Happy Birthday, Harold Lloyd! Born today in 1893 as Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr., this American stunt performer, comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and director appeared in many silent comedy films.
Lloyd is considered alongside Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton as one of the most influential film comedians of the silent film era.
Lloyd performed the lesser stunts himself, despite having injured himself in August 1919 while doing publicity pictures for Hal Roach Studios, known as 'The Laugh Factory to the World'.
Among his credits, Lloyd is known for starring in the 1923 American silent black and white romantic comedy film 'Safety Last!', the 1925 American silent black and white comedy film 'The Freshman' and the 1928 American silent black and white comedy film 'Speedy'.
Regarding the latter, this was Lloyd's last silent film to be released theatrically. It was also Lloyd's nickname, who starred in the eponymous role.
As a filmmaker, Lloyd is best known for starring and co-directing the 1927 American silent black and white comedy/romance film 'The Kid Brother'.
With three other co-directors, the most notable was Russian-born American motion picture director Lewis Milestone ('All Quiet on the Western Front'). However, both he and Lloyd went uncredited.
With three other co-directors, the most notable was Russian-born American motion picture director Lewis Milestone ('All Quiet on the Western Front'). However, both he and Lloyd went uncredited.
The film follows bespectacled everyman Harold Hickory (Lloyd), a feeble boy in an otherwise brawny family, is known for being clever -- and getting into trouble.
After inviting the lovely carnival worker Mary Powers (Jobyna Ralston) into his home, Hickory discovers that a large sum of money entrusted to his burly father Jim, the sheriff (Walter James), has gone missing.
In this slapstick tale of mystery, Hickory must think fast in order to clear his family name, even if it means facing the strongman Sandoni (Constantine Romanoff).
Deftly balancing Lloyd’s brilliant sight gags and thrilling set pieces—including an epic, knock-down, drag-out fight aboard an abandoned ship—with one of the actor-filmmaker’s most fully realized, root-for-the-underdog narratives, 'The Kid Brother' is a hilarious and heartwarming high-water mark of early screen comedy.
During making one of his films, Lloyd had an accident with a bomb, of which mistaken as a prop. This resulted in the loss of the thumb and index finger of his right hand (the injury was disguised on future films with the use of a special prosthetic glove, and was almost undetectable on the screen).
Although Lloyd's individual films were not as commercially successful as Chaplin's on average, he was far more prolific (releasing twelve feature films in the 1920s while Chaplin released just four), and made more money overall ($15.7 million to Chaplin's $10.5 million).
Lloyd had been active from 1913–1963.
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