Al Ernest Garcia
Al Ernest Garcia or Allan Garcia (born March 11, 1887 in San Francisco , California , † September 4, 1938 in Los Angeles , California) was an American actor, director and casting director .
life and career
Born in California, Garcia made his film debut in 1911, during the silent film era . In the following years he took on numerous supporting roles in westerns , including on the side of Leo Carrillo and Warner Baxter . In 1917 Garcia directed the short film The Purple Scar , but it was his only directorial work. Garcia often played Mediterranean characters such as Mexicans or Spaniards in his films and also played in several Mexican films himself. After the sound film era began in the late 1920s, Garcia's roles became increasingly smaller. Al Ernest Garcia worked as an actor until his death, in total he worked on around 125 films.
Today Garcia is mainly remembered for his longstanding collaboration with Charlie Chaplin . Between 1921 and 1936 Garcia held supporting roles in six films by Chaplin, where he played mostly hypothermic to malicious authority figures. His biggest role was probably the ringmaster in the film Der Zirkus (1928), which brutally abused his stepdaughter. Garcia also played the snobbish butler of the drunken millionaire in Big City Lights (1931) and the boss of the steel company in Moderne Zeiten (1936), who mercilessly drives his workers to peak performance on the assembly line while he is bored playing puzzles himself. In The Circus , City Lights and Modern Times he was behind the camera for Chaplin as a casting director working.
In contrast to his roles in the Chaplin films, Garcia worked behind the camera for the rights and better pay for supporting actors and extras, among other things, he was chairman and co-founder of the Motion Picture Extras and Supporting Playes Association, which was founded in 1933 . He died in 1938 at the age of only 51; there is no information about the circumstances surrounding his death or his private life.
Filmography (selection)
- 1912: Disillusioned
- 1914: Rose of the Rancho
- 1915: After Five
- 1917: Also directed The Purple Scar
- 1919: The Trail of the Octopus
- 1921: The Fine People (The Idle Class)
- 1922: Pay Day
- 1925: Gold Rush (The Gold Rush)
- 1928: Der Zirkus (The Circus) also casting director
- 1931: City Lights (City Lights) and casting director
- 1931: The Deceiver
- 1932: South of Santa Fe
- 1932: Journey of No Return (One Way Passage)
- 1936: Modern Times (Modern Times) and casting director
- 1936: The Gay Desperado
- 1938: blockade
- 1938: The Avenger of Old Mexico (In Old Mexico)
Web links
- Al Ernest Garcia in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Allan Garcia | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie. Retrieved September 13, 2018 .
- ↑ A Mexican film with Garcia
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Garcia, Al Ernest |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Garcia, Allan Ernest |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | US-American actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 11, 1887 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | San Francisco , California |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 4, 1938 |
| Place of death | Los Angeles , California |