Franklyn Farnum

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Franklyn Farnum (around 1911)

Franklyn Farnum (born June 5, 1878 in Boston , Massachusetts , † July 4, 1961 in Woodland Hills , California ; actually William Smith ) was an American actor and variety artist. He was neither related nor related by marriage to the better-known and more successful show stars Dustin Farnum (1874-1929) and William Farnum (1876-1953), who also came from Boston.

Life

Franklyn Farnum is said to have performed on vaudeville stages at the age of twelve . After 1914 he came to film, where he participated in over 460 productions between 1916 and 1961. As early as 1917 he was able to take a leading role in the film Anything Once . In the silent film era , Farnum was predominantly represented in Western films, most of which were small films produced quickly and cheaply. As a western hero, his embodiment of the cowboy was based more on the bitter type coined by William S. Hart than on the more artificial type associated with the name Tom Mix . After 1925 Farnum interrupted his film career, but returned to the now flourishing sound film in 1930 . Not least because of his advanced age, he was now largely reduced to supporting roles , in later years he was often only involved as an extra .

Farnum was the only actor to star in six films that won an Oscar for best picture. The award-winning films were: The Lost Weekend , Taboo of the Righteous , All About Eva , Around the World in 80 Days , The Life of Emile Zola and The Greatest Show in the World . In all six films, however, his appearances were so small that he was not mentioned in the credits. Other well-known films with Farnum participation were the westerns The Hero of the Prairie (premiered in 1936) by Cecil B. DeMille , Boulevard of the Twilight (1950) by Billy Wilder and Ringo (1939) by John Ford . The latter film was not only a revival of the western and the starting shot for the great Hollywood sound film western productions, but also offered a rendezvous for numerous former stars of the silent film western scene.

For many years, Farnum was president of the United States' union of film extras ( Screen Extras Guild ). The daughter Martha Lilian Smith, born in 1898, emerged from a first marriage with Mary E. Casey. After a second marriage to his wife Edith, Farnum was briefly married to fellow actor Alma Rubens in 1918 . This marriage, which attracted some public attention, was divorced after just under a month.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Hans J. Wollstein in the All Movie Guide on allemovie.com
personal data
SURNAME Farnum, Franklyn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smith, William (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and variety musician
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH 4th July 1961
Place of death Woodland Hills , California