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J. Gordon Edwards (director)

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This article is about the film director. For the entomologist and mountaineer, see J. Gordon Edwards (entomologist and mountaineer).
J. Gordon Edwards
Edwards c. 1920
Born
James Gordon Edwards

(1867-06-24)June 24, 1867
Montreal, Province of Canada
DiedDecember 31, 1925(1925-12-31) (aged 58)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active1914–1924
The tomb of J. Gordon Edwards

James Gordon Edwards (June 24, 1867 – December 31, 1925) was a Canadian-born film director, producer, and writer who began his career as a stage actor and stage director.

Biography

James Gordon Edwards was born in Montreal in 1867 to parents of Scotch-French ancestry.[1][2] He made his directorial debut with the 1914 film St. Elmo.

Edwards went on directing all of the Fox Film Corporation's mega-budget spectacles, including all of actress Theda Bara's productions between 1916 and 1919. Later, he became the production supervisor at Fox, and continued to direct until he died in 1925. One of his biggest projects was The Queen of Sheba (1921), a lost silent film which contained a huge chariot race, four years before Ben-Hur (1925). Essentially all of his films (other than a few low quality prints) for Fox Studios were lost in the 1937 Fox vault fire, which claimed 75% of all Fox films made before 1930. He was the stepgrandfather of director Blake Edwards.

He was married to actress Angela McCaull, daughter of opera impresario John A. McCaull.[1][3] Edwards died of pneumonia at age 58 in New York City.[4] His widow later commissioned a mausoleum in his honor at Kensico Cemetery, where both of their ashes reside.[5]

Filmography

Main article: J. Gordon Edwards filmography

Production supervisor

Director

Writer

References

  1. ^ a b Selig, A. L. (December 1918). "The Master Mind of the Movies". Canadian Home Journal. Vol. 15, no. 8. pp. 8-.
  2. ^ Gmür, Leonhard (2013). Rex Ingram: Hollywood's Rebel of the Silver Screen. epubli. p. 187. ISBN 9783844246018.
  3. ^ "J. Gordon Edwards Dies". The Chapel Hill Weekly. Chapel Hill, NC. January 22, 1926. p. 2.
  4. ^ "J. Gordon Edwards". Variety: 46. January 6, 1926.
  5. ^ Keister, Doug (2011). Stories in Stone New York: A Field Guide to New York City Area Cemeteries and Their Residents. Gibbs Smith. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-4236-2102-7.
  6. ^ Wenzell, Nicolette (April 3, 2016). "1919 movie 'The Lone Star Ranger' shot in Palm Springs". The Desert Sun. Gannett.
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