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Lon Chaney Sr.: Just how big a star?

Author	Comment
TomWeaver999		#21	[-]
(07/20/08 4:09 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	My name is SUE. How DO you DO?? Now YOU gonna die!!
telegonus	Seniors and Juniors	#22	[-]
(07/21/08 10:56 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	The senior Zimbalist was a violinist, quite well known to fans of classical music in his day, less so to the general public. Young Zimbalist needed the "junior" so as to distinguish himself from his musical father. Since the elder Zimbalist is scarcely remembered today this might seem odd. Strange to imagine Isaac Stern or Itzak Perlman having a son who was a dashing movie and TV star... Did we mention Alan Hale, Jr.? He was billed as "junior" for quite some time, not sure when (if?) he dropped it. I think (not sure about this) that by the time he appeared in Gilligan's Island he was being billed as just Alan Hale. His father was a prominent character actor in the movies for literally decades, appearing as Errol Flynn's best pal in over a half-dozen films, so early on young Alan had to emphasize that he was his father's son. Ironically, the son achieved a modest level of success, roughly on a par with his father, maybe a bit less, and for a shorter period of time.
TomWeaver999		#23	[-]
(07/21/08 11:38 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	<< the son achieved a modest level of success, roughly on a par with his father, maybe a bit less << Because of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, I'd have to say Jr. became a lot better-known than Sr. As someone once said, "The world is made up of only two kinds of people: Those who've watched GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and will admit it, and those who've watched it and WON'T admit it." Noah Beery has similarly receded into the past while Noah Beery, Jr., because of THE ROCKFORD FILES, etc., is a familiar face to most people of a certain age today. Then there's Wallace Reid Jr. and House Peters Jr. and and and, where nobody gives a **** about either! Last Edited By: TomWeaver999 07/22/08 8:39 AM. Edited 1 times.
telegonus	Hale, Beery and Lada Edmund, Jr.	#24	[-]
(07/22/08 12:56 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Yes, it was Gilligan that put the younger Alan Hale on the map, so to speak, though it didn't lead to much afterwards (aside from Gilligan cult conventions and the like). I'd forgotten about Noah Beery, Jr., who'd been around since the beginning of time pre-Rockford and yet never became much of a name. His father is pretty much forgotten except by silent film buffs; uncle Wally lives on in the memories of those who enjoyed his films, most of whom are now over eighty.. Remember go-go gal Lada Edmund, Jr.? I could never figure out who senior was.
TServo4		#25	[-]
(07/22/08 2:40 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	And what of Charlie Chaplin Jr. and Harold Lloyd Jr.? To get to the original topic at hand, I'm fairly certain that the budget for PHANTOM was over a million dollars and that the $100,000 was meant for Chaney, to be paid in something like $2,000-a-week increments and a substantial advance. His salary was about the same for HUNCHBACK and both are reported in Blake's book, which I don't have beside me at the moment. Chaney was a star by HUNCHBACK, for sure, again, largely due to THE MIRACLE MAN, which most people don't realize was phenomenally successful in its day and put Thomas Meighan and Betty Compson on the map, too. Before that, even, he had had a number of breaks, the biggest as playing the villain in William S. Hart's RIDDLE GAWNE. But before MIRACLE MAN, he was just a "noted character actor" playing character parts in films like THE SCARLET CAR or THE KAISER, THE BEAST OF BERLIN. HUNCHBACK was Universal's one big picture of the year -- the "Super Jewel" as they called it, and they weren't going to be handing the title role over to just any actor. It was, in fact, Chaney's idea to do the film, and probably would not have been made without him. J. Theakston The Central Theater, Passaic, NJ

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