NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Lon Chaney, Sr.

Lon Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930), nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful character actors of early cinema. He is best remembered for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with film makeup. Quasimodo as depicted in the original Novel by Victor Hugo Quasimodo is the protagonist of 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame by French author Victor Hugo. ... In 1923, a silent film version of Victor Hugos novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released, starring Lon Chaney, Sr. ... Erik is the title character in The Phantom of the Opera. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... August 26 is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. ...

Biography

Lon Chaney was born Leonidas Frank Chaney in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Frank H. Chaney and Emma Alice Kennedy; his father had mostly English and some French ancestry, and his mother was of Irish descent.[1] Both of Chaney's parents were deaf, and as a child of deaf adults Chaney became skilled in pantomime. He entered a stage career in 1902, and began traveling with popular Vaudeville and theater acts. In 1905, he met and married singer Cleva Creighton and in 1906, their first child and only son, Creighton Chaney (a.k.a. Lon Chaney Jr.) was born. The Chaneys continued touring, settling in California in 1910. The City of Colorado Springs is the second most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 49th most populous city in the United States. ... The word deaf can have very different meanings depending on the background of the person speaking or the context in which the word is used. ... Logo for the organization CODA International In Deaf culture, a child of Deaf adult (or simply CODA) is a hearing person who was raised by a Deaf parent or guardian. ... A Mime artist on the Ponte SantAngelo A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Lon Chaney, Jr. ...

Unfortunately, marital troubles developed and in April 1913, Cleva went to the Majestic Theater in downtown Los Angeles, where Lon was managing the Kolb and Dill show, and attempted suicide by swallowing mercury bichloride. The suicide attempt failed and ruined her singing career; the ensuing scandal and divorce forced Chaney out of the theater and into film. Mercury(II) chloride (also called mercuric chloride and corrosive sublimate) is a poisonous white soluble crystalline salt of mercury. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ...

The time spent there is not clearly known, but between the years 1912 and 1917, Chaney worked under contract for Universal Studios doing bit or character parts. During this time, Chaney befriended the husband-wife director team of Joe De Grasse and Ida May Parke, who gave him substantial roles in their pictures. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios), a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the major American film studios that has production studios and offices located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County between Los Angeles... Joseph Louis De Grace (May 4, 1873 - May 25, 1940) was a Canadian film director. ...

Chaney also befriended William Dudley Pelley, who would later go on to form the Silver Legion, an American Nazi organization. Pelley wrote sixteen screenplays while in Hollywood, in two of which Chaney would star. Chaney also married one of his former colleagues in the Kolb and Dill company tour, a chorus girl named Hazel Hastings. Little is known of Hazel, except that her marriage to Chaney was solid. Upon marrying, the new couple gained custody of Chaney's ten year-old son Creighton, who had resided in various homes and boarding schools since Chaney's divorce in 1913. William Dudley Pelley wanted poster William Dudley Pelley (March 12, 1890-July 1, 1965) was an American Fascist and leader of the Silver Legion. ... The Silver Legion of America, commonly known as the Silver Shirts, was an American fascist organization founded by William Dudley Pelley on January 30, 1933. ...

By 1917 Chaney was a prominent actor in the studio, but his salary did not reflect this status. When Chaney asked for a raise, studio executive William Sistrom replied, "you'll never be worth more than one hundred dollars a week." An English film producer. ...

After leaving the studio, Chaney struggled for the first year as a character actor. It was not until 1918 when playing a substantial role in William S. Hart's picture, Riddle Gawne, that Chaney's talents as a character actor were truly recognized by the industry. Wiliam Surrey Hart Movie poster for Harts 1916 western The Aryan in which he played a white (Anglo-Saxon) member of a Mexican gang, having turned against his own people. ...

