Wilfred Lucas

Wilfred Lucas
Photoplay Magazine 1915
Born	(1871-01-30)January 30, 1871 Norfolk, Ontario, Canada
Died	December 13, 1940(1940-12-13) (aged 69) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Director and Screenwriter
Years active	1908–1940 (film)

Wilfred Lucas (January 30, 1871 – December 13, 1940) was a Canadian-born American stage actor who found success in film as an actor, director, and screenwriter.

Early life

Norman Wilfred Lucas was born in Norfolk County, Ontario on January 30, 1871,.^[1][2] most likely in the township of Townsend where at the time his father served as a Wesleyan Methodist minister. He was the youngest of three sons to be raised by Daniel Lucas and the former E. Adeline Reynolds,^[3] in Townsend and later Montreal, Quebec.^[4] Lucas attended Montreal High School and McGill University^[5] before immigrating to America in the late 1880s. His early career there was that of a baritone singer performing at church functions and at small venues.^[6] On October 10, 1898 Lucas, by then a member of a stock company headed by actor James Durkin, wed fellow cast member Louise Perine at Elmira, New York.^[7] The couple went on to have two sons before their divorce sometime before 1910. Five years after he married Louise, Lucas became an American citizen at a ceremony held in San Bernardino, California.^[8]

Career

Wilfred Lucas eventually made a name for himself performing in light and grand opera in America and abroad.^[9] He made his Broadway debut on April 4, 1904 at the Savoy Theater playing in both the curtain raiser “The Blue Grass Handicap” and The Superstition of Sue in which he played Sue’s brother, Percy Flage. Following his 1906 role in the highly successful play, The Chorus Lady,^[10] Lucas was recruited to the fledgling Biograph Studios by D. W. Griffith. At the time, the film business was still looked down upon by many members of the theatrical community. In her 1925 book titled When the Movies Were Young, Griffith's wife, actress Linda Arvidson, told the story of the early days at Biograph Studios. In it, she referred to Lucas as the "first real grand actor, democratic enough to work in Biograph movies." ^[11]

In 1908, Lucas made his motion picture debut in Griffith's production, The Greaser's Gauntlet. He appeared in more than 50 of these short films (usually 17 minutes) over the next two years and in 1910, while still acting, he wrote the script for Griffith's film Sunshine Sue which was followed by many more scripts between then and 1924. Lucas also began directing in 1912, first with Griffith on An Outcast Among Outcasts, and during the ensuing twenty years directed another 44 films. In 1915, Photoplay Magazine wrote, “No single performance in the records of active photography has surpassed his visualization of the humble book-keeper in “Acquitted”.^[12] The following year he appeared in Griffith’s film, Intolerance, a monumental project regarded by many as the most spectacular film of all time.

Part of the group of Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, Lucas became friends and sometimes starred with Mary Pickford, Sam De Grasse, and Marie Dressler. Canadian-born director Mack Sennett hired him to both direct and act in a large number of films at his Keystone Studios.^[13]

Wilfred Lucas made the successful transition from silent film to sound. While working in Hollywood, in 1926 he returned to the stage, performing in several Broadway plays. He later appeared as a foil for Laurel and Hardy, in their feature films Pardon Us and A Chump at Oxford. During his long career, Wilfred Lucas appeared in more than 375 films. Although for a time he was cast in leading roles, he became very successful as secondary and minor characters, making a good living in the film industry for more than three decades.^[14]

Personal life

While working at Biograph Studios, Wilfred Lucas met and ultimately married actress/screenwriter Bess Meredyth (1890–1969) with whom he had a son. John Meredyth Lucas (1919–2002) became a successful writer and director including a number of episodes of Mannix and Star Trek. John Lucas wrote about his sometimes strained relationship with his father after his parents divorced in his book "Eighty Odd years in Hollywood: Memoir of a Career in Film and Television" (2004)^[15]

Death

Wilfred Lucas died on December 13, 1940, at Los Angeles and was interred at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory^[16][17]

Partial filmography

• The Greaser's Gauntlet (1908)
• The Girl and the Outlaw (1908)
• Ingomar, the Barbarian (1908)
• The Vaquero's Vow (1908)
• The Honor of Thieves (1909)
• The Wood Nymph (1916)
• Hell-to-Pay Austin (1916)
• Her Excellency, the Governor (1917)
• A Woman of Pleasure (1919)
• Cornered (1924)
• Daughters of Pleasure (1924)
• Easy Money (1925)
• A Broadway Butterfly (1925)
• How Baxter Butted In (1925)
• Those Who Dance (1930)
• Day of Reckoning (1933)

Source

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wilfred Lucas.

• Wilfred Lucas at the Internet Movie Database