Happy Birthday, Tod Browning! Born today in 1880 as Charles Albert Browning Jr., this American carnival/sideshow worker, vaudevillian, film actor, screenwriter and film director's career had spanned the silent film and sound film eras.
Browning was born the nephew of American professional baseball center fielder and left fielder Louis Rogers "Pete" Browning (nicknamed "Gladiator" and "The Louisville Slugger").
He had played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1882 to 1894, and played primarily for the Louisville Eclipse/Colonels. Browning later became one of the sport's most accomplished batters of the 1880s
As a young boy, Charles had put on amateur plays in his backyard. He was fascinated by the circus and carnival life, and at the age of sixteen he ran away from his well-to-do family to become a performer.
Changing his name to "Tod", he traveled extensively with sideshows, carnivals, and circuses. His jobs included working as a talker for the Wild Man of Borneo, performing a live burial act in which he was billed as "The Living Corpse".
He also performed as a clown with the Ringling Bros. Circus. Browning eventually drew on this experience as inspiration for some of his film work.
He performed in vaudeville as an actor, magician's assistant, blackface comedian (in an act called The Lizard and the Coon with comedian Roy C. jones) and dancer.
In the 1912 burlesque revue The Wheel of Mirth, Browning appeared in the Mutt and Jeff sketch with American film actor of the silent era and comedian Charles Murray.
Later, while Browning was working as director of a variety theater in New York City, New York, he met American film director D. W. Griffith, who was also from Louisville, Kentucky where Browning was born.
Browning later began acting with Murray on single-reel nickelodeon comedies for Griffith and the Biograph Company (also known as the American Mutoscooe and Biograph Company).
In 1913, Griffith split from the Biograph Company and moved to California. Browning followed and continued to act in Griffith's films, now for Reliance-Majestic Studios.
This included a stint in appearing as an extra in Griffith's second film of which he is best known. This was the epic 1916 American silent black and white drama film 'Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages'. Browning was credited as Crook.
Around that time, Browning began directing, eventually directing eleven short films for Reliance-Majestic. Between 1913 and 1919. Browning also later appeared as an actor in approximately fifty motion pictures.
Throughout his career, Browning had created a handful of monster movies of what are now considered today to be horror classics. He directed these as well as other features in a wide range of genres between 1915 and 1939.
Among his credits of the 1920s, Browning is best known for co-writing and directing the 1927 American silent black and white horror film 'The Unknown'.
It starred Lon Chaney as carnival knife thrower Alonzo the Armless. It also starred Joan Crawford as the scantily clad carnival girl Nanon Zanzi, of whom Alonzo hopes to marry.
Later that same year, Browning co-produced and directed the 1927 American silent black and white horror mystery film 'London After Midnight'. The film was distributed by MGM, and was based on the scenario "The Hypnotist", also written by Browning.
Again starring Chaney, the last copy of the film known to exist was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire, along with hundreds of other rare early films.
Among his credits of the 1930s, Browning is best known for co-producing and co-directing the 1931 American pre-Code black and white supernatural horror film 'Dracula'.
Starring Bela Lugosi in his most memorable film role, 'Dracula' had been adapted from Irish author Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror fiction novel of the same name.
Also among his credits of the 1930s, Browning is best known for directing the 1932 American pre-Code black and white horror/drama film 'Freaks'.
In retrospect, numerous film critics have suggested that the film presents a starkly sympathetic portrait of its sideshow characters rather than an exploitative one. American film critic Andrew Sarris declared 'Freaks' one of the "most compassionate" films ever made.
Nonetheless, other critics have continued to take note of the film's horror elements; in 2009, American film critic, journalist, and former screenwriter Joe Morgenstern proclaimed that 'Freaks' contains some of the most terrifying scenes in film history.
Film scholars have interpreted the film as a metaphor for class conflict, reflecting the Great Depression, and it has been studied for its portrayal of people with disabilities, with theorists arguing that it presents an anti-eugenics message.
In 1994, 'Freaks' was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry, which preserves films that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 2000, 'Dracula' was selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 2002, Turner Classic Movies aired a reconstructed version of 'London After Midnight', produced by American film preservationist and silent film scholar, and a producer-director Rick Schmidlin. He had used the original script and film stills to recreate the film's original plot.
In 2005 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Quotes, the line "Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make." ranked in at #83.
Browning had been active from 1913–1939.
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