In 1919, Chaney had a breakthrough performance as "The Frog" in George Loane Tucker's The Miracle Man. The film not only displayed Chaney's acting ability, but his talent as a master of makeup. Critical praise and a gross of over $2 million put Chaney on the map as America's foremost character actor. The Miracle Man is a dramatic film from 1919 based on a play by George M. Cohan, which in turn is based on the novel of the same title by Frank L. Packard. ... A character actor is an actor, especially in motion pictures, who predominantly performs in similar roles throughout the course of a career. ...

Chaney is chiefly remembered as a pioneer in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and most notably The Phantom of the Opera. His ability to transform himself using self-invented makeup techniques earned him the nickname of "Man of a Thousand Faces". In an autobiographical 1925 article published in Movie magazine that gave a rare glimpse into his life, Chaney referred to his specialty as "extreme characterization". Image of Lon Chaney, Sr. ... Image of Lon Chaney, Sr. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. ... In 1923, a silent film version of Victor Hugos novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released, starring Lon Chaney, Sr. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

He also exhibited this adaptability with makeup in more conventional crime and adventure films, such as The Penalty, where he played an amputatee gangster. He appeared in several films by director Tod Browning, often playing disguised and/or mutilated characters, including carnival knife thrower Alonzo the Armless in The Unknown (1927) with Joan Crawford. In 1927, Chaney co-starred with Conrad Nagel, Marceline Day, Henry B. Walthall and Polly Moran in the now lost Tod Browning directed horror classic London After Midnight, quite possibly the most famous lost film ever. His last film was a remake with sound of his silent classic The Unholy Three (1930), his only "talkie" and the only film in which he displayed his versatile voice. Chaney signed a sworn statement declaring that five of the key voices in the film (the ventriloquist, old woman, parrot, dummy and girl) were in fact his own. The Penalty is an American crime film, originally released in 1920. ... Charles Albert Browning, Jr. ... The Unknown (1927) was a silent horror film directed by Tod Browning and featuring Lon Chaney as carnival knife thrower Alonzo the Armless and Joan Crawford as the scantily clad carnival girl he hopes to marry. ... Joan Crawford (March 23, 1905[1]â€“ May 10, 1977) was an acclaimed, iconic, Academy Award-winning American actress, arguably one of the greatest from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. ... Conrad Nagel Conrad Nagel, born March 16, 1897 in Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa, was a noted screen actor and matinee idol of the silent era and beyond. ... Marceline Day (April 24, 1908 - February 16, 2000) was an American motion picture actress whose career began in the 1920s and ended in the 1930s. ... Henry B. Walthall (March 16, 1878 - June 17, 1936) was an American film actor. ... Pauline Theresa Moran (June 28, 1883â€”January 25, 1952) was an American actor and comedian. ... London After Midnight is a 1927 silent horror lost film, starring Lon Chaney, Sr. ... A lost film is a film which, for any of several reasons, is no longer in existence. ... Originally made by MGM in 1925 as a silent film and then remade in 1930 as a talkie, The Unholy Three is a melodrama involving a crime spree. ... A sound film (or talkie) is a motion picture with synchronized sound, as opposed to a silent movie. ...

Although Chaney created, in Quasimodo, the bell ringer of Notre Dame, and Erik, the "phantom" of the Paris Opera House, two of the most grotesquely deformed characters in film history, the portrayals sought to elicit a degree of sympathy and pathos among viewers not overwhelmingly terrified or repulsed by the monstrous disfigurements of the characters, who were merely victims of fate. Quasimodo as depicted in the original Novel by Victor Hugo Quasimodo is the protagonist of 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame by French author Victor Hugo. ... Erik is the title character in The Phantom of the Opera. ...

"I wanted to remind people that the lowest types of humanity may have within them the capacity for supreme self-sacrifice," Chaney wrote in Movie magazine. "The dwarfed, mis-shapen beggar of the streets may have the noblest ideals. Most of my roles since The Hunchback, such as The Phantom of the Opera, He Who Gets Slapped, The Unholy Three, etc., have carried the theme of self-sacrifice or renunciation. These are the stories which I wish to do."

