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....
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.
Movies (Cast)
The Show
The Sawmill
Dull Care
The Suitor
The Cloudhopper
Underworld
The Wizard of Oz
The Stage Hand
The Bakery
The Rent Collector
The Girl in the Limousine
The Perfect Clown
The Head Waiter
The Fall Guy
The Barnyard
Dunces and Dangers
Golf
The Bell Hop
Kid Speed
The Fly-Cop
The Hick
The Sportsman
Bears and Bad Men
Romans and Rascals
A Pair of Kings
Gall and Golf
A Simple Sap
The Dome Doctor
The Star Boarder
Scamps and Scandals
Between the Acts
Walls and Wallops
The Midnight Cabaret
Passing the Buck
Lightning Love
Her Boy Friend
The Counter Jumper
Tough Luck and Tin Lizzies
Plagues And Puppy Love
No Wedding Bells
The Stunt Man
Trouble Brewing
The Grocery Clerk
Horseshoes
School Days
His Home Sweet Home
The Gown Shop
Huns and Hyphens
Frauds and Frenzies
A Weakend Driver
Dummies
Hindoos and Hazards
Pluck and Plotters
Risks and Roughnecks
Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs
Series (Cast)
Directed
The Wizard of Oz
The Sawmill
Golf
Kid Speed
Pluck and Plotters
Passing the Buck
Plagues And Puppy Love
Between the Acts
Scamps and Scandals
School Days
The Suitor
The Fly-Cop
The Hick
Bears and Bad Men
Romans and Rascals
Frauds and Frenzies
Huns and Hyphens
Dunces and Dangers
His Home Sweet Home
Dull Care
Dummies
A Simple Sap
The Star Boarder
A Weakend Driver
The Bakery
The Rent Collector
The Bell Hop
The Sportsman
The Fall Guy
The Grocery Clerk
The Counter Jumper
A Pair of Kings
The Stunt Man
Lightning Love
The Midnight Cabaret
No Wedding Bells
Horseshoes
The Gown Shop
Her Boy Friend
The Cloudhopper
Gall and Golf
The Man from Egypt
Walls and Wallops
Rips and Rushes
Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs
The Barnyard
Hash and Havoc
Worries and Wobbles
The Girl in the Limousine
The Dome Doctor
Risks and Roughnecks
The Head Waiter
Tough Luck and Tin Lizzies
Hindoos and Hazards
The Show
The Stage Hand
Trouble Brewing
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