Lon Chaney facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lon Chaney
Chaney during the production of The Miracle Man, 1919
Born	Leonidas Frank Chaney (1883-04-01)April 1, 1883 Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
Died	August 26, 1930(1930-08-26) (aged 47) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Lung cancer
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
Occupation	Actor, director, screenwriter
Years active	1902-1930
Spouse(s)	Cleva Creighton (1906-1915) Hazel Hastings (1915-1930)

1923 Lon Chaney portrait

Still from The Hunchback of Notre Dame showing Chaney, as "Quasimodo", being offered water by "Esmeralda" (Patsy Ruth Miller), 1923

Lon Chaney (born April 1, 1883 – died August 26, 1930) was an American actor who became famous during the time of silent movies. He is known as one of the best actors from the early days of movies. Chaney was especially good at playing unusual or grotesque characters. He was also famous for his amazing skill with makeup.

Chaney is best remembered for starring in silent horror movies. These include The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. He was so good at changing his appearance using his own makeup tricks that people called him "The Man of a Thousand Faces."

Lon Chaney's Life Story

Lon Chaney was born Leonidas Frank Chaney in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on April 1, 1883. His parents, Frank H. Chaney and Emma Alice Kennedy, were both deaf. Because of this, Lon became very skilled at pantomime, which is acting without words. This skill helped him later in his acting career.

He started acting on stage in 1902. For several years, Chaney traveled with popular Vaudeville shows, which were like variety shows. In 1905, he married a singer named Cleva Creighton. Their only son, Creighton Chaney (who later became known as Lon Chaney Jr.), was born in 1906. The Chaney family continued to tour and eventually settled in California in 1910.

In 1913, Lon Chaney had some personal difficulties, which led to him leaving the theater. He then started working in movies, where he had already played small parts since 1912.

Early Movie Career

From 1912 to 1917, Chaney worked for Universal Studios. He mostly played small or supporting roles. During this time, he became friends with director Joseph DeGrasse and his wife, Ida May Parke. They gave him more important parts in their films.

By 1917, Chaney had become a recognized actor at the studio, but he wasn't paid much. He decided to leave Universal Studios to find better opportunities. For about a year, he struggled to find good acting jobs.

His big break came in 1918 when he played an important role in William S. Hart's movie, Riddle Gawne. This film helped other people in the movie industry see how talented he was.

Becoming "The Man of a Thousand Faces"

In 1919, Chaney had a huge success as "The Frog" in George Loane Tucker's movie, The Miracle Man. This film showed off not only his acting skills but also his amazing talent with makeup. The movie was very popular and made a lot of money. It made Chaney known as one of America's best character actors.

Chaney is most famous for his roles in horror films, especially the silent versions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. He could change his appearance so completely, even without fancy makeup tools, which is why he was called "Man of a Thousand Faces."

He also worked with director Tod Browning on several films. In these movies, Chaney often played characters with unique or changed appearances. For example, he played Alonzo the Armless, a carnival knife thrower, in The Unknown (1927) with Joan Crawford. In 1927, Chaney starred in London After Midnight, a horror movie directed by Tod Browning. This film is now lost, meaning no copies exist today, but it is still very famous.

Lon Chaney's last film was a sound remake of his silent movie The Unholy Three (1930). This was his only "talkie" (a movie with sound), and it was the only time audiences could hear his powerful voice.

His Famous Characters

The Phantom of the Opera, 1925

His roles as Quasimodo (the bell ringer in The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Erik (the "phantom" of the Paris Opera House) were meant to make viewers feel sympathy. These characters were often seen as "monsters" because of bad luck or how the world treated them, not because of their own choices.

The writer Ray Bradbury once said that Chaney "was able to nail down some of our secret fears and put them on-screen." He felt that Chaney showed how people sometimes fear they are not loved or that there is something about them that the world will turn away from.

Later Years and Death

While filming Thunder in 1929, Chaney became sick with pneumonia. His health got worse, and he passed away the next year from throat cancer. He was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Lon Chaney has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1994, he was honored with his image on a United States postage stamp.

Lon Chaney's Legacy

In 1957, a movie about Lon Chaney's life was made called Man of a Thousand Faces. Actor James Cagney played Chaney. However, the film was mostly made-up, because Chaney was a very private person. He didn't like the Hollywood lifestyle and rarely shared personal details about himself or his family. He once said, "Between pictures, there is no Lon Chaney."

Chaney's son, Creighton, later changed his name to Lon Chaney Jr.. He also became a film actor after his father's death. Lon Chaney Jr. is well-known for his roles in horror films, like playing the main character in The Wolf Man (1941). In 1997, both Lon Chaney and Lon Chaney Jr. appeared on special US postage stamps. Lon Chaney was shown as the Phantom of the Opera, and Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man. Other horror icons like Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster and the Mummy were also on these stamps.

A documentary film about Lon Chaney, called Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces, was released in 2000. It was made by silent film expert Kevin Brownlow and narrated by Kenneth Branagh. Lon Chaney and his son are also mentioned in the song "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon.

Honors and Memorials

Chaney's Sierra Nevada House, located near Big Pine, California, was his mountain retreat.

Lon Chaney has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard. As mentioned, his image was featured on a United States postage stamp in 1994.

In 1929, Chaney built a stone cabin in the quiet mountains of the eastern Sierra Nevada, near Big Pine, California. This was his special place to get away from everything. The cabin is still there in the Inyo National Forest, but it's not open to the public.

After he died, Chaney's wife, Hazel, gave his famous makeup case to the Los Angeles County Museum. The museum sometimes puts the case on display for people to see. Also, the stage theater at the Colorado Springs Civic Auditorium is named after him.

Filmography

Lon Chaney made about 157 films, but around 102 of them are now considered lost films. This means that copies of these movies no longer exist. Some others only exist in very short versions or are badly damaged.

Short Films

Feature Films

Images for kids

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  Chaney with his personal makeup kit in 1925

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  Ethel Grey Terry and Chaney in The Penalty (1920)

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  Chaney as the Chinese immigrant "Yen Sin" in Shadows (1922)

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  Chaney, in full makeup and attire of "Mr. Wu", conducts a women's orchestra, 1927

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  Chaney's unmarked crypt in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California

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  Fagin in Oliver Twist (1922)

See also

In Spanish: Lon Chaney para niños