor.

In 1924 he left Broadway for Hollywood to appear in films. Although this was not his first time doing films. In 1911 he appeared in films directed by D.W. Griffith and others throughout the teens as one of the early actors in Silent Films. He was one of the Silent Film actors who had as big or bigger career after the Silent Era ended.

He appeared in one movie, 'Rasputin and the Empress' made in 1932, with both his brother and sister, John and Ethel. Although he did appear in a number of films with each of them

From 1934 until 1951 Barrymore would appear in a radio production of Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol'. He was scheduled to do the 1938 movie, but an accident in which he broke his hip prevented this. As he aged he developed arthritis in that same hip which put him in a wheel chair. A role that he is perhaps best remembered for now is that of Mr. Potter in 'It's a Wonderful Life', a role he would appear in a wheel chair.

Barrymore died on November 15, 1954 from a heart attack in Van Nuys. California.

Lon Chaney, the silent film actor, was born on April 1 in 1883 to deaf mute parents, Frank and Emma Chaney.

Chaney, between 1913 and 1930, would play more than 150 roles. He appeared in the movies in widely diverse roles. Frequently they were as the villain and some were just bizarre.

Chaney became known as 'the man of a thousand faces', because of his diverse roles and his use of makeup and the art of pantomime. He is most well known for his horror silent films The Hunchback of Norte Dame and The Phantom of the Opera.

It's thought that Chaney would not have had a successful career in Talking Pictures. He along with Charlie Chaplin was against the new form and he only made one talking picture.

Chaney was diagnosed with bronchial lung cancer after he developed pneumonia in 1929. He died shortly later on August 26, 1930 at the age of 47.

Chaney's son, Creighton Tull Chaney, would also have a career in the movies. He at first used his real name then the name Lon Chaney Jr and then later as simply Lon Chaney, as a marketing ploy.

Originally Published at 6ThingsToConsider.com
© 2008 Steven G. Atkinson - All Rights Reserved

The man who created one of the most recognizable characters in film history, Charlie Chaplin, was born in 1889 on April 16. Chaplin created his 'Little Tramp' character in 1914 and appeared in silent comedy shorts and later in feature films into the 1930's.

Chaplin's parents were British Music Hall entertainers. Music Halls in England were similar to the vaudeville houses in America. His parents separated before Chaplin was three and he and his brother Sydney lived with their mother.

Chaplin came to New York when he was 21 in 1910 as part of Fred Karno's vaudeville troup. By 1913 he had signed a contract with the newly formed Keystone Pictures under Mack Sennett. His first motion picture was the 1914 comedy short Making a Living. It was followed by Kid Auto Races at Venice, the film in which he first played his famous character.

Along with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith, Chaplin teamed together in 1919 to form their own studio, United Artists. Due to prior contracts he was not able to make his first film for the studio until 1923 with A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate.

Chaplin was married four time, the first three were short. Mildred Harris from 1918 to 1920, Lita Grey from 1924 to 1928 and Paulette Goddard from 1936 to 1942. Shortly after his marriage ended with with Goddard he met the 18 year old daughter of Playwright Eugene O'Neill. When he married Oona O'Neill in 1943 he was fifty-four. Because of their marriage, O'Neill disowned his daughter.

They had three sons: Christopher, Eugene and Michael Chaplin and five daughters: Geraldine, Josephine, Jane, Victoria and Annette-Emilie Chaplin. He also a son, Norman Spencer Chaplin, who lived for three days in 1919 with Mildred Harris and two sons, the actors Charles Chaplin Jr. (1925-1968) and Sydney Earle Chaplin (1926-) with Lita Grey. Chaplin and Oona remained married until his death on Christmas Day in 1977.

Originally Published at 6ThingsToConsider.com
© 2008 Steven G. Atkinson - All Rights Reserved

Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle was born on March 24, 1887 in Smith Center, Kansas, to Mollie and William Goodrich Arbuckle. His mother died in 1899 and his father abandoned him shortly afterwards. Arbuckle survived by doing odd jobs at a hotel in San Jose, California. He entered an amateur night contest where he caught the attention of showman David Grauman, who took him into vaudeville as a singer and dancer.


From 1902 to 1908 he toured in stock companies, and on vaudeville and burlesque circuits. He was in San Francisco during the great Earthquake in 1906 and was forced to clear debris. In 1908 he appeared as an extra for Selig's Polyscope Company.

Between 1909 and 1921 Arbuckle made more than 150 silent films defining the art of slapstick at Keystone Studios, where he excelled as a performer, writer and director. Even though he had a bulky, 250-pound frame (the reason for the nickname he hated, Fatty) he was an able acrobat and played the hero who saved the day by pie-throwing, back-flipping and outwitting his opponent. In "A Noise from the Deep," Arbuckle became the first film comedian to be hit with a pie on film. He also had the ability to throw two of them at the same time in different directions.

While on vacation in September 1921 he hosted a party at his room. Virginia Rappe, who attended the party, died of an inflammation of the lining of the pelvis. Arbuckle was accused of raping Rappe. After two trials resulted in hung juries a third ended in an acquittal.


Even though he was acquitted of any crimes and having support from Hollywood friends, the motion picture industry, partly through public opinion, wasn't. He was able to work behind the scenes, under the name William B. Goodrich as a director and gag writer. He also performed on the vaudeville stage under his own name

In 1932, Warner Brothers gave Arbuckle a chance to star in a comedy short called "Hey, Pop." The public loved "Hey, Pop," and its success led to five more talkie shorts. On June 30, 1933, hours after completing his sixth Warner's short and signing to make a feature-length film, Arbuckle died of a heart attack. He was only 46.

Originally Published at 6ThingsToConsider.com
© 2008 Steven G. Atkinson - All Rights Reserved

Harrison Ford, the silent film actor was born March 16, 1884 in Kansas City, Missouri.


He began acting on stage and made his Broadway debut in 1904. In 1915 he turned to film and moved to Hollywood.

He became a leading man opposite stars such as Constance Talmadge, Norma Talmadge, Marie Prevost, Marion Davies, and Clara Bow, often cast in sophisticated comedies.

He left films in 1932 due to the arrival of sound after making his only 'talkie' picture Love in the High Gear.

He was awarded a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, which many people thought belonged to the other Harrison Ford.

In the early 1950s, he was struck by a car. He never recovered from the severe injuries and died on December 2, 1957 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.

Originally Published at 6ThingsToConsider.com
© 2008 Steven G. Atkinson - All Rights Reserved