Larry Semon
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- February 9, 1889
- Died
- October 8, 1928 (aged 39)
- Birthplace
- West Point, Mississippi, USA
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
Photos
Filmography
Dummies
Movie · Director
A Simple Sap
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The Stunt Man
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Oh, What a Man!
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The Wizard of Oz
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The Cloudhopper
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The Dome Doctor
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Kid Speed
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Her Boy Friend
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The Girl in the Limousine
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Trouble Brewing
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Lightning Love
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The Midnight Cabaret
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No Wedding Bells
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Horseshoes
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The Gown Shop
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The Barnyard
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The Sawmill
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Golf
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A Weakend Driver
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The Counter Jumper
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A Pair of Kings
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The Show
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The Hick
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The Bakery
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The Rent Collector
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The Bell Hop
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The Sportsman
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The Fall Guy
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School Days
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The Suitor
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The Fly-Cop
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The Stage Hand
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The Simple Life
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Passing the Buck
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Between the Acts
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Scamps and Scandals
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His Home Sweet Home
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Dew Drop Inn
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Dull Care
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Traps and Tangles
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The Star Boarder
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The Grocery Clerk
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The Head Waiter
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Well, I'll Be
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Pluck and Plotters
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Bears and Bad Men
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Romans and Rascals
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Frauds and Frenzies
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Huns and Hyphens
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Dunces and Dangers
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Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs
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Hindoos and Hazards
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Skids and Scalawags
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Babes and Boobs
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Flatheads and Flivvers
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Plagues And Puppy Love
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Gall and Golf
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Rips and Rushes
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Bullies and Bullets
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Worries and Wobbles
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Risks and Roughnecks
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Tough Luck and Tin Lizzies
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Turks and Troubles
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Footlights and Fakers
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He Never Touched Me
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Somewhere in Any Place
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Big Bluffs and Bowling Balls
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Jolts and Jewelry
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The Man from Egypt
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Walls and Wallops
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There and Back
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Hash and Havoc
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A Villainous Villain
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Losing Weight
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Captain Jinks' Evolution
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The Baby and the Boss
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