Leslie Fenton
Leslie Fenton (born March 12, 1902 in Liverpool , England , † March 25, 1978 in Montecito , California ) was an American film actor and director .
Life
The son of a shoemaker came to the United States from England with his family at the age of six. One of his brothers was the writer Frank Fenton . At first like his father he was a worker in a shoe factory, but then he became a theater actor and also found employment in film, where he appeared in 62 feature films between 1923 and 1938. Mostly he played leading roles in B-films and supporting roles in larger films. Probably his best-known role was that of the elegant gangster Nails Nathan in the gangster classic The Public Enemy with James Cagney . In 1932 he married actress Ann Dvorak , who even followed him to England, where he stayed during the Second World War and there achieved a higher rank in the military. They got divorced in 1945; Fenton remarried, the marriage lasted until his death.
He had already started his career as a film director before the war ; by 1951 he directed 19 films. He made mostly B-films, some of which were well received by the critics. He gave up appearances as an actor since 1938 and also gave up his work as a film director at the age of 50. Leslie Fenton died in 1978 at the age of 76.
Filmography (selection)
As an actor:
- 1925: The Lazybones
- 1926: The Road to Glory
- 1926: The Shamrock Handicap
- 1926: Black Paradise
- 1926: Rivals (What Price Glory?)
- 1927: Illusion (The Last Performance)
- 1928: The Gateway of the Moon
- 1928: Police (The Dragnet)
- 1928: The First Kiss
- 1929: dynamite (dynamite)
- 1929: Paris Bound
- 1931: The Public Enemy (The Public Enemy)
- 1931: The Guilty Generation
- 1932: The Avenger of the Tong (The Hatchet Man)
- 1932: Airmail
- 1933: Night Flight
- 1933: The Womanizer (Lady Killer)
- 1934: Dangerous Frontier (Fugitive Road)
- 1934: Marie Galante
- 1935: Men without Names
- 1935: East of Java
- 1936: Sworn Enemy
- 1937: China Passage
- 1938: Teufelskerle (Boys Town)
As a director:
- 1939: Tell no Tales
- 1940: The Man from Dakota
- 1941: The Saint's Vacation
- 1944: Tomorrow, the World!
- 1948: Smugglers from Saigon (Saigon)
- 1948: Lulu Belle
- 1948: Whispering Smith
- 1949: The Death Riders of Laredo (Streets of Laredo)
- 1951: The Redhead and the Cowboy
Web links
- Leslie Fenton in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Leslie Fenton in the database of Find a Grave (English)
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Fenton, Leslie |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American film actor and film director |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 12, 1902 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Liverpool , England |
DATE OF DEATH | March 25, 1978 |
Place of death | Montecito , California |