Oscar apple
Oscar C. Apfel (born January 17, 1878 in Cleveland , Ohio , † March 21, 1938 in Hollywood , California ) was an American actor, silent film director, screenwriter and producer.
life and career
Oscar Apfel began his professional acting career around 1900 in his hometown of Cleveland. Success quickly set in and he soon worked as a theater producer and director, making him one of the youngest theater directors in America. In April 1906 he played on Broadway in the comedy The Optimist , which was canceled after a short time. In 1911, Apfel had his entry into the film business when he was hired by Thomas Alva Edison as actor and director for the Thomas A. Edison, Inc. film company .
The short film The Passer-By (1912) brought apple first renown, which convinced in particular with its innovative camera work. After leaving Edison, he worked in the following years as a director at other film studios, including Jesse L. Lasky and Cecil B. DeMille . Together with DeMille he directed the important silent film western The Squaw Man , which with a length of six roles was one of the first full-length productions and a great financial success. In the following years he shot a series of westerns with William Farnum and the first film version of Peer Gynt for the William Fox Corporation . In 1919, Apfel received greater attention with his drama Ravished Armenia , which was the first film to focus on the Armenian genocide . He was also the producer and screenwriter of some of his 120 films.
As early as the 1920s, Apple's directing career was lost in mediocrity with numerous low-budget films. In 1927 he made his last film as a director and from then on stood exclusively as an actor in front of the camera. In the sound film era , he mostly had to be content with smaller to medium supporting roles; often as a businessman, banker, civil servant or judge. He impersonated a newspaper publisher in the late edition (1931) with Edward G. Robinson and played alongside WC Fields in the comedies The Good Old Days and Man on the Flying Trapeze . In 1938 Oscar Apfel, who starred in around 175 films until his death, died of a heart attack at the age of 60.
Filmography
As a director, author and producer (selection)
- 1911: The Wedding Bell
- 1912: The Passer-By
- 1912: Thirty Days at Hard Labor
- 1914: Brewster's Millions
- 1914: The Call of the North
- 1914: The Ghost Breaker
- 1914: The Squaw Man
- 1915: Peer Gynt
- 1917: Vanata, the Indian girl (The Hidden Children)
- 1919: Phil-for-Short
- 1919: Me and Captain Kidd
- 1919: Ravished Armenia
- 1924: The Heart Bandit
- 1926: The Call of the Klondike
- 1927: In Search of a Thrill
As an actor (selection)
- 1913: The Fight for Right
- 1928: Der Kriminal-Kavalier (Romance of the Underworld)
- 1929: Marianne
- 1930: The Right to Love
- 1930: Abraham Lincoln
- 1931: Yvonne
- 1931: late edition (Five Star Final)
- 1931: The Woman from Monte Carlo
- 1932: Business and Pleasure
- 1932: Hot Saturday
- 1932: Call Her Savage
- 1932: The Man Who Played God
- 1932: Symphony of Six Million
- 1932: Rasputin: The Demon of Russia (Rasputin and the Empress)
- 1932: Blondie of the Follies
- 1933: Employees' Entrance
- 1933: The Story of Temple Drake
- 1933: Between Today and Tomorrow (Gabriel Over the White House)
- 1934: The good old days (The Old Fashioned Way)
- 1934: Manhattan Melodrama
- 1934: The Rothschilds (The House of Rothschild)
- 1935: Man on the Flying Trapeze
- 1935: City on the border (Bordertown)
- 1935: The Ship of Satan (Dante's Inferno)
- 1935: Novak loves America (Romance in Manhattan)
- 1935: Page Miss Glory
- 1936: San Francisco
- 1937: The Toast of New York
- 1937: Maria Walewska (Conquest)
- 1937: The Soldier and the Lady
Web links
- Oscar Apfel in theInternet Movie Database(English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Carolyn Lowrey (1920): The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen, Moffat, Yard and Company, New York
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Apple, oscar |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Apple, Oscar C. |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 17, 1878 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Cleveland , Ohio |
DATE OF DEATH | March 21, 1938 |
Place of death | Hollywood , California |