"He was someone who acted out our psyches. He somehow got into the shadows inside our bodies; he was able to nail down some of our secret fears and put them on-screen," the writer Ray Bradbury once explained. "The history of Lon Chaney is the history of unrequited loves. He brings that part of you out into the open, because you fear that you are not loved, you fear that you never will be loved, you fear there is some part of you that's grotesque, that the world will turn away from." The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22, 1920) is an American literary, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer best known for The Martian Chronicles, a 1950 book which has been described both as a short story collection and a novel, and his 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. ...

Chaney's talents extended far beyond the horror genre, and stage makeup. He was also a highly skilled dancer, singer and comedian. In fact, many people who did not know Chaney were surprised by his rich baritone voice and his sharp comedic skills.

Chaney and his second wife Hazel led a discreet private life distant from the Hollywood social scene. Chaney did minimal promotional work for his films and MGM studios, purposefully fostering a mysterious image.

In the final five years of his film career (1925-1930), Chaney worked exclusively under contract to MGM, giving some of his most memorable performances. His portrayal of a tough-as-nails marine drill sargeant in Tell it To the Marines (1926), one of his favorite films, earned him the affection of the US Marine Corps, who made him their first honorary member from the motion picture industry. MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ...

During the filming of Thunder in the winter of 1929, Chaney developed pneumonia. His condition gradually worsened, and seven weeks after the release of the remake of The Unholy Three, he died of a throat hemorrhage from throat cancer. His death was deeply mourned by his family, the film industry and by his fans. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California. For unknown reasons, his crypt has remained unmarked. Thunder is a melodrama film released by MGM in 1929, starring Lon Chaney. ... Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the alveoli (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) become inflamed and flooded with fluid. ... Originally made by MGM in 1925 as a silent film and then remade in 1930 as a talkie, The Unholy Three is a melodrama involving a crime spree. ... Throat cancer is a common way of referring to some head and neck cancers, usually squamous cell carcinomas. ... Gates of Forest Lawn Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. ... Nickname: The Jewel City Location of Glendale within Los Angeles County and the State of California. ...

In 1957, Chaney was the subject of a biopic titled Man of a Thousand Faces, and was portrayed by James Cagney. Man of a Thousand Faces film poster Man of a Thousand Faces is a movie detailing the life of silent movie actor Lon Chaney Sr. ... James Francis Cagney, Jr. ...

Legacy

Lon Chaney has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1994, he was honored by having his image designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, placed on a United States postage stamp. A band plays on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ... Al Hirschfeld photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1955 Albert Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 â€“ January 20, 2003) was an American caricaturist, best known for his simple black and white satirical portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars. ... This article lists people who have been featured on United States postage stamps. ...

The stage theatre at the Colorado Springs Civic Auditorium is named after Lon Chaney.

Chaney built an impressive stone cabin in the remote wilderness of the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, near Big Pine, California, as a retreat. The cabin (designed by architect Paul Williams) still stands, and is preserved by the Inyo National Forest Service. Paul Williams Paul Revere Williams (February 18, 1894 â€“ January 23, 1980) was an African American architect who based his practice largely in Los Angeles, California and the Southern California area. ...

Chaney's son, Lon Chaney, Jr., was also known for his roles in horror movies, especially The Wolf Man. The Chaneys appeared on US postage stamps as their signature characters, the Phantom of the Opera and the Wolf Man, with the set completed by Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster and The Mummy. Lon Chaney, Jr. ... The Wolf Man is a 1941 horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner, starring Lon Chaney Jr, Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya. ... Bela Lugosi as Dracula United States stamp. ... Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. ... Boris Karloff (born William Henry Pratt) (East Dulwich, November 23, 1887 â€“ February 2, 1969) was an English actor, who emigrated to Canada in the 1910s, best known for his roles in horror films and the creation of the Monster in 1931s Frankenstein. ... Boris Karloff as Frankensteins Monster in Frankenstein (1931). ... Boris Karloff as Ardath Bey AKA Prince Imhotep in The Mummy. ...

