Larry Semon
Biografia
American silent film comedian whose hugely successful career disappeared virtually overnight, Larry Semon was the son of a traveling vaudeville magician, Zera the Great. He grew up in show business and was trained in stage comedy and acrobatics. A talent for drawing and cartooning led to art school and then work as a cartoonist for various New York City newspapers. The humor evident in his published cartoons prompted executives at New York's Vitagraph Studios to hire him as a gag writer in 1916. He quickly proved himself and was promoted to director for the Hughie Mack series of comedies. His background in magic helped him create interesting new gags for the comedian. When Mack left the studio in 1917, Semon took over the starring role himself. His one-reelers were quite successful, and Vitagraph sent him to California to participate in its new West Coast operation. He produced as well as wrote, starred in and directed his own films, at the same time also producing films for other comics. In the summer of 1928 Semon apparently fell ill with tuberculosis and simultaneously, it seems, suffered a nervous breakdown. He entered a sanitarium near San Bernardino, CA, where he reportedly died on October 8. However, an air of mystery surrounds his death, since his wife (and former co-star) Dorothy Dwan was allowed almost no contact with him and never saw his body, which was ordered cremated after a tightly secured funeral, which was carried out per Semon's "previous instructions" and to which almost no attendees were allowed. The whereabouts of Semon's cremated remains are to this day a mystery, and his widow professed until her death to be mystified by the circumstances of his passing. With enormous financial obligations facing him Larry Semon could easily have considered a dramatic escape of this sort from his creditors. Whether he did, or whether his death was the sad final chapter to a high-rising, briefly brilliant, but ultimately short-lived career may never be known for certain.
Filmografia
Filmy i seriale od najnowszych
A Simple Sap
Film • 1928
jako It
Dummies
Film • 1928
jako The Entertainer
Oh, What a Man!
Film • 1927
jako The Detective
The Stunt Man
Film • 1927
jako Larry
Ludzie podziemi
Film • 1927
jako Slippy Lewis
Spuds
Film • 1927
jako Spuds
The Perfect Clown
Film • 1925
jako Bert Larry
The Cloudhopper
Film • 1925
jako Borden Rhoom / Getz A. Bunn
Go Straight!
Film • 1925
jako Self
The Dome Doctor
Film • 1925
jako Peter Pep
Czarodziej z Oz
Film • 1925
jako Scarecrow / Toymaker
Kid Speed
Film • 1924
jako The Speed Kid
Her Boy Friend
Film • 1924
jako Larry, the Chief's son
The Girl in the Limousine
Film • 1924
jako Tony
Trouble Brewing
Film • 1924
jako Government agent
Horseshoes
Film • 1923
jako Larry
Lightning Love
Film • 1923
jako Larry, a Suitor
The Gown Shop
Film • 1923
jako Larry, a salesman
The Barnyard
Film • 1923
jako Lay Zee, Farm Hand
The Midnight Cabaret
Film • 1923
jako Larry, a Waiter
No Wedding Bells
Film • 1923
jako Larry
The Counter Jumper
Film • 1922
jako Larry, the Counter Jumper
Golf
Film • 1922
jako The son
A Pair of Kings
Film • 1922
jako King August / Stranger
A Weakend Driver
Film • 1922
The Show
Film • 1922
jako The Prop Man / Gentle Onlooker
The Sawmill
Film • 1922
jako The Dumb-Bell
The Bell Hop
Film • 1921
jako The Bellhop
The Fall Guy
Film • 1921
jako Larry, the Fall Guy
The Bakery
Film • 1921
jako Larry, a Bakery Clerk
The Rent Collector
Film • 1921
jako Larry, the Rent Collector
The Hick
Film • 1921
jako Larry, the Hick
The Sportsman
Film • 1921
jako The Sportsman
The Suitor
Film • 1920
jako The Suitor
The Stage Hand
Film • 1920
jako The Stage Hand
School Days
Film • 1920
jako Joe
The Fly-Cop
Film • 1920
jako The Fly Cop
The Grocery Clerk
Film • 1919
jako The Grocery Clerk
The Head Waiter
Film • 1919
jako The Head Waiter
Dew Drop Inn
Film • 1919
jako Larry, the Detective
Dull Care
Film • 1919
jako Larry, a Detective
Between the Acts
Film • 1919
jako Larry, the Handy Man and a Drunkard
The Simple Life
Film • 1919
jako A Farmer's Boy
His Home Sweet Home
Film • 1919
jako The Husband
The Star Boarder
Film • 1919
jako Star Boarder / Little Joe, Escaped Convict
Passing the Buck
Film • 1919
jako The House Detective
Well, I'll Be
Film • 1919
jako The Sheriff
Scamps and Scandals
Film • 1919
jako Larry
Traps and Tangles
Film • 1919
jako Detective Sparks
Pluck and Plotters
Film • 1918
jako The Janitor
Frauds and Frenzies
Film • 1918
jako Larry, First Prisoner
Bears and Bad Men
Film • 1918
jako Larry Cutshaw
Huns and Hyphens
Film • 1918
jako Larry
Dunces and Dangers
Film • 1918
jako Larry
Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs
Film • 1918
jako Lawrence
Hindoos and Hazards
Film • 1918
jako Larry
Romans and Rascals
Film • 1918
jako Caesar / A Minstrel
Babes and Boobs
Film • 1918
jako A Boob
Tough Luck and Tin Lizzies
Film • 1917
jako Larry
Plagues And Puppy Love
Film • 1917
jako Larry
Risks and Roughnecks
Film • 1917
jako Our Hero
Gall and Golf
Film • 1917
jako O.U. Dubb
Turks and Troubles
Film • 1917
Footlights and Fakers
Film • 1917
He Never Touched Me
Film • 1917
Somewhere in Any Place
Film • 1917
Big Bluffs and Bowling Balls
Film • 1917
Jolts and Jewelry
Film • 1917
Bullies and Bullets
Film • 1917
Plans and Pajamas
Film • 1917
jako The Idler / Headmistress
Walls and Wallops
Film • 1916