James Parrott

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James Parrott with Jobyna Ralston in a set for the film The White Blacksmith (1922)

James Gibbons Parrott (born August 2, 1897 in Baltimore , Maryland , † May 10, 1939 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actor , film director and screenwriter .

Life

James Parrott grew up in a poor family, his father died in 1903 of a heart attack. He left school at a young age, hung out with street gangs in Baltimore, but also took on various jobs to improve the difficult financial situation of his family. He tried his hand at a few vaudeville shows as a singer and comedian. His brother Charley Chase , who was five years his senior , had established himself as a comedian and filmmaker in Hollywood . His brother's connections also brought James into the acting business, and in 1917 he made his film debut in the silent short film comedy An Aerial Joy Ride . Parrott, who was mainly employed by producer Hal Roach , played supporting roles alongside Stan Laurel , Harold Lloyd and his brother Charley. In 1919 he made a series of comedies with comedian Sidney Smith specializing in car and racing gags, including An Auto Nut (1919).

From the early 1920s Parrott directed regularly; He also received his own series of ten-minute short film comedies, in which he mostly appeared under the stage name Paul Parrott . In total, over 60 short films appeared by 1926 in which he played the lovable leading actor. Films like Post No Bills or The Uncovered Wagon (both 1923) were qualitatively on par with the works of his brother from his experimental phase (1924; in fact, James and Paul are still often confused with Charley Chase due to their similarity to his brother) . The brothers had their most memorable joint appearance in Chase's Sittin 'Pretty (1924), in which they performed a " mirror dance " together . Seizures of epilepsy made Parrott to create, however, and health problems are considered to be one of the reasons why his film series was not continued despite commercial success. From 1926 Parrott concentrated mainly on his work as a director and screenwriter at Hal Roach Studios; he was responsible for films with Clyde Cook , Glenn Tryon , Lillian Rich and his brother Charley. Since 1928 he has directed numerous films by the comedian duo Laurel and Hardy , which are his most famous films today. In 1931 Parrott directed Hinter Schloss und Riegel , the comedian duo's first full-length feature film . In 1932 they made the acclaimed short film Der grubende Klaviertransport , which received an Oscar for Best Short Film .

Although many of the Laurel and Hardy films he made were considered above average and he himself was described as an "imaginative spirit", he received fewer and fewer engagements as a director from 1933 onwards. The reasons for this are alcoholism and drug and drug addiction, the latter he had to take because of his epilepsy. His last directorial work includes the little rascal comedy Washee Ironee (1934) and several comedies with Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly . After 1935, Parrott, considered unreliable because of his addiction, was only a screenwriter. He could hardly survive financially and had to be supported by his brother. Parrott recently worked as a gag writer for a few B-Movies and several Laurel-and-Hardy feature films, Stan Laurel is said to have given him the latter employment. He died of heart failure in May 1939 at the age of only 41, leaving behind his wife Ruby Ellen McCoy, to whom he had been married since 1937. His brother Charley is said to have been deeply dismayed by his death and died only a year later.

Filmography (selection)

As an actor

  • 1917: An Aerial Joy Ride
  • 1918: Just Rambling Along
  • 1918: Gussie with the two guns (Two Gun-Gussie)
  • 1919: Hustling for Health
  • 1919: Ask Father
  • 1919: A Sammy in Sibiria
  • 1919: He as Mr. Jazz (Young Mr. Jazz)
  • 1921: Big Town Ideas (feature film)
  • 1922: The Gulf Bug
  • 1923: The Uncovered Wagon
  • 1925: The Caretaker's Daughter
  • 1926: The Old War-Horse
  • 1931: Under lock and key (Pardon Us)
  • 1934: The little rascals : Washee Ironee

As a director

As a screenwriter

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c James Parrott on the Charley Chase website
  2. ↑ James Parrott in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved December 28, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Parrott, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Parrott, James Gibbons (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor, film director and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH August 2, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Baltimore , Maryland
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 1939
Place of death Los Angeles , California