He and his son are mentioned in the Warren Zevon song "Werewolves of London". Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 â€“ September 7, 2003) was an American rock and roll musician and songwriter. ... Werewolves of London is a song composed by LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, and Warren Zevon and performed by Zevon. ...

Many of Chaney's colleagues held him in high regard, since he would often give advice, and help actors who were just beginning their careers. He was also greatly respected by the film crews with whom he worked.

In 2007, Chaney was the subject of a biopic play that was written. The play itself however, has yet to be staged, or viewed by the public.

Filmography

The Honor of the Family (1912) (uncredited)
The Ways of Fate (1913)
Suspense (1913) (unconfirmed)
Shon the Piper (1913)
The Blood Red Tape of Charity (1913)
The Restless Spirit (1913) (uncredited)
Poor Jake's Demise (1913)
The Sea Urchin (1913)
The Trap (1913)
Almost an Actress (1913)
An Elephant on His Hands (1913)
Back to Life (1913)
Red Margaret, Moonshiner (1913)
Bloodhounds of the North (1913)
The Lie (1914)
The Honor of the Mounted (1914)
Remember Mary Magdelen (1914)
Discord and Harmony (1914)
The Menace to Carlotta (1914)
The Embezzler (1914)
The Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf (1914)
The End of the Feud (1914)
The Tragedy of Whispering Creek (1914)
The Unlawful Trade (1914)
Heartstrings (1914)
The Forbidden Room (1914)
The Old Cobbler (1914)
The Hopes of Blind Alley (1914)
A Ranch Romance (1914)
Her Grave Mistake (1914)
By the Sun's Rays (1914)
The Oubliette (1914)
A Miner's Romance (1914)
Her Bounty (1914)
The Higher Law (1914)
Richelieu (1914)
The Pipes of Pan (1914)
Virtue Its Own Reward (1914)
Her Life Story (1914)
Lights and Shadows (1914)
The Lion, the Lamb, and the Man (1914)
A Night of Thrills (1914)
Her Escape (1914)
The Sin of Olga Brandt (1915)
Star of the Sea (1915)
The Small Town Girl (1915)
The Measure of a Man (1915)
The Threads of Fate (1915)
When the Gods Played a Badger Game (1915)
Such is Life (1915)
Where the Forest Ends (1915)
Outside the Gates (1915)
All for Peggy (1915)
The Desert Breed (1915)
Maid of the Mist (1915)
The Grind (1915)
The Girl of the Night (1915)
The Stool Pigeon (1915)
For Cash (1915)
An Idyll of the Hills (1915)
The Stronger Mind (1915)
The Oyster Dredger (1915)
Steady Company (1915)
The Violin Maker (1915)
The Trust (1915)
Bound on the Wheel (1915)
Mountain Justice (1915)
Quits (1915)
The Chimney's Secret (1915)
The Pine's Revenge (1915)
The Fascination of the Fleur de Lis (1915)
Alas and Alack (1915)
A Mother's Atonement (1915)
Lon of Lone Mountain (1915)
The Millionaire Paupers (1915)
Under a Shadow (1915)
Father and the Boys (1915)
Stronger Than Death (1915)
Dolly's Scoop (1916)
The Grip of Jealousy (1916)

