Larry Semon
Biography
American silent film comedian whose hugely successful career disappeared virtually overnight, Larry Semon was the son of a traveling vaudeville magician, Zera the Great. He grew up in show business and was trained in stage comedy and acrobatics. A talent for drawing and cartooning led to art school and then work as a cartoonist for various New York City newspapers. The humor evident in his published cartoons prompted executives at New York's Vitagraph Studios to hire him as a gag writer in 1916. He quickly proved himself and was promoted to director for the Hughie Mack series of comedies. His background in magic helped him create interesting new gags for the comedian. When Mack left the studio in 1917, Semon took over the starring role himself. His one-reelers were quite successful, and Vitagraph sent him to California to participate in its new West Coast operation. He produced as well as wrote, starred in and directed his own films, at the same time also producing films for other comics. In the summer of 1928 Semon apparently fell ill with tuberculosis and simultaneously, it seems, suffered a nervous breakdown. He entered a sanitarium near San Bernardino, CA, where he reportedly died on October 8. However, an air of mystery surrounds his death, since his wife (and former co-star) Dorothy Dwan was allowed almost no contact with him and never saw his body, which was ordered cremated after a tightly secured funeral, which was carried out per Semon's "previous instructions" and to which almost no attendees were allowed. The whereabouts of Semon's cremated remains are to this day a mystery, and his widow professed until her death to be mystified by the circumstances of his passing. With enormous financial obligations facing him Larry Semon could easily have considered a dramatic escape of this sort from his creditors. Whether he did, or whether his death was the sad final chapter to a high-rising, briefly brilliant, but ultimately short-lived career may never be known for certain.
Known For
The Wizard of Oz
1925
Lightning Love
1923
Golf
1922
The Suitor
1920
Go Straight!
1925
Underworld
1927
Oh, What a Man!
1927
Horseshoes
1923
Well, I'll Be
1919
The Perfect Clown
1925
Plagues And Puppy Love
1917
The Hick
1921
Filmography
The Wizard of Oz
as Scarecrow / Toymaker · 1925
Lightning Love
as Larry, a Suitor · 1923
Golf
as The son · 1922
The Suitor
as The Suitor · 1920
Go Straight!
as Self · 1925
Underworld
as Slippy Lewis · 1927
Oh, What a Man!
as The Detective · 1927
Horseshoes
as Larry · 1923
Well, I'll Be
as The Sheriff · 1919
The Perfect Clown
as Bert Larry · 1925
Plagues And Puppy Love
as Larry · 1917
The Hick
as Larry, the Hick · 1921
Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs
as Lawrence · 1918
A Pair of Kings
as King August / Stranger · 1922
Tough Luck and Tin Lizzies
as Larry · 1917
His Home Sweet Home
as The Husband · 1919
Bears and Bad Men
as Larry Cutshaw · 1918
The Counter Jumper
as Larry, the Counter Jumper · 1922
No Wedding Bells
as Larry · 1923
The Cloudhopper
as Borden Rhoom / Getz A. Bunn · 1925
Gall and Golf
as O.U. Dubb · 1917
Walls and Wallops
· 1916
The Sportsman
as The Sportsman · 1921
The Girl in the Limousine
as Tony · 1924
He Never Touched Me
· 1917
The Fall Guy
as Larry, the Fall Guy · 1921
Jolts and Jewelry
· 1917
Passing the Buck
as The House Detective · 1919
Somewhere in Any Place
· 1917
The Fly-Cop
as The Fly Cop · 1920
The Bakery
as Larry, a Bakery Clerk · 1921
Big Bluffs and Bowling Balls
· 1917
Between the Acts
as Larry, the Handy Man and a Drunkard · 1919
Scamps and Scandals
as Larry · 1919
The Head Waiter
as The Head Waiter · 1919
The Show
as The Prop Man / Gentle Onlooker · 1922
Footlights and Fakers
· 1917
The Bell Hop
as The Bellhop · 1921
Plans and Pajamas
as The Idler / Headmistress · 1917
The Star Boarder
as Star Boarder / Little Joe, Escaped Convict · 1919
The Gown Shop
as Larry, a salesman · 1923
The Stage Hand
as The Stage Hand · 1920
Bullies and Bullets
· 1917
The Rent Collector
as Larry, the Rent Collector · 1921
The Dome Doctor
as Peter Pep · 1925
Turks and Troubles
· 1917
The Sawmill
as The Dumb-Bell · 1922
Her Boy Friend
as Larry, the Chief's son · 1924
Babes and Boobs
as A Boob · 1918
School Days
as Joe · 1920
The Simple Life
as A Farmer's Boy · 1919
The Grocery Clerk
as The Grocery Clerk · 1919
Frauds and Frenzies
as Larry, First Prisoner · 1918
Kid Speed
as The Speed Kid · 1924
Hindoos and Hazards
as Larry · 1918
Huns and Hyphens
as Larry · 1918
Spuds
as Spuds · 1927
A Simple Sap
as It · 1928
The Stunt Man
as Larry · 1927
The Midnight Cabaret
as Larry, a Waiter · 1923
Risks and Roughnecks
as Our Hero · 1917
Trouble Brewing
as Government agent · 1924
Romans and Rascals
as Caesar / A Minstrel · 1918
The Barnyard
as Lay Zee, Farm Hand · 1923
Dull Care
as Larry, a Detective · 1919
A Weakend Driver
· 1922
Pluck and Plotters
as The Janitor · 1918
Traps and Tangles
as Detective Sparks · 1919
Dunces and Dangers
as Larry · 1918
Dew Drop Inn
as Larry, the Detective · 1919
Dummies
as The Entertainer · 1928