Larry Semon
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Larry Semon (July 16, 1889 - October 8, 1928) was a film comedian during the silent era, mainly known for working with both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (of Laurel and Hardy) before they started working together. The somewhat mysterious circumstances surrounding his death have lead some to believe that he faked his own demise. [1]
He is also sometimes noted for directing (as well as appearing in) Wizard of Oz, a 1925 silent production that had a slight influence on the more famous 1939 talkie version.The compliment was repaid in the 2005 3-disc DVD version of the 1939 film, on which the 1925 version also appears along with other silent "Oz" movies.
Semon's late films were known for their expense- his two-reel comedies could easily cost more than an average five reel feature film. This was due in part to his love of elaborate gags involving airplanes (sometimes using three in a film) exploding barns, falling water towers, auto wrecks and/or explosions, and liberal use of substances to douse people in. A typical Semon comedy might involve barrels of flour, soot, ink, jam, mud pits, Etc. In "The Bell Hop" a man sleeping under the spray of a malfunctioning fountain imagines he's swimming in the ocean, and in his sleep he dives off the bed, through the floor, and into a tremendous vat of paint standing in the lobby below.
[edit] Nicknames
French audiences knew him as Zigoto, Italian ones as Ridolini, and Spanish ones as Jaimito ("Jimmy") in pre-war releases and TomasÃn ("Tommy") in the 1940 re-releases by Manuel Rotellar[2].
[edit] References
- ^ For a discussion of Semon's death, see: Claudia Sassen's 1999 article 'Larry Semon - How Many Times Did He Die?' Published in Slapstick! magazine #2, July 2000.
- ^ Claudia Sassen quotes Juan Gabriel Tharrats.
[edit] External links
- Larry Semon at the Internet Movie Database
- A three part article discussing Semon's career: [1], [2], [3].
