Bobby Vernon
Bobby Vernon | |
|---|---|
 c. 1920 | |
| Born | March 9, 1897 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | June 28, 1939 (aged 42) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | actor |
| Spouse | Angelina Repetto |
| Children | Barbara Dorothy Vernon (born c. 1924) |
Bobby Vernon (March 9, 1897 in Chicago, Illinois – June 28, 1939 in Hollywood, California) was an American comedic actor in silent films. He later became a writer and comedy supervisor at Paramount for W.C. Fields and Bing Crosby, when the sound era arrived. Sources indicate that he was born Sylvion de Jardin.[1][2] Blue-eyed with medium brown hair, he stood only five feet and two-and-a-half inches.[3] Who's Who on the Screen, a collection of brief biographies on popular actors of 1920, even considered him a "veritable matinee idol."[1]
Life and career
The Chicago-born son of entertainers Harry Burns and Dorothy Vernon (born Dorothy Baird), Bobby first appeared onstage at the age of eleven. For a few years, he was part of the vaudeville act Kolb and Dill, performing in musical comedies. When Max Dill broke his leg in their show, "The Rollicking Girl," Vernon replaced him for three weeks.[2]
His first experience in screen was at the age of sixteen in in Universal Studios's Joker comedies.[2] By 1915, he was working in Keystone romantic comedies opposite Gloria Swanson. He later described his Keystone days to Motion Picture Classic:
When Gloria Swanson and I were working for Sennett, it would take sometimes two or three months to make a two-reeler. We'd rehearse for a week or so before we'd crank a camera. But the weather had something to do with it, too. You see, photography in those days wasn't what it is now and most of our scenes were exteriors. Cheaper, you know. Didn't have to build sets. If we had a call for the next day and we woke up to find it cloudy or raining, we'd just go back to bed again. And it sure can rain out here during the wet season.
— Bobby Vernon, Motion Picture Classic, May 1929[4]
In 1917, he was working in Al Christie romantic comedies.
On September 9, 1918, Vernon left the Christie studio to serve during World War I at the submarine base at San Pedro, Los Angeles.[5]
Even to the late 1920s, he was still making silly, slapstick two-reelers, and as Dorothy Lubou put it, he had no "Chaplinesque Hamlet" ambitions. His main focus was just on making people laugh. In his own words:
It's a peculiar thing about comedy. A gag that'll give one audience a laugh will fall flat in a theater two blocks away. Can't explain it. Everybody'll cry at the same tear-jerker. A sob scene will be just as effective in England, France or New York as in Dubuque, but comedy is something else again.
— Bobby Vernon, Motion Picture Classic, May 1929[4]
Marriage
Bobby Vernon married Angelina Repetto of St. Louis, Missouri; the couple had one child, Barbara. Angelina was the sister-in-law of Reggie Morris, thus making the two men brothers-in-law. [citation needed]
Death
Bobby Vernon died of a heart attack in 1939 in Hollywood, California, aged 42.[6]
Partial filmography
- The Hungry Actors (1915)
- Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915)
- A Dash of Courage (1916)
- Hearts and Sparks (1916)
- A Social Cub (1916)
- The Danger Girl (1916)
- Haystacks and Steeples (1916)
- The Nick of Time Baby (1916)
- Teddy at the Throttle (1917)
- Whose Baby? (1917)
- The Sultan's Wife (1917)
- Petticoats and Pants (1920)
- Why Wild Men Go Wild (1920)
- Hey, Rube! (1921)
- A Hickory Hick (1922)
- Choose Your Weapons (1922)
- Cornfed (1924)
- Reno Or Bust (1924)
- Broken China (1926)
References
- ^ a b Fox, Charles Donald; Silver, Milton L. (1920). Who's Who on the Screen. New York City: Ross Publishing Co., Inc.
- ^ a b c Wing, Ruth (1924). The Blue Book of the Screen. Hollywood, California: The Blue Book of the Screen, Inc.
- ^ Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual. New York: Motion Picture News, Inc. 1918. p. 89.
- ^ a b Lubou, Dorothy (May 1929). "Grinding Out Grins". Motion Picture Classic. Chicago: Brewster Publications. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
- ^ Motion Picture Magazine. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Motion Picture Publishing Co. December 1918 http://archive.org/stream/motionpicturemag16moti#page/n581/mode/2up/search/vernon. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Bobby Vernon, Actor of Silent Screen, Dies", New York Times, June 29, 1939.
External links
- Bobby Vernon at the Internet Broadway Database
- Bobby Vernon at IMDb
- Bobby Vernon Memorial at Find A Grave
- Bobby Vernon at Virtual History
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