Oscar Apfel
| Oscar Apfel | |
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| Born | January 17, 1878 Cleveland, Ohio, USA |
| Died | March 21, 1938 (aged 60) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Other names | Oscar C. Apfel |
| Occupation | Actor, film director |
| Years active | 1913 - 1938 |
Oscar C. Apfel (January 17, 1878 – March 21, 1938) was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in 167 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Cleveland, Ohio. After a number of years in commerce, he decided to adopt the stage a a profession.[1] He secured his first professional engagement in 1900, in his hometown. He rose rapidly and soon held a position as director and producer and was at the time noted as being the youngest stage director in America.[1] He spent eleven years on the stage on Broadway then joined the Edison Company. Apfel first directed for the Edison Company (Thomas A. Edison, Inc.) in 1911-12, where he made the innovative short film The Passer-By (1912). He also did some experimental work at Edison's laboratory in Orange, on the Edison Talking Pictures devices.[1]
[edit] Lasky
When Apfel left the Edison company, he joined the Reliance and Majestic Company, remaining with them eighteen months. [1] In 1913, he became one of two main directors for the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, the other being Cecil B. DeMille. All the first Lasky pictures were produced under his direction. Among these were the notable successes The Squaw Man (1914), Brewster's Millions, The Master Mind, The Only Son, The Ghost Breaker, The Man on the Box, The Circus Man and Cameo Kirby.[1]
Apfel's directorial collaboration with DeMille was a crucial element in the development of DeMille's filmmaking technique. Apfel is often creditied as being one of the first men (along with DeMille) to bring Hollywood, then known as Hollywoodland, to the world stage. Legend has it that the two filmmakers were scouting for a location to shoot The Squaw Man in Flagstaff, Arizona. However, the conspicuously snow-capped mountains contradicted the picture's sweltering western setting. So they climbed aboard a train and headed west. Eventually they found themselves in a sleepy district of Los Angeles named Hollywoodland. The all year-round sunshine and cheap land made it an ideal place to shoot films.
[edit] Fox
In late 1914, Apfel left the Lasky Company and directed for various companies into the 1920s. His first move was to the producing staff of the William Fox Corporation where he directed a series of pictures in which William Farnum starred. Some of these were A Soldier's Oath, Fighting Blood, The End of the Trail, The Battle of Hearts and A Man of Sorrow.[1]
[edit] Paralta
For the Paralta Company, to whom Apfel went after leaving the Fox Corporation, he produced Peter Kyne's A Man's a Man and The Turn of a Card in which J. Warren Kerrigan starred.[1]
[edit] Armenian relief
Auction of Souls (1919), a public-awareness picture for the Armenian Relief Committee, was Apfel's work. This production commanded wide attention and attracted great crowds at the special showings which took place at the Plaza and other prominent hotels. The sympathetic interest evoked by its revelations helped in materially adding to the large sums that were subscribed to this cause.[1]
A series of pictures for the World Film Corporation, starring Kitty Gordon, Montague Love, June Elvidge, Louise Huff, and Evelyn Greeley, were also among Apfel's successful productions.[1]
[edit] Final years
After many years as a director, he gradually returned to acting.
On March 21, 1938, Apfel died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack.
[edit] Selected filmography
- The Squaw Man (1914)
- Brewster's Millions (1914)
- The Master Mind (1914)
- The Only Son (1914)
- The Man on the Box (1914)
- The Call of the North (1914)
- The Ghost Breaker (1914)
- After Five (1915)
- Ravished Armenia (1919)
- Bulldog Drummond (1922)
- The Lion's Mouse (1923)
- Helping Grandma (1931)
- Five Star Final (1931)
- Impatient Maiden (1932)
- Business and Pleasure (1932)
- High Pressure (1932)
- One Man's Journey (1933)
- I Am a Thief (1934)
- The Old Fashioned Way (1934) [not credited]
- Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)
- Romance in Manhattan (1935)
- Crack-Up (1936)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Oscar Apfel at the Internet Movie Database
- Oscar Apfel at AllRovi
