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Lloyd Bacon

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Lloyd Bacon
Born(1889-12-04)December 4, 1889
San Jose, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 15, 1955(1955-11-15) (aged 65)
Burbank, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, California
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSanta Clara University
Occupation(s)Director, actor, screenwriter
Years active1914–1955
Spouse(s)Margaret Adele Lowdermilk
Mary Rubey Cox[1]
Nadine Coughlin

Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage and vaudeville actor and film director.[2] As a director he made films in virtually all genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, and crime dramas. He was one of the directors at Warner Bros. in the 1930s who helped give that studio its reputation for gritty, fast-paced "torn from the headlines" action films. And, in directing Warner Bros.' 42nd Street, he joined the movie's song-and-dance-number director, Busby Berkeley, in contributing to "an instant and enduring classic [that] transformed the musical genre."[3]

Early life

Lloyd Bacon was born on December 4, 1889 in San Jose, California, the son of actor/playwright Frank Bacon[2] - the co-author and star of the long-running Broadway show Lightnin' (1918) - and Jennie Weidman. Lloyd Bacon was not, contrary to some accounts, related to actor Irving Bacon, although he did direct him in a number of his films. Bacon attended Santa Clara University, and would later include highlights from the Bronco Football program in the end of his famous film, Knute Rockne, All American. When America entered the First World War in 1917, Bacon enlisted in the United States Navy and was assigned to the photographic department.[4] Many of his later films as a director harked back fondly to his time in the Navy.[4]

Career

Bacon started in films as an actor with Charlie Chaplin and Broncho Billy Anderson and appeared in more than 40 total. As an actor, he is best known for supporting Chaplin in such films as 1915's The Tramp and The Champion and 1917's Easy Street.

He later became a director and directed over 100 films between 1920 and 1955. He is best known as director of such classics as 1933's 42nd Street and Footlight Parade, 1937's Ever Since Eve (from a screenplay by playwright Lawrence Riley et al.), 1938's A Slight Case of Murder with Edward G. Robinson, 1939's Invisible Stripes with George Raft and Humphrey Bogart, 1939's The Oklahoma Kid with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, 1940's Knute Rockne, All American with Pat O'Brien and Ronald Reagan (as "the Gipper"), 1943's Action in the North Atlantic with Humphrey Bogart,[5] and 1944's The Fighting Sullivans with Anne Baxter and Thomas Mitchell. He also directed Wake Up and Dream (1946).

Death

Bacon died eleven days before his 66th birthday on November 15, 1955 of a cerebral hemorrhage and was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).

At the time of his death, he was survived by his ex-wives, son, Frank (1937–2009) and daughter, Betsey.[2]

For his contributions to the film industry, Bacon was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star in 1960. His star is located at 7011 Hollywood Boulevard.[6]

Partial filmography as actor

Partial filmography as director

References

  1. ^ Brent E. Walker, Mack Sennett's Fun Factory: A History and Filmography of His Studio and His Keystone and Mack Sennett Comedies, with Biographies of Players and Personnel, Bacon entry.
  2. ^ a b c "Lloyd Bacon Dies. Film Director, 65". New York Times. November 16, 1955.
  3. ^ "42nd Street | film by Bacon [1933]".
  4. ^ a b Lloyd Bacon (1889-1955) Hollywood's Golden Age: 30 Years of Brilliance 1930-59. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  5. ^ Higham, Charles; Greenberg, Joel (1968). Hollywood in the Forties. London: A. Zwemmer Limited. p. 75. ISBN 0-302-00477-7.
  6. ^ "Hollywood Walk of Fame - Lloyd Bacon". walkoffame.com. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
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