Happy Birthday, Lon Chaney!
Posted by: Loren Coleman on April 1st, 2008
April Fool’s Day is Lon Chaney’s birthday.
Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American film actor, nicknamed “The Man of a Thousand Faces,” whose macabre characterizations are classics of the silent screen. Both of Chaney’s parents were deaf, and as a child of deaf adults, Chaney became skilled in pantomime, which can be seen in his skilled acting for his many difficult roles. He is especially remembered as the Phantom of the Opera (above) and the Hunchback of Notre Dame (directly below).
Chaney had many bizarre, almost Fortean roles, including the clown Flik in Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928). The film is a strange one, about the clown adopting, raising, and falling in love with his “daughter” (played by Loretta Young, at 14, in her first role).
Chaney decided to have his Flik character in this film portrayed in the Grotesque Style of clown makeup. Chaney also arranged for the song from this film, “Laugh, Clown, Laugh,” which had become very popular after the movie’s release, to be played at his funeral (two years later).
As I have pointed out when discussing “Phantom Clowns,” the characterization of clowns in popular culture and reality is hardly all fun and games.
Of course, what many of us recall Lon Chaney, Sr., for is as the father of his son, Lon Chaney, Jr., (February 10, 1906 – July 12, 1973) who shall roam cinematic memory banks forever as the lead in The Wolf Man (1941).
Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright… ~ Curt Siodmak.
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Chaney’s genius still holds up, even when compared to today’s sophisticated effects. I strngly recommend anybody interested in learning about him read the three books on his life written by Michael Blake and are available on Amazon.
According to the late, great writer Robert Bloch, when asked what the most frightening thing he could think of was, Chaney replied, “A clown, at midnight.”
Bit of a side line…Gene Simmons, of KISS fame, recorded a good song (imagine that!) years ago called “Man of a thousand faces” as a tribute to his boyhood hero Lon Chaney. Your useless trivia of the day!!
My dad had me watch all those movies when I was younger, and I love his movies.
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Unfortunately, Gen Xers seem to think film began with Lucas and STAR WARS. Likewise, my generation of Baby Boomers never consider films that pre-date the “talkies”, excepting, of course, the films of Charlie Chaplin. Yet, film history and criticism acknowleges that some of the greatest films of all time were made in the silent era. And among the great screen actors and personalities of that era, like Fairbanks, Mix, Chaplin, Pickford, was Lon Chaney. He was a giant among the giants.
Chaney may have been the greatest character actor of all time. Each Chaney film character was different. He could play a moll, a handicapped charlatan, a murderer, a hunchback, the Phantom of the Opera, etc. It is a testament to his talents that, after all these years, his Phantom is the definitive version. Yet, most folks of my generation never saw more than a few scenes of Chaney, usually from his Hunchback and Phantom movies. A shame, really.
My generation’s Chaney was Lon Chaney Jr. Chaney Jr. always seemed to place himself in the shadow of his father. He could not live up to the acclaim that surrounded his father’s film accomplishments. But, to kids growing up in the 1950’s, there was a no better treat than to stay up late on a saturday night and watch a Chaney Jr. horror film. (He played, variously, Frankenstein’s creature, the son of Dracula, the mummy, an “Atomic Monster”, and, of course, The Wolfman, his signature creation).
Unlike his father, Chaney Jr. brought to his characters something sympathetic: pathos. Whether as the cursed Larry Talbot (THE WOLF MAN), the mentally challenged Lenny (OF MICE AND MEN), or the old, ailing lawman (HIGH NOON), we always felt for him.
So here is a toast to the Chaneys, father and son. Great actors, and makers of immortal monsters.