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.
Acting (54 movies)
Underworld
1927
The Wizard of Oz
1925
The Sawmill
1922
Golf
1922
Kid Speed
1924
Go Straight!
1925
The Simple Life
1919
Pluck and Plotters
1918
Passing the Buck
1919
Between the Acts
1919
Scamps and Scandals
1919
School Days
1920
The Suitor
1920
The Fly-Cop
1920
The Hick
1921
A Simple Sap
1928
The Star Boarder
1919
The Grocery Clerk
1919
The Cloudhopper
1925
The Perfect Clown
1925
Bears and Bad Men
1918
Frauds and Frenzies
1918
Huns and Hyphens
1918
Dunces and Dangers
1918
His Home Sweet Home
1919
Dew Drop Inn
1919
Dull Care
1919
Traps and Tangles
1919
The Bakery
1921
The Rent Collector
1921
The Bell Hop
1921
The Fall Guy
1921
A Pair of Kings
1922
The Stunt Man
1927
Lightning Love
1923
The Midnight Cabaret
1923
Horseshoes
1923
The Gown Shop
1923
Her Boy Friend
1924
Gall and Golf
1917
The Girl in the Limousine
1924
Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs
1918
Oh, What a Man!
1927
The Barnyard
1923
The Head Waiter
1919
Hindoos and Hazards
1918
Risks and Roughnecks
1917
Tough Luck and Tin Lizzies
1917
The Show
1922
Well, I'll Be
1919
Trouble Brewing
1924
The Stage Hand
1920
Spuds
1927
Bullies and Bullets
1917
Directing (76 movies)
Flatheads and Flivvers
1917
The Simple Life
1919
The Wizard of Oz
1925
The Sawmill
1922
Golf
1922
Kid Speed
1924
Pluck and Plotters
1918
Passing the Buck
1919
Plagues And Puppy Love
1917
Between the Acts
1919
Scamps and Scandals
1919
School Days
1920
The Suitor
1920
The Fly-Cop
1920
The Hick
1921
Bears and Bad Men
1918
Romans and Rascals
1918
Frauds and Frenzies
1918
Huns and Hyphens
1918
Dunces and Dangers
1918
His Home Sweet Home
1919
Dew Drop Inn
1919
Dull Care
1919
Traps and Tangles
1919
Dummies
1928
A Simple Sap
1928
The Star Boarder
1919
A Weakend Driver
1922
The Bakery
1921
The Rent Collector
1921
The Bell Hop
1921
The Sportsman
1921
The Fall Guy
1921
The Grocery Clerk
1919
The Counter Jumper
1922
A Pair of Kings
1922
The Stunt Man
1927
Lightning Love
1923
The Midnight Cabaret
1923
No Wedding Bells
1923
Horseshoes
1923
The Gown Shop
1923
Her Boy Friend
1924
The Cloudhopper
1925
Gall and Golf
1917
The Man from Egypt
1916
Walls and Wallops
1916
Rips and Rushes
1917
Bullies and Bullets
1917
Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs
1918
Oh, What a Man!
1927
The Barnyard
1923
There and Back
1916
Hash and Havoc
1916
Worries and Wobbles
1917
A Villainous Villain
1916
The Girl in the Limousine
1924
The Dome Doctor
1925
Risks and Roughnecks
1917
Losing Weight
1916
The Head Waiter
1919
Tough Luck and Tin Lizzies
1917
Hindoos and Hazards
1918
Skids and Scalawags
1918
Captain Jinks' Evolution
1916
The Show
1922
Well, I'll Be
1919
The Stage Hand
1920
Trouble Brewing
1924
The Baby and the Boss
1915
Turks and Troubles
1917
Footlights and Fakers
1917
He Never Touched Me
1917
Somewhere in Any Place
1917
Big Bluffs and Bowling Balls
1917
Jolts and Jewelry
1917