John Bunny

John Bunny (born September 21, 1863 in New York City, United States; died April 26, 1915 in Brooklyn, New York), was the first comic star of the American silent film era. Pre 1923 image not subject to copyright. ... Pre 1923 image not subject to copyright. ... September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ... 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar). ... New York, New York redirects here. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. ...

John Bunny attended High School in Brooklyn and worked as a grocery clerk before joining a small minstrel show touring the East Coast. He went on to jobs as stage manager for various stock companies and performed in vaudeville before being drawn to the fledgling motion picture business. By 1910, Bunny was working at Vitagraph Studios where the happy-go-lucky, rotund man quickly became an international star of silent film comedies. At Vitagraph he starred in a series of over 100 wildly popular comedies with the comedian Flora Finch that were popularly called Bunnyfinches. Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... -1... American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 and bought by Warner Brothers in 1925. ... Flora Finch (June 17, 1869 London, UK) - (January 4, 1940, Los Angeles, California) was an English-born film actress who starred in over 200 silents for the Vitagraph film company. ...

John Bunny had only been acting in films for five years when he died from Bright's disease and was interred in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, New York. Because silent film had no language barrier, Bunny's popularity was such that his death was front-page news in Europe as well as the United States. Brights disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. ... The Cemetery of the Evergreens, is a non-denominational cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ...

Following his passing, advances in technology and in stunts brought great new comedic stars to silent film that relegated John Bunny to the status of an almost completely-forgotten actor. However, John Bunny was eventually honored for his contribution to the motion picture industry with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1715 Vine Street in Hollywood. An example of a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, for the film actress Carole Lombard. ... ...

External links

• http://www.johnbunny.com
• John Bunny at The Internet Movie Database