Today is the 129th birthday of the silent film actor Harold Lloyd. That clock scene is one of the most famous silent film scenes ever created. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.
NAME: Harold Lloyd
OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Comedian
BIRTH DATE: April 20, 1893
DEATH DATE: March 8, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH: Burchard, Nebraska
PLACE OF DEATH: Beverly Hills, California
OSCAR: (honorary) 1953
GRAND MARSHAL OF THE TOURNAMENT OF ROSES: 1935
HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME: 1501 Vine St.
HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME: 6840 Hollywood Blvd.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Comedian Harold Lloyd was a star of silent film era, appearing in notable movies Just Nuts, Girl Shy and The Freshman.
Harold Lloyd, motion-picture comedian who was the highest paid star of the 1920s and one of the cinema’s most popular personalities.
The son of an itinerant commercial photographer, Lloyd finally settled in San Diego, Calif., where in 1913 he started playing minor parts in one-reel comedies. He mastered the art of the comic chase in the short time he was a member of Mack Sennett’s Keystone comedy troupe. In 1915 Lloyd joined the new acting company formed by Hal Roach, a former actor who had turned producer. During this period he experimented with a comic character, the bewhiskered Willie Work. The most consistently successful of his early films, however, were those of the Lonesome Luke series. Beginning with Just Nuts (1915), Luke quickly became a popular U.S. screen character.
By 1918 the figure of the ordinary white-faced man in round glasses had replaced Luke as Lloyd’s screen trademark. He developed his humour from plot and situation and was the first comedian to use physical danger as a source of laughter. Lloyd performed his own stunts and was known as the screen’s most daring comedian. In Safety Last! (1923), an outstanding success, he hung from the hands of a clock several stories above a city street; in Girl Shy (1924) he took a thrilling ride atop a runaway streetcar; in The Freshman (1925), one of the most successful of all silent pictures, he stood in for the football tackling dummy.
Lloyd’s peak of popularity was reached during the period of silent films, when emphasis was on visual rather than verbal humour, although he made many films after the coming of sound. His last was Mad Wednesday (1947). He was honored with a special Academy Award in 1952 for his contribution to motion-picture comedy. In 1962 Lloyd released Harold Lloyd’s World of Comedy, a compilation of scenes from his old movies, and Harold Lloyd’s Funny Side of Life. The reception given to both demonstrated the timelessness of Lloyd’s silent comedy.
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Mad Wednesday (18-Feb-1947) as Harold Diddlebock
Professor Beware (13-Jul-1938)
The Milky Way (7-Feb-1936) as Burleigh Sullivan
The Cat’s-Paw (30-Jul-1934)
Movie Crazy (12-Aug-1932) as Harold Hall
Feet First (8-Nov-1930)
Welcome Danger (12-Oct-1929) as Harold Bledsoe
Speedy (7-Apr-1928)
The Kid Brother (22-Jan-1927) as Harold Hickory
For Heaven’s Sake (4-Apr-1926) as J. Harold Manners
The Freshman (20-Sep-1925) as The Freshman
Hot Water (26-Oct-1924) as Hubby
Girl Shy (20-Apr-1924) as Harold Meadows
Why Worry? (2-Sep-1923)
Safety Last! (1-Apr-1923) as The Boy
Dr. Jack (26-Nov-1922)
Grandma’s Boy (20-May-1922)
A Sailor-Made Man (25-Dec-1921) as The Boy
Never Weaken (22-Oct-1921) as The Boy
Among Those Present (29-May-1921) as The Boy
Now or Never (27-Mar-1921)
Number, Please? (26-Dec-1920) as The Boy
Get Out and Get Under (12-Sep-1920) as The Boy
Haunted Spooks (14-Mar-1920) as The Boy
His Royal Slyness (8-Feb-1920)
Ask Father (9-Feb-1919) as The Boy
Waldina 