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.  

My Sponsor

To those familiar with this blog know that members of AA rely on a sponsor. This is a person you choose to confide the more intimate character defects and shortcomings of your personal life in an attempt to ameliorate and when possible make amends to the people that you’ve harmed during your active life. In the first five years of my sobriety the man that was most instrumental in helping me maintain my alcohol free life since 1989 left this earth on Thursday morning May 14th. I was blessed to have chosen him and before his untimely passing we got a chance to talk at length about what we were grateful for and especially our continued long-term sobriety. 

This man brought a tough as nails attitude in his AA method but fortunately I bought into it. I didn’t always like what he had to say but instead of doing it John’s way I chose AA’s way instead. He would often say: “John take the cotton out of your ears and put it into your mouth.” These words I will never forget. Thanks Nic old friend. 

Having just a short time to reflect on my friend’s death has made me think a little bit more about my own mortality. Not in a morbid way but that AA idiom that rings true. “We only have today.” I like to think I am grounded each day but after my sponsor’s passing the gravity of his life and my own seem to carry more weight now if you can pardon the pun. Nic didn’t suit everyone’s taste but his long list of men he sponsored will be saying prayers that he entered their lives just as I will that he entered mine. 

Trying to get sober and stay sober without someone to talk to is like getting into a rowboat in a swift running stream without oars. You might get to the other embankment but why not use the tools that can help make the treacherous journey just a bit more navigable? I chose to keep my mouth shut when Nic and my program told me to and I am so glad I did because my way got me drunk and for me AA and my sponsor got me sober. And as I have said many times here if there is another protocol that works for you use it don’t go on railing against Alcoholics Anonymous. As the fictional character Charlie Chan said in a movie: “Any powder that kills fleas is a good powder.” DDGTM Nic would often say to me and for you earthlings if you think you have a problem with alcohol you probably do. 

Stay sober my friends and I know you are all over the World now please spread the word you might save someone.  

Mantan Moreland & Eddie "Rochester" Anderson

For June I chose to focus on two Black actors that the Golden Age featured in stereotypical roles but both made the best of their opportunities. The first was Mantan Mooreland who joined a carnival at age 14 and then a medicine show the very next year but juvenile authorities intervened and put a stop to his adventures. Mantan began his show biz career in what was called the “Chitlin Circuit” which was the black performers version of vaudeville and after a decade he teamed with a comic Benny Carter and their routine became known as “indefinite talk” whereby each would start a sentence only to be interrupted by the other. (Say, have you seen…?” “I saw him yesterday. He was at…” “I thought they closed that place down!”) In one of the Chan films Benny and Mantan performed their skit. There timing was perfect and chemistry was obvious onscreen but at the time it mattered little.

By 1936 Mantan was performing in films usually as a porter, waiter or a bootblack but he was too funny to be shunted aside by the other white actors in the B films and his roles began to expand while he was at the low rent Monogram studio. During this time uncharacteristically Mantan struck up a screen friendship with white actor Frankie Darro unusual as most black actors were relegated to solo comic relief. Moreland’s elevated status got him prominence in the Charlie Chan series as the detective’s constant frightened chauffeur and with each passing film the hilarity escalated and by 1949 his Birmingham Brown character was referred to as Chan’s assistant. Mantan reprised his role 15 times and lasted through 2 non-Asian Chan actors.

He was also featured in the all black MGM film Cabin in the Sky and a lesser-known King of the Zombies wherein he steals the film from the lesser known white stars. When the scene shifts to the jungle and Mantan and his costars hear drums they ask “what’s that?” he says: “I don’t know but it ain’t Gene Krupa.” I laughed loudly.   When the Civil Rights movement took root Mantan roles dried up but later he reemerged with roles in Spider Baby in ’64 and cameos in Enter Laughing in ’68 and The Comic in ’69.  He was back in demand and appeared on Love American Style in 1970, and that same year in Watermelon Man. On The Bill Cosby Show he revived his “indefinite talk” routine and introduced it to a whole new generation. Mantan Moreland was often reviled later during the more politically correct period but watch him he was just flat out very funny. Revisionist history fanatics might disagree. Mantan was a groundbreaker and is not given the credit for opening doors for black actors that followed.  He died at age 71 from a brain hemorrhage. 

 Next up is Eddie “Rochester” Anderson who also moved the needle for black actors. He was born into a show business family, which gave him a leg up on Mantan.  His father was a minstrel performer and his mother of all things a tightrope walker in the circus. Eddie entered show business with his brother Cornelius as a song-and-dance team. He began his film career in 1932 at age 27 in a film called What Price Hollywood? He too appeared in a stereotypical role as a valet. Five years later though in 1937 his fortunes change literally forever when the part he was designated for was a one-shot appearance as a railway porter nicknamed “Rochester” on the radio’s hit series The Jack Benny Program. His raspy voice and overwhelming audience response were dramatic and it led to his teaming with Benny until Jack’s death in 1974. In fact he costarred with him in films: Man About Town ’39, Buck Benny Rides Again ’40, Love Thy Neighbor ’41 and The Meanest Man in the World in ’42. His role continued on Jack’s television series until 1965. His partnership as Jack’s know-it-all butler was a big hit with audiences, which served to elevate how black actors were perceived at the time. Eddie Anderson is also not given the credit he well deserves for this turning point in film and television history. In fact he achieved an equal footing with his white costars. In the late 60’s in a Jack Benny special he was invited to reprise his servant role once more to which Eddie quipped: “But boss we don’t do that any more!”

In a movie role that I particularly love Eddie plays opposite Roland Young in the final installment of the Topper trilogy in 1941 costarring Joan Blondell. Again Anderson plays a chauffer but kills it with his reactions to the “ghost” played by Joan. Eddie got top billing in ’43’s Cabin in the Sky (Mantan also appeared) and did a few more movies in the 40’s until his television career began to bloom.  In his personal life Eddie was a shrewd businessman parlaying his radio and film earnings into profitable real estate investments and was one of the wealthiest black entertainers at the time. He died at age 71 of heart disease. Mantan Moreland and Eddie “Rochester” Anderson were two black American actors that helped remove the demeaning roles such as Stepin Fetchit* (Lincoln Perry) played before them.

*Lincoln Perry aka Stepin Fetchit who I thought was annoying more than funny especially in movies like Charlie Chan in Egypt actually parlayed his shtick into millions even though his lavish lifestyle later had him bankrupt. Next up I think I will feature Anna May Wong.  

 Eddie 

 Mantan