Brandon Hurst

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Brandon Hurst (early 1910s)

Brandon Hurst (born August 20, 1866 in London , England , † July 15, 1947 in Hollywood , California ) was a British film and stage actor who worked in over 130 films between 1915 and 1947.

life and career

Brandon Hurst initially studied philology , but turned to the stage as early as the 1880s. Between 1900 and 1922 he was seen in a total of around 15 productions on Broadway in New York City . In 1915, Hurst made his film debut in the drama Via Wireless . His second Streifer followed five years later, establishing him as a busy actor in Hollywood: In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , he played the role of Sir George Carewe on the side of John Barrymore .

A well-known film historian once described Hurst - who has been described as a character actor with gaunt features and a scowl - as "one of the five finest villains of the silent film era". In addition to Lon Chaney , he played the role of Jehan in the Victor Hugo film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), in Raoul Walsh's adventure film The Thief of Baghdad (1924) he played alongside Douglas Fairbanks the role of the mighty caliph . He made other memorable appearances as Greta Garbo's hypothermic husband Karenin in the Tolstoy adaptation Anna Karenina (1927) and as the diabolical court jester in Paul Leni's horror film The Man Who Laughs (1928) with Conrad Veidt in the leading role.

With the onset of talkies at the end of the 1920s, Hurst remained a very busy actor, but his roles were now mostly of a relatively small nature and were often not mentioned in the credits. Often he now embodied strict or grumpy authority figures. He had one of his more notable appearances in talkies in 1932 in The White Zombie , which is considered to be probably the first zombie feature film. His appearance as butler in the Shirley Temple film Bright Eyes (1934) was of an unusually friendly nature . Brandon Hurst continued acting until his death in 1947 at the age of 80. In his last film, Two Guys from Texas, starring Dennis Morgan and Dorothy Malone , which only appeared a year after his death, he played a judge. The actor was buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Brandon Hurst in the All Movie Guide (English)
  2. ↑ Brandon Hurst in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
  3. ↑ Brandon Hurst in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved July 9, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Hurst, Brandon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British film and stage actor
DATE OF BIRTH August 20, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH London , England
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 1947
Place of death Hollywood , California