Mark-Lee Kirk

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles Mark-Lee Kirk (born May 16, 1895 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , † December 10, 1969 in Los Angeles ) was an American film architect .

Live and act

Kirk spent his childhood in Allegheny, now part of Pittsburgh, before moving to New York as a young adult (still in the 1910s) , where he received an education. As early as the 1920 census, he stated that his profession was “designer”. In the following year he can be verified for the first time as a film architect. In this role he was responsible for the sets for DW Griffith's large-scale revolutionary drama Two Orphans in the Storm of Time , which "has become legendary primarily because of the realistic quality of the exterior buildings." Kirk worked regularly for Griffith's productions until 1926, after which he began to be temporary Career decline.

Up until the early 1930s, when he worked for Paramount Pictures in New York's Astoria Studios, Kirk received no orders from the film. After that he often had to share orders for film architecture with colleagues. At that time he was employed by the production company RKO Pictures . For reasons unknown, Kirk ended his work in 1935 under the name Charles M. Kirk and from then on only worked as Mark-Lee Kirk. Along with the name change, he also switched to a new employer, 20th Century Fox . He remained loyal to this company until he left in 1959 and designed a wealth of buildings for ambitious and expensive A-productions, including The Young Mr. Lincoln , The Fruits of Anger , Code 777, Tabu der Righte , Prince Iron Heart, Bus Stop , Between Madrid and Paris and the Western Bravados . After working on the melodrama All My Dreams , Charles Mark-Lee Kirk retired into private life.

Kirk died two weeks before Christmas Eve 1969. Five days after his death, he was buried in Union Dale Cemetery in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

Filmography

  • 1921: Orphans of the Storm of time ( Orphans of the Storm )
  • 1922: A mysterious night ( One Exciting Night )
  • 1923: The White Rose
  • 1924: America
  • 1925: Sally of the Sawdust
  • 1925: Charleston, Love and Murder ( That Royle Girl )
  • 1926: Aloma, the flower of the South Seas ( Aloma of the South Seas )
  • 1926: Lord Satanas ( The Sorrows of Satan )
  • 1931: Horror Among Lovers
  • 1933: Ann Vickers
  • 1933: Two Alone
  • 1934: The Richest Girl in the World
  • 1934: Nowak loves America ( Romance in Manhattan )
  • 1934: Captain Hurricane
  • 1934: The Life of Vergie Winters
  • 1935: The Traitor ( The Informer )
  • 1935: Jalna
  • 1935: Seven Keys to Baldpate
  • 1936: The Great Wonders of the World ( The Country Doctor )
  • 1936: Women's Honor ( Private Number )
  • 1936: The Ice Princess ( One in a Million )
  • 1937: Thin Ice
  • 1937: Frozen ( Happy Landing )
  • 1937: Entführt ( Kidnapped )
  • 1938: My Lucky Star
  • 1938: Love and Life of the Telephone Maker AG Bell ( The Story of Alexander Graham Bell )
  • 1939: Young Mr. Lincoln ( Young Mr. Lincoln )
  • 1939: Drums Along the Mohawk ( Drums Along the Mohawk )
  • 1939: The Grapes of Wrath ( The Grapes of Wrath )

Remarks

  1. ↑ There is a lot of confusion in the literature as well as in the online databases regarding the names Mark-Lee Kirk and Charles M. Kirk . Usually both names are given as two different film architects. However, it is one and the same person. While Kirk worked as Charles M. Kirk until 1935, he traded in the more important part of his career, since 1936, only as Mark-Lee Kirk
  2. ↑ City of birth according to the film archive Kay Less
  3. ↑ Helmut Weihsmann: Built Illusions. Architecture in the film. P. 253. Vienna 1988
  4. ↑ according to the film archive less

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kirk, Mark-Lee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kirk, Charles Mark-Lee
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film architect
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, USA
DATE OF DEATH December 10, 1969
Place of death Los Angeles , California