J. Farrell MacDonald

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J. Farrell MacDonald (born June 6, 1875 in Waterbury , Connecticut , † August 2, 1952 in Hollywood , California ) was an American film and stage actor and silent film director. Between 1911 and 1951, the character actor played in around 325 films, including 25 productions directed by John Ford . MacDonald also directed more than 50 silent films between 1912 and 1917.

life and career

MacDonald (right) next to Frank Mayo on a lobby card for John Ford's film Hitchin 'Post (1920)

J. Farrell MacDonald began his career as a singer on minstrel shows , despite graduating from Yale University. After traveling through the United States with theater companies for years, he made his first film appearance in 1911 at the production company IMPC owned by film pioneer Carl Laemmle . After working as an actor in numerous films, from 1912 he also worked as a director himself. Between 1912 and 1917 he worked as a director of over 50 films, including some quite elaborate productions of their time. L. Frank Baum had MacDonald film his book The Wizard of Oz in several parts. Harold Lloyd and Hal Roach got their first acting and extras roles through MacDonald, when they were both still completely unknown. Later, when Roach had started his own film studio with Lloyd as his main star, they brought MacDonald on as a director for a time. In parallel with his directorial work, however, MacDonald continued to appear as an actor, and in 1918 he was one of the most popular character actors in Hollywood. He ended his career as a director to work exclusively as an actor.

In 1919 he made his first film with John Ford called A Fight for Love , and that same year they made three more films together. In total, Ford and MacDonald would make a total of 25 films together over the decades. In the 1920s, MacDonald made appearances in Ford's western The Iron Horse and Three Rough Journeyman . The German director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau put him in the role of the friendly photographer in his first US film Sunrise - Song of Two People, which is still widely acclaimed by film critics . With the start of the sound film era, MacDonald remained a busy and well-known actor, but his roles became increasingly smaller. Often he played paternal or strict workers, policemen, soldiers or judges; often in westerns or crime films. In the 1930s and 1940s he was used in their films by Frank Capra , Hal Roach, John Ford and Preston Sturges, among others . From around 1940 onwards, MacDonald was not mentioned in the credits for his small roles, including in his appearance as an angry man against whose tree James Stewart in Isn't Life Beautiful? moves. He had one of his last major roles in 1946 as a landlord in John Ford's Right of the Prairie . Recently he also had a few television appearances. He worked as an actor until his death.

At times MacDonald also worked as an acting teacher at the University of Southern California . He was married to the actress Edith Bostwick (1882-1943) until her death in 1943. They had a daughter. MacDonald died in 1952 at the age of 77 and is buried in the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles .

Filmography

As a director

  • 1913: Rory o 'the Rogs
  • 1914: Samson
  • 1914: The Patchwork Girl of Oz
  • 1914: The Magic Cloak of Oz
  • 1914: His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz
  • 1914: The Last Egyptian
  • 1915: Lonesome Luke, Social Gangster
  • 1917: Over the Fence

As an actor in silent films

  • 1911: The Scarlet Letter
  • 1915: Rags
  • 1919: Roped
  • 1919: A Fight For Love
  • 1919: Riders of Vengeance
  • 1919: The Outcasts of Poker Flat
  • 1919: Marked Men
  • 1920: Bullet Proof
  • 1921: Hitchin 'Posts
  • 1921: The Freeze-Out
  • 1921: The Wallop
  • 1921: Action
  • 1922: Sky High
  • 1922: The Bonded Woman
  • 1923: drifting
  • 1924: The iron horse (The Iron Horse)
  • 1925: Lightin '
  • 1925: Kentucky Pride
  • 1925: Thank You
  • 1925: The Fighting Heart
  • 1925: The Lucky Horseshoe
  • 1926: The Last Frontier
  • 1926: The Shamrock Handicap
  • 1926: Three rough journeymen (3 Bad Man)
  • 1927 Sunrise - A Song of Two people (Sunrise: A Song of two Humans)
  • 1928: Bringing Up Father
  • 1928: None but the Brave
  • 1928: Vier Teufel (4 Devils)
  • 1928: Riley the Cop
  • 1929: Masked Emotions

As an actor in talkies

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME MacDonald, J. Farrell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and director
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Waterbury , Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH 2nd August 1952
Place of death Hollywood , California