EFSP salutes this young festival with four posts connecting to the programme. The Netherlands Silent Film Festival begins on Thursday evening 16 January with the romantic comedy Kids Boots (Frank Tuttle, 1926), starring the comedian Eddie Cantor, the irresistible Clara Bow and a forgotten American film actor of the silent screen, Lawrence Gray. Who was this 'ideal son-in-law'?
Belgian postcard. Photo Artistes Associés (United Artists). S.A. Cacao et Chocolat Kivou, Vilvoorde / N.V. Cacao en Chocolade Kivou, Vilvoorde.
French postcard by Europe, no. 638. Photo: Paramount.
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 319. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Partner of Hollywood's biggest female stars
Lawrence Gray was born in 1898 in San Francisco, California. His parents were Henry and Mamie Gray. Larry attended schools in San Francisco and worked in Standard Oil Company's export department. He served in the Navy during World War I and became an ensign.
After the war, Gray began to work in the technical field of the film industry at Lasky Studios. He also worked as an extra. He liked the job and decided to become an actor.
Between 1925 and 1936, Lawrence Gray appeared in over forty films although many were B movies.
He was also often partnered with Hollywood's biggest female stars such as Gloria Swanson in Stage Struck (Cecil B. DeMille, 1925) and The Untamed Lady (Frank Tuttle, 1926), Norma Shearer in After Midnight (Monta Bell, 1927) and Colleen Moore in Oh, Kay! (Mervyn LeRoy, 1928).
Memorable is his part as the rich playboy Billy Caldwell in The Patsy (King Vidor 1928), who is overcome with sleep. At the same time, Marion Davies tries to get his attention with impersonations of Lilian Gish, Mae Murray, and Pola Negri. Somehow she manages to convince her family that Billy has assaulted her while rather the opposite has happened.
British postcard by Colourgraph, London, no. C53.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 277a.
The ideal son or son-in-law
Lawrence Gray had a light and pleasing tenor voice which enabled his easy transition from silent to musical films. He was Marion Davies's co-singer in Marianne (Robert Z. Leonard, 1929), her talkie-debut.
He contributed to the soundtrack of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical Children of Pleasure (Harry Beaumont, 1930), in which he starred himself alongside Wynne Gibson, and The Florodora Girl (Harry Beaumont, 1930), with again Marion Davies.
He also starred in the comedy It's a Great Life (Sam Wood, 1929), with the Duncan Sisters - Rosetta and Vivian, and the Vitaphone musicals Sunny (William A. Seiter, 1930), with Marilyn Miller and Spring is Here (John Francis Dillon, 1930), a film version of the 1929 Rodgers & Hart stage musical. Like in his silent films, Gray was either the leading man to the featured female star or a supporting player. His career in musicals ended in 1931 when their over-production caused audiences to lose interest.
Lawrence 'Larry' Gray was often considered the ideal son or son-in-law. He was devoted to his parents, who lived with him. His father Henry died in 1932. Larry continued to share a home with his mother until Dolores Del Rio introduced him to Maria Luisa Figueroa. In 1935 Gray married the Mexican former actress. In 1936 he ended his Hollywood film career and his final film was the comedy In Paris, A.W.O.L. (Roland D. Reed, 1936) also starring Lola Lane and Irene Ware.
Shortly thereafter, the couple relocated permanently to Mexico City. For thirty-three years Gray henceforth worked in Mexico as a coordinator between the Mexican and US film industries. In 1970, Lawrence Gray died at age 71, in Mexico City. His marriage produced no children.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4702/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
British postcard by Ross Verlag Foreign, no. 4009/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Defina / First National.
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Édition, Paris, no. 54.
Sources: Netherlands Silent Film Festival, Wikipedia (English and Italian) and IMDb.
No comments:
Post a Comment