Cesare Gravina

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Cesare Gravina in women's clothing, around 1880

Cesare Gravina (born January 23, 1858 in Naples , Italy , † September 16, 1954 in New York City , New York , USA ) was an Italian-American theater and film actor. Between 1912 and 1929 he starred in at least 60 films.

Life

Gravina started out as a stage actor in his hometown of Naples. In the 1890s he also appeared in operettas and comic operas . His acting activities brought him on tours through Europe, South and North America. He played with his own troupe in New York and San Francisco.

Gravina made his film debut in Italy in 1912 in a comedy film with Film Ambrosio . He went to the USA and from 1915 appeared exclusively in American films. He started with the film company Famous Players in a film directed by Hugh Ford and Edwin S. Porter . In 1915/16 he played in three Mary Pickford films. Also in 1915 Gravina first worked under the direction of Sidney Olcott , with whom he made several films until 1925. By 1920 Cesare Gravina was established as a supporting actor in Hollywood. In the 1920s he was employed by the film companies Fox Film Corporation and Universal . From Foolish Wives (1922) Gravina was part of the actor pool around Erich von Stroheim and had roles as a showman in Merry-Go-Round (1923) and in The Wedding March (1928). In Greed (1924) his significant role fell completely victim to the radical cuts made by the producers.

In 1923 he starred in two Jackie Coogan films and in 1924 in a six-part thriller series by Edward Laemmle based on a story by Gerald Beaumont . He had small roles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Divine Woman (1928). In 1928, Gravina played alongside Dolores del Río in The Trail of '98 as the grandfather, who did not survive the grueling train through the snow during the Klondike gold rush . In the same year he had another important role alongside Mary Philbin and Conrad Veidt as a traveling showman in Paul Leni's The Man Who Laughs . His last film was Burning the Wind (1929) directed by Herbert Blaché , in which Boris Karloff also starred.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. lacasadellamusica.it
personal data
SURNAME Gravina, Cesare
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-American theater and film actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Naples , Italy
DATE OF DEATH September 16, 1954
Place of death New York City , New York , USA