John Gilbert (actor)
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John Gilbert | |
---|---|
Born | John Cecil Pringle July 10, 1895 Logan, Utah, U.S. |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Cause of death | Heart attack |
Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale |
Nationality | American |
Education | Hitchcock Military Academy |
Occupation | Actor, director, writer |
Years active | 1915–1936 |
Spouse(s) | Olivia Burwell (m. 1918; div. 1921) Leatrice Joy (m. 1922; div. 1925) Ina Claire (m. 1929; div. 1931) Virginia Bruce (m. 1932; div. 1934) |
Children | 2 |
John Gilbert (July 10, 1897 – January 9, 1936) was an American actor, screenwriter and director.
He rose to fame during the silent film era and became a popular leading man known as "The Great Lover."[1] At the height of his career, Gilbert rivaled Rudolph Valentino, another silent film era leading man, as a box office draw.
Gilbert's popularity began to wane when silent pictures gave way to talkies. Though Gilbert was often cited as one of the high-profile examples of an actor who was unsuccessful in making the transition to talkies, his decline as a star had far more to do with studio politics and money than with the sound of his screen voice, which was rich and distinctive.[2]
Contents
Early years
Born John Cecil Pringle in Logan, Utah, to stock company actor parents, he struggled through a childhood of abuse and neglect. His family moved frequently and Gilbert attended several schools throughout the United States. After his family settled in California, he attended Hitchcock Military Academy in San Rafael, California.[3]
Gilbert first found work as an extra with the Thomas Ince Studios, and soon became a favorite of Maurice Tourneur, who also hired him to write and direct several pictures. He quickly rose through the ranks, building his reputation as an actor in such films as Heart o' the Hills (1919), with Mary Pickford.[4]
In 1921, Gilbert signed a three-year contract with Fox Film Corporation, where he was cast as a romantic leading man. Some of his films for Fox include Monte Cristo, an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo; St. Elmo, an adaptation of a popular book of the period; The Wolf Man, not a horror film, but the story of a man who believes he murdered his fiancee's brother while drunk, and many others. Although he became a star, Gilbert did not reach the level of fame he would soon achieve.
Career
Success and stardom
In 1924, Gilbert moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he became a full-fledged star with such high-profile films as His Hour directed by King Vidor and written by Elinor Glyn; He Who Gets Slapped (both 1924), co-starring Lon Chaney, and Norma Shearer, and directed by Victor Sjöström; and The Merry Widow (1925) directed by Erich von Stroheim and co-starring Mae Murray. In 1925 Gilbert was once again directed by Vidor in the war epic The Big Parade, which became the second-highest grossing silent film. His performance in this film made him a major star. The following year, Vidor reunited Gilbert with two of his co-stars from that picture, Renée Adorée and Karl Dane, for the film La Bohème which also starred Lillian Gish.
In 1926, Gilbert made Flesh and the Devil, his first film with Greta Garbo. They soon began a highly publicized relationship, much to the delight of their fans. Gilbert wanted to marry her, but Garbo continually balked. Legend has it that a wedding was finally planned but Garbo failed to appear at the ceremony. Recent Garbo biographers, however, have questioned the veracity of this story. Despite their rocky off-screen relationship, they continued to generate box-office revenue for the studio, and MGM paired them in two more silents Love (1927), which was a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina, and A Woman of Affairs (1928). The former film was slyly advertised by MGM as "Garbo and Gilbert in Love."
Decline
Throughout his time at MGM, Gilbert frequently clashed with studio head Louis B. Mayer over creative, social and financial matters. It was said, for example, that at the alleged double-wedding of Garbo and Gilbert and director King Vidor and actress Eleanor Boardman, Mayer made a crude remark about Garbo that led Gilbert to physically attack the mogul. This story has been disputed by some historians. Although one eyewitness—the bride, Eleanor Boardman—claimed to have seen the assault, others deny that it occurred.
In any case, Mayer apparently detested Gilbert and was disgruntled that the actor had signed a contract for six pictures at $250,000 each. It was suggested that Mayer deliberately gave Gilbert bad scripts and ineffective directors in an effort to void the contract.
With the coming of sound, Gilbert's vocal talents made a good first impression in the all-star musical comedy The Hollywood Revue of 1929, appearing in a Technicolor sequence with Norma Shearer. They played the "balcony scene" from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, first as written, and then using current slang. Most reviewers did not note any problems with Gilbert's voice at this time and some praised it.