Tangled Hearts (1916)
The Gilded Spider (1916)
Bobbie of the Ballet (1916)
The Grasp of Greed (1916)
The Mark of Cain (1916)
If My Country Should Call (1916)
Felix on the Job (1916)
The Place Beyond the Winds (1916)
Accusing Evidence (1916)
The Price of Silence (1916)
The Piper's Price (1917)
Hell Morgan's Girl (1917)
The Mask of Love (1917)
The Girl in the Checkered Coat (1917)
The Flashlight (1917)
A Doll's House (1917)
Fires of Rebellion (1917)
The Rescue (1917)
Pay Me (1917)
Triumph (1917)
The Empty Gun (1917)
Anything Once (1917)
The Scarlet Car (1917)
The Grand Passion (1918)
Broadway Love (1918)
The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin (1918)
Fast Company (1918)
A Broadway Scandal (1918)
Riddle Gawne (1918)
That Devil Bateese (1918)
The Talk of the Town (1918)
Danger--Go Slow (1918)
The Wicked Darling (1919)
The False Faces (1919)
A Man's Country (1919)
Paid in Advance (1919)
The Miracle Man (1919)
When Bearcat Went Dry (1919)
Victory (1919)
Daredevil Jack (1920)
Treasure Island (1920)
The Gift Supreme (1920)
Nomads of the North (1920)
The Penalty (1920)
Outside the Law (1921)
For Those We Love (1921)
Bits of Life (1921)
The Ace of Hearts (1921)
The Trap (1922)
Voices of the City (1922)
Flesh and Blood (1922)
The Light in the Dark (1922)
Oliver Twist (1922)
Shadows (1922)
Quincy Adams Sawyer (1922)
A Blind Bargain (1922)
All the Brothers Were Valiant (1923)
While Paris Sleeps (1923)
The Shock (1923)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
The Next Corner'' (1924)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Monster (1925)
The Unholy Three (1925)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925)
The Blackbird (1926)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
Tell It to the Marines (1926)
Mr. Wu (1927)
The Unknown (1927)
Mockery (1927)
London After Midnight (1927)
The Big City (1928)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
While the City Sleeps (1928)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
Where East is East (1929)
Thunder (1929)
The Unholy Three (1930)

The Miracle Man is a dramatic film from 1919 based on a play by George M. Cohan, which in turn is based on the novel of the same title by Frank L. Packard. ... The Penalty is an American crime film, originally released in 1920. ... Oliver Twist (1838) is Charles Dickens second novel. ... A Blind Bargain is a 1922 silent horror film starring Lon Chaney and Raymond McKee, released through Goldwyn Pictures. ... All the Brothers Were Valiant is a 1953 adventure drama film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). ... The Shock is a 1923 film directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Lon Chaney as a cripple named Wilse Dilling. ... In 1923, a silent film version of Victor Hugos novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released, starring Lon Chaney, Sr. ... He Who Gets Slapped is a 1924 film starring Lon Chaney and Norma Shearer. ... The Monster is a 1925 silent horror directed by Roland West, based on the play by Crane Wilbur. ... Originally made by MGM in 1925 as a silent film and then remade in 1930 as a talkie, The Unholy Three is a melodrama involving a crime spree. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Unknown (1927) was a silent horror film directed by Tod Browning and featuring Lon Chaney as carnival knife thrower Alonzo the Armless and Joan Crawford as the scantily clad carnival girl he hopes to marry. ... London After Midnight is a 1927 silent horror lost film, starring Lon Chaney, Sr. ... SPOILER WARNING Laugh, Clown, Laugh copyright 1928 MGM Directed by Herbert Brenon Tito (Lon Chaney), a traveling circus clown finds an abandoned child (uncredited). ... West of Zanzibar is a 1928 film directed by Tod Browning about the vengefulness of a cuckolded magician (Lon Chaney) paralyzed in a brawl with his rival (Lionel Barrymore). ... Thunder is a melodrama film released by MGM in 1929, starring Lon Chaney. ... Originally made by MGM in 1925 as a silent film and then remade in 1930 as a talkie, The Unholy Three is a melodrama involving a crime spree. ...

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2000x1536, 1504 KB)TITLE: All-girls band supplies music for Mr. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2000x1536, 1504 KB)TITLE: All-girls band supplies music for Mr. ...

References

External links

Categories: 1883 births | 1930 deaths | American character actors | American film actors | American silent film actors | Throat cancer deaths | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Irish-Americans | People from Colorado Springs, Colorado | Vaudeville performers | Honorary United States Marines Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... The City of Colorado Springs is the second most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 49th most populous city in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ...

Contents

Biography GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Legacy

Filmography

References

External links

Biography