Broncho Billy Anderson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Broncho Billy Anderson
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Anderson c. 1913
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| Born |
Maxwell Henry Aronson
March 21, 1880 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
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| Died | January 20, 1971 (aged 90) |
| Resting place | Chapel of the Pines Crematory, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Gilbert M. Anderson |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1903–1965 |
| Spouse(s) |
Mollie Louise Schabbleman
(m. 1910) |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Leona Anderson (sister) |
Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson (born Maxwell Henry Aronson; March 21, 1880 – January 20, 1971) was a famous American actor. He was also a writer, film director, and producer. Broncho Billy is known as the very first star of Western movies. He helped start Essanay Studios and was one of its main actors. In 1958, he received a special Academy Award for being a pioneer in the film industry. This means he helped movies become what they are today.
Contents
Early Life and Beginnings
Maxwell Henry Aronson was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1880. He was the sixth child in his family. His parents, Henry and Esther Aronson, were from New York. His younger sister, Leona Anderson, also became an actress and singer. His family was Jewish. His grandparents came to the United States from Prussia and the Russian Empire.
When he was three, his family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. They lived there until he was eight, then moved to St. Louis, Missouri. At 18, he moved to New York City. He performed in vaudeville shows and plays. To earn more money, he also worked as a photographer's model and sold newspapers. In 1903, he met Edwin S. Porter, a film director. Porter hired him as an actor and sometimes to help write scripts.
Becoming a Film Star
Anderson played several roles in the famous 1903 film The Great Train Robbery. He was the dancing tenderfoot, a train passenger who gets shot, and one of the bandits. When he first saw the movie in a theater, he was amazed by how much the audience loved it. This made him decide to work only in the movie business. He started writing, directing, and acting in his own Western films. He used the name Gilbert M. Anderson for these projects.
In 1907, in Chicago, Anderson and George Kirke Spoor started Essanay Studios. The name "Essanay" came from "S and A" for Spoor and Anderson. It became one of the biggest early movie studios. In 1909, Anderson directed Mr. Flip. This film had the first known "pie-in-the-face" comedy trick.
Anderson acted in more than 300 short films. He played many different characters. But he became very popular for a series of 148 silent Western shorts. He was the first movie cowboy star, known as "Broncho Billy." Spoor stayed in Chicago to manage the studio. Meanwhile, Anderson traveled across the western United States with a film crew. They shot movies on location. Many of these films were made in Niles, a small town in Alameda County, California. The nearby Western Pacific Railroad route through Niles Canyon was perfect for filming Westerns.
Anderson wrote, acted in, and directed most of these movies. He also directed a series of funny "Alkali Ike" Westerns. These films starred Augustus Carney.
Later Career and Awards
In 1916, Anderson sold his part of Essanay Studios and stopped acting. He moved back to New York City. He bought the Longacre Theatre and produced plays, but they were not very successful. Later, he briefly returned to producing films. He made a series of short films with Stan Laurel. One of these was A Lucky Dog (filmed in 1919, released in 1921), which was Laurel's first work with Oliver Hardy. Because of problems with the studio, Metro, he retired again after 1920.
Anderson later sued Paramount Pictures. This was because they named a character "Bronco Billy" in their 1943 film Star Spangled Rhythm. He felt the movie showed the character as a "washed-up and broken-down actor." Anderson thought this made him look bad. He asked for $900,000, but the result of the lawsuit is not known.
Anderson started producing movies again in the 1950s with his company, Progressive Pictures. Then he retired once more. In 1958, he received an Honorary Academy Award. This award recognized him as a "motion picture pioneer" for his important "contributions to the development of motion pictures as entertainment."
When he was 85 years old, Anderson came out of retirement one last time. He had a small role in the 1965 film The Bounty Killer.
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Naked Hands, 1918
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The Son of a Gun, 1919
Personal Life and Passing
Broncho Billy Anderson was married to Mollie Louise Schabbleman. They had one daughter named Maxine. In his later years, he lived at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He became paralyzed in his legs. This was due to a back injury he got while making a film.
He passed away in 1971 at the age of 90. He died at a sanitarium in South Pasadena, California. His body was cremated. His ashes were placed in a vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.
Legacy and Honors
Broncho Billy Anderson was honored after his death in many ways. In 1998, his image appeared on a U.S. postage stamp. In 2002, he was added to the Western Performers Hall of Fame. This is at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
For many years, Niles (now part of Fremont), California, has held an annual "Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival." This town was where the western Essanay Studios were located.
Anderson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in motion pictures. It is located at 1651 Vine Street in Hollywood.
A park in Chicago, near where the Essanay Studio used to be, was named Broncho Billy Park in his honor.
On March 21, 2018, a historical marker was placed in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is across the street from his birthplace. The marker was donated by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation. They worked with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum and First United Methodist Church (Little Rock, Arkansas).
See also
- Broncho Billy Anderson filmography
- The Resurrection of Broncho Billy, a 1970 short Western film