Audiences awaited Gilbert's first romantic role on the talking screen. The vehicle was the Ruritanian romance His Glorious Night (also 1929). According to reviewers, audiences laughed nervously at Gilbert's performance. The fault was not Gilbert's voice, it was said, but the awkward scenario along with overly ardent love scenes. In one, Gilbert keeps kissing his leading lady, (Catherine Dale Owen), while saying "I love you" over and over again. The scene was parodied in the MGM musical Singin' in the Rain (1952) in which a preview of the fictional The Dueling Cavalier flops disastrously. Director King Vidor stated that Rudolph Valentino, Gilbert's main rival in the 1920s for romantic leads, probably would have suffered the same fate in the talkie era, had he lived. It was rumored that L.B. Mayer ordered Gilbert's voice to be gelded to a higher pitch to ruin him.
Gilbert became increasingly depressed by progressively inferior films and idle stretches between productions, but he resolved to thwart Louis B. Mayer and see the six-picture contract through. Gilbert's fortunes were temporarily restored when MGM's production chief Irving Thalberg gave him two projects that were character studies, giving Gilbert an excellent showcase for his versatility. The Phantom of Paris (1931), originally intended for Lon Chaney (who died from cancer in 1930), cast Gilbert as a debonair magician and showman who is falsely accused of murder and uses his mastery of disguise to unmask the real killer. Downstairs (1932) was based on Gilbert's original story, with the actor playing against type as a scheming, blackmailing chauffeur. The films were well received by critics and fans but failed to revive his career. Shortly after making Downstairs, he married co-star Virginia Bruce; the couple divorced in 1934. Gilbert fulfilled his contract with an unimportant "B" picture and left the studio in 1933.
Greta Garbo insisted that Gilbert return to MGM to play her leading man in Queen Christina (1933), directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Garbo was top-billed, with Gilbert's name beneath the title. Again, the picture failed to revive his career. Columbia Pictures gave him what would be his final chance for a comeback in The Captain Hates the Sea (1934) in which he gave a capable performance as a frustrated playwright. But the off-screen cast of heavy drinkers encouraged his alcoholism and the film was his last.
Personal life
Gilbert was married four times. His first marriage was to Olivia Burwell, a native of Mississippi whom Gilbert had met after her family moved to California, on August 26, 1918. They separated the following year and Burwell returned to Mississippi. Burwell filed for divorce in 1921.[5]
In February 1921, Gilbert announced his engagement to actress Leatrice Joy. They married in Tijuana in November 1921.[6] As Gilbert had failed to secure a divorce from his first wife and the legality of Gilbert and Joy's Mexican marriage was questionable, the couple separated and had the marriage annulled to avoid a scandal.[7] They remarried on March 3, 1922. The marriage was tumultuous and, in June 1923, Joy filed for legal separation after she claimed that Gilbert slapped her face after a night of heavy drinking. They reconciled several months later. In August 1924, Joy, who was pregnant with the couple's first child, filed for divorce.[8] Joy later said she left Gilbert after discovering he was having an affair with actress Laurette Taylor.[9] Joy also claimed that Gilbert had conducted affairs with Barbara La Marr (with whom he had a romance before his marriage to Joy), Lila Lee and Bebe Daniels.[10] Their daughter, Leatrice Gilbert, was born on September 4, 1924.[11] Joy was granted a divorce in May 1925.[12]
In 1929, Gilbert eloped with actress Ina Claire to Las Vegas.[13] They separated in February 1931 and divorced six months later.[14][15] Gilbert's fourth and final marriage was to actress Virginia Bruce in August 1932.[16] They had a daughter, Susan Ann, the following year before divorcing in May 1934.[17]
Before his death, Gilbert dated actress Marlene Dietrich.[18] When he died, he had recently been slated to play a prominent role in support of Dietrich in the film Desire.[19]
Death
By 1934, alcoholism had severely damaged Gilbert's health. He suffered a serious heart attack in December 1935 which left him in poor health.[20] Gilbert suffered a second heart attack at his Bel Air home on January 9, 1936, which was fatal.[21] A private funeral was held on January 11 at the B.E. Mortuary in Beverly Hills. Among the mourners were Gilbert's two ex-wives, Leatrice Joy and Virginia Bruce, his two daughters, and stars Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Myrna Loy, and Raquel Torres.[22] Gilbert was cremated and his ashes were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale in Glendale, California.[23][24]
Gilbert left the bulk of his estate, valued at the large sum of $363,494, to his last ex-wife Virginia Bruce and their daughter, Susan Ann. He left $10,000 to his eldest daughter Leatrice, and other amounts to friends, relatives and his servants.[25]
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, John Gilbert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1755 Vine Street and in 1994, he was honored with his image on a United States postage stamp designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld.
