Lon Chaney Senior

Our star for May was born April 1, 1883 his parents named him Leonidas Frank Chaney. Both of his parents, Emma Alice and Frank H. were deaf mutes and because of that the young Chaney became skilled in pantomime. It was a talent that would serve him well throughout his albeit short life.  When his mother Emma became bedridden Lon left school and while caring for her and his siblings entertained them with his repertoire of pantomime stories. 

Around 19 years of age Lon began his Vaudevillian stage career and in 1905 he met and married 16-year old singer Cleva Creighton who within a year bore him their first and only child Creighton later of course to be known as Lon Chaney Junior. Five years later    the young family moved themselves to California. 

The strains of performing and marital discord crept into their relationship and it was in April of 1913 at the Majestic Theater in downtown LA that Cleva would publicly ingest mercuric chloride in an attempted suicide but it only ruined her singing voice not her death.  Lon was incensed and filed for divorce but the ensuing scandal and embarrassment forced him to leave the theater and he was relegated to doing bit parts for Universal Studios until 1917. A show business purgatory if you will. 

During this time Lon’s skill with makeup caught the attention of the husband-wife director team of Joe DeGrasse and Ida May Park who began to give him substantial roles in their films. It was they who encouraged him to play the macabre characters he would become so famous for. As his life became more stable Lon married Hazel Hastings a woman he knew from the Kolb and Dill tour he had managed while still married to Cleva. Once they married they were able to gain custody of Creighton now 10 years old. Not much is known about this second marriage except that it was characterized as  “solid”. 

Lon left the studio in 1917 because although he was a featured performer his salary didn’t reflect it. During that period especially during the silent era actors had little power over the studio heads but convinced of his innate talent Lon was determined to strike out on his own nonetheless.  That first year wasn’t easy for a character actor but in 1918 Lon succeeded in the film Riddle Gawne and his efforts were finally recognized. In 1919 playing “The Frog” in The Miracle Man his acting and makeup talent were on full display. The film grossed a fortune at the time of 2 million plus and what seemed like a meteoric rise Lon was now America’s top character actor. The studio anxious to capitalize on Chaney’s new stardom and cranked out a bevy of films in short succession Victory, Treasure Island, The Penalty, Oliver Twist and Flesh and Blood. But Lon was just warming up.  

The year was 1923 and Lon Chaney became a household name starting with The Hunchback of Notre Dame, He Who Gets Slapped, (with a young Joan Crawford) The Unholy Three, (which he would later reprise as his only talkie in 1930) Laugh Clown Laugh, and maybe his piece de resistance The Phantom of the Opera. It was in this film in 1925 that Lon creating his own makeup wherein he glued back his ears with spear gum, put cotton in his cheeks and took fish skin and glued it to his ears and forehead to get the effect he wanted to distort his nose all served to give the most grotesque and horrifying image the screen had ever seen. Adding more chills to the film the studio made sure there were no stills issued before the film and the strategy worked as audiences screamed in the theaters when Lon removed his mask in the climatic scene with Mary Philbin.  He urged Philbin’s character “Never look beneath my mask” The quote later emerged “Never look but wanting to see”  

As Quasimodo in the Hunchback and then in the Phantom Lon portrayed two grotesque figures but he was able to simultaneously elicit the emotions of sympathy and horror from audiences.  There was no one at the time that could generate the pathos Lon could.  Keep in mind that this man did this in silence with music as his only accompaniment.  It was in 1939 that Charles Laughton would reprise the talking version and some say did the better portrayal although he had the benefit of sound, time and a better cast.  

While researching Lon Chaney I found an old video of him in an excerpt of his only talkie The Unholy Three where he is playing a ventriloquist and that led to the discovery that in addition to his pantomime skills he was also an excellent baritone, dancer and sharp witted comedian. Certainly talents he honed while working on stage as a Vaudevillian performer. Lon and his second wife Hazel shied from the Hollywood limelight and he did little promotion work for the studio probably due in part due the embarrassment he suffered because of Cleva’s suicide attempt.   Lon’s star shone when the cameras rolled but he withdrew from the limelight once filming had wrapped. 

In 1926 while under contract to MGM he gave a memorable performance as a hard-nosed Marine drill instructor in Tell it to the Marines, which of course earned the Corps deep respect and remained with him until he passed away.  He surely had the countenance for the part and as Lon never considered handsome but his rugged look in that film became synonymous for those that followed him that played that particular role in later years.  Lon was not your typical actor either he was always willing to share his experience with aspiring actors and crew. Lon Chaney was a genuine mentor for those that sought him out.  

While filming Thunder in 1929 Lon developed pneumonia later diagnosed as lung cancer and the artificial snowflakes made of cornflakes, which got caught in his throat, only exacerbated the situation. Although the medical profession tried aggressive treatment Lon succumbed on August 30, 1930 at just 47. His wife Hazel would pass in 1933. Lon Chaney would describe his skill, as “Extraordinary Characterization” Lon Chaney would later be called the Godfather of Horror Actors. 

In 1957 James Cagney would portray Lon in A Man of a Thousand Faces. Generally considered only a loose factual account of Chaney’s life but it did give some insight to the man that gave birth to a genre that is a multi billion-dollar industry today. You will find this account once in a great while on TCM. Look for Chaney’s silent films as they also have him in their library as well. 

Lon Chaney Senior was truly one of films pioneers. His son Creighton who would later change his screen name to Lon Chaney Junior would see success as The Wolfman but never really be the innovator his father was.