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1915 | The Coward | Minor role | Uncredited |
1915 | Matrimony | Extra | Short film Uncredited |
1915 | Aloha Oe | Extra | Uncredited |
1916 | The Corner | Extra | Uncredited |
1916 | Bullets and Brown Eyes | ||
1916 | The Last Act | Extra | Uncredited |
1916 | Hell's Hinges | Rowdy townsman | Uncredited |
1916 | The Aryan | Extra | Uncredited |
1916 | Civilization | Extra | Uncredited |
1916 | The Apostle of Vengeance | Willie Hudson | |
1916 | The Phantom | Bertie Bereton | |
1916 | Eye of the Night | Uncredited | |
1916 | Shell 43 | English Spy | |
1916 | The Sin Ye Do | Jimmy | |
1917 | The Weaker Sex | ||
1917 | The Bride of Hate | Dr. Duprez's Son | |
1917 | Princess of the Dark | 'Crip' Halloran | |
1917 | The Dark Road | Cedric Constable | |
1917 | Happiness | Richard Forrester | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1917 | The Millionaire Vagrant | James Cricket | |
1917 | The Hater of Men | Billy Williams | |
1917 | The Mother Instinct | Jean Coutierre | |
1917 | Golden Rule Kate | The Heller | |
1917 | The Devil Dodger | Roger Ingraham | |
1917 | Up or Down? | Allan Corey | |
1918 | Nancy Comes Home | Phil Ballou | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1918 | Shackled | James Ashley | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1918 | More Trouble | Harvey Deering | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1918 | One Dollar Bid | Credited as Jack Gilbert | |
1918 | Wedlock | Granger Hollister | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1918 | Doing Their Bit | Credited as Jack Gilbert | |
1918 | The Mask | Billy Taylor | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1918 | Three X Gordon | Archie | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1918 | The Dawn of Understanding | Ira Beasly | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1919 | The White Heather | Dick Beach | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1919 | The Busher | Jim Blair | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1919 | The Man Beneath | James Bassett | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1919 | A Little Brother of the Rich | Carl Wilmerding | |
1919 | The Red Viper | Dick Grant | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1919 | For a Woman's Honor | Dick Rutherford | |
1919 | Widow by Proxy | Jack Pennington | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1919 | Heart o' the Hills | Gray Pendleton | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1919 | Should a Woman Tell? | The Villain | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1920 | The White Circle | Frank Cassilis | Credited as Jack Gilbert Writer |
1920 | The Great Redeemer | Undetermined role | Uncredited Adaptation |
1920 | Deep Waters | Bill Lacey | Credited as Jack Gilbert Writer |
1921 | The Servant in the House | Percival | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1921 | The Bait |
|
Lost film Writer |
1921 | Love's Penalty |
|
Writer, director, editor |
1921 | Shame | William Fielding/David Field | |
1921 | Ladies Must Live | The Gardener | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1922 | Gleam O'Dawn | Gleam O'Dawn | |
1922 | Arabian Love | Norman Stone | |
1922 | The Yellow Stain | Donald Keith | |
1922 | Honor First | Jacques Dubois/Honoré Duboois | |
1922 | Monte Cristo | Edmond Dantes, Count of Monte Cristo | |
1922 | Calvert's Valley | Page Emlyn | Credited as Jack Gilbert |
1922 | The Love Gambler | Dick Manners | |
1922 | A California Romance | Don Patricio Fernando | |
1923 | While Paris Sleeps | Dennis O'Keefe | |
1923 | Truxton King | Truxton King | |
1923 | Madness of Youth | Jaca Javalie | |
1923 | St. Elmo | St. Elmo Thornton | Lost film |
1923 | The Exiles | Henry Holcombe | |
1923 | Cameo Kirby | Cameo Kirby | |
1924 | Just Off Broadway | Stephen Moore | |
1924 | The Wolf Man | Gerald Stanley | Lost film |
1924 | A Man's Mate | Paul | |
1924 | The Lone Chance | Jack Saunders | Lost film |
1924 | Romance Ranch | Carlos Brent | |
1924 | His Hour | Gritzko | |
1924 | Married Flirts | Guest at party | Cameo appearance Lost film |
1924 | He Who Gets Slapped | Bezano | |
1924 | The Snob | Eugene Curry | Lost film |
1924 | The Wife of the Centaur | Jeffrey Dwyer | Lost film |
1925 | The Merry Widow | Prince Danilo Petrovich | |
1925 | The Big Parade | James Apperson | |
1925 | Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ | Crowd extra in chariot race | Uncredited |
1926 | La Bohème | Rodolphe | |
1926 | Bardelys the Magnificent | Bardelys | |
1926 | Flesh and the Devil | Leo von Harden | |
1927 | The Show | Cock Robin | |
1927 | Twelve Miles Out | Jerry Fay | |
1927 | Man, Woman and Sin | Albert Whitcomb | |
1927 | Love | Captain Count Alexei Vronsky | Director (Uncredited) |
1928 | The Cossacks | Lukashka | |
1928 | Four Walls | Benny Horowitz | Lost film |
1928 | Show People | Himself | Cameo appearance Uncredited |
1928 | The Masks of the Devil | Baron Reiner | |
1928 | A Woman of Affairs | Neville 'Nevs' Holderness | |
1929 | Desert Nights | Hugh Rand | Last silent film |
1929 | His Glorious Night | Captain Kovacs | Sound film debut |
1929 | The Hollywood Revue of 1929 | Himself | |
1930 | Redemption | Fedya | |
1930 | Way for a Sailor | Jack | |
1931 | Gentleman's Fate | Giacomo Tomasulo/Jack Thomas | |
1931 | The Phantom of Paris | Chéri-Bibi | |
1931 | West of Broadway | Jerry Seevers | |
1932 | Downstairs | Karl Schneider | Story |
1933 | Fast Workers | Gunner Smith | |
1933 | Queen Christina | Antonio | |
1934 | The Captain Hates the Sea | Steve Bramley |
In popular culture
Books
In 1985, St. Martin's Press released Gilbert's biography Dark Star: The Untold Story of the Metoric Rise and Fall of the Legendary John Gilbert, written by his older daughter, Leatrice Gilbert Fountain.[26]
In February 2013, University Press of Kentucky published the biography John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars, by author Eve Golden. This biography was written with the cooperation of Leatrice Gilbert Fountain.
Film
John Gilbert is the subject of a min-documentary film called Rediscovering John Gilbert (2010) featuring an on-camera interview with John Gilbert's daughter and biographer, Leatrice Gilbert Fountain. The short film, directed and produced by film historian Jeffrey Vance, has aired on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel and is also available on DVD from home video distributor Flicker Alley.[27][28]
Fictional portrayals
Gilbert has been portrayed in several films. In 1980, Barry Bostwick appeared as the actor in the television film The Silent Lovers. Gilbert has also been portrayed by his grandson John Fountain (in 1988's Sunset), Christopher Renstrom (in 1989's La Divina), and Adnan Taletovich (in 2012's Return to Babylon).
References
- Notes
- ↑ Obituary Variety, January 15, 1936, page 62.
- ↑ Brownlow, Kevin The Parade's Gone By, New York: Crown Publishers, 1968
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Golden, 2013. pp.38, 43, 60
- ↑ Golden, 2013. pp.54, 56
- ↑ Golden, 2013. p.60
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Golden, 2013. pp. 85–86
- ↑ Golden, 2013. p.57
- ↑ Golden, 2013. p.86
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.flickeralley.com/catalog/item/bardleys-the-magnificent-and-monte-cristo/hardgood
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1736642/trivia
- Bibliography
- Bangley, Jimmy (1999). "Interview with Leatrice Gilbert Fountain.". Retrieved May 6, 2005.
- DeBartolo, John (2001). "Man, Woman and Sin." Retrieved May 6, 2005.
- Fountain, Leatrice Gilbert (1985). Dark Star: the untold story of the meteoric rise and fall of legendary silent screen star John Gilbert. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-18275-9.
- Golden Silents (2004). "John Gilbert, Silent and Sound Film Star, Actor, Director, Writer." Retrieved May 5, 2005.
- LaSalle, Mick (2005). "Interview with Leatrice Gilbert Fountain".
- Lussier, Tim (2002). "Merry Widow" commentary. Retrieved May 6, 2005.
- Marowitz, Charles (May 2001). "Silent Writes." Written By.
- Silents Are Golden (2005). Cossacks, Flesh and the Devil, He Who Gets Slapped, His Hour, La Bohème, Love, Merry Widow, Show, Twelve Miles Out, Woman of Affairs. In "Vintage Reviews." Retrieved May 6, 2005.
- Thompson, Dean (2004). "Woman of Affairs" Commentary. Retrieved May 6, 2005.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Gilbert (actor). |
- John Gilbert at the Internet Movie Database
- John Gilbert at AllMovie
- Interview with Marlene Dietrich's daughter mentioning Gilbert
- Photographs of John Gilbert
- Sidereality review of "Gilbert and Garbo in Love" Book review/essay with considerable biographical material concerning John Gilbert
- Articles with hCards
- Pages with broken file links
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- 1897 births
- 1936 deaths
- 20th-century American male actors
- 20th Century Fox contract players
- American film directors
- American male film actors
- American male silent film actors
- American male screenwriters
- Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
- Male actors from Utah
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players
- People from Logan, Utah
- Silent film directors