Lloyd Harold Clayton is known to the world as an American comedian and silent film director. He starred in an incredible amount of films and amazed the audience with his masterful play.
Harold Lloyd: biography, photos of different periods of life
Clayton was born in 1893, on April 20 - on the birthday of the Great Dictator, the founder of fascism Adolf Hitler. The birthplace of the actor is the city of Burchard, which is located in the US state of Nebraska. His ancestors once emigrated from Wales to the States. The boy’s family barely made ends meet, his father - James Lloyd - was a photographer. The boy was left to his own devices, and when he was 10 years old, he met a troupe of strolling musicians and began performing with them on the stage. However, for a long time he could not hold out that way and from the age of 11 he began selling sweets and programs in the theater.
The first steps in the theater
It was during the part-time period that Harold Lloyd Clayton became very interested in theater art and a year later, thanks to his exceptional artistic abilities, made his debut on stage as a supporting actor. It was a "single coil" comedy lasting 10-12 minutes. After he moved to California (San Diego) as a nineteen-year-old boy, he established relations with the film company Thomas Edison and began acting in small roles. There he met with director Hal Roachch, who, after organizing his own film studio, took Lloyd to his place. Well, when Lloyd received the inheritance, they together founded the Roachch-Lloyd film studio. Starring in Hal's films, Harold Lloyd made great strides and soon became one of the most successful comedic actors of the second decade of the twentieth century. Harry received his acting education at the Denver School of Dramatic Art, as well as acting classes in San Diego.
Cinema and personal life
His partner in the movie was Bibi Daniels. She starred in secondary roles, and a romance broke out between them. The public, this couple in love was known as “Boy” and “Girl”. In 1919, Bibi broke up with Lloyd, because she wanted to try herself in dramatic films. Without thinking twice, Harold Lloyd found a replacement for her in the face of Mildred Davis. When he first saw her, he thought that she looks like a real French doll, only very large.
Roles
At the beginning of his career, the young artist had to shorten his full name to Harold Lloyd. Films with his participation were very popular and, therefore, the abbreviated name (without Clayton) was easier to keep by ear. His first character in the movie was Lone Luke. Lloyd himself admitted that this was an imitation of Chaplin, just unlike the clothes on him were also not at the right time, but in this case it was not too big, but, on the contrary, small and narrow, which also looked very funny. Soon, he himself developed another character - “a character with glasses.” He, like the performer of the role, was called Harold. This hero was also very fond of the audience, because it caused all the audience both smiles and sympathy. In short, the tandem of Roach and Harold was able to prove that he can independently work and arouse the interest of the audience.
Lloyd Harold Clayton: Films and Curious Stories From Filming
Since 1921, Lloyd and Roach stopped creating short films, and Lloyd had to rebuild to the full meter. The first among them was The Born Sailor, which was released in late 1921. The next film was Grandma’s Granddaughter. This picture combined a complex characteristic development and comedy. Surely, many experts in silent cinema remember the episode from the film, shot in 1923, “Finally Safe!”. Harold Lloyd is hanging on the hands of a tower clock, and far below it is a street. This frame is one of the most famous in the history of cinema. Thanks to this picture, the artist was known as a real stuntman, and they began to invite him to act in films with dangerous stunts. It happened that he broke down and received multiple bruises and injuries. Back in 1920, during the shooting of the Haunted Spooks, when a bomb accident was filmed, he lost his thumb and forefinger on his right hand. Later, in order to hide this injury, he wore a special prosthetic glove.
Freemasonry
In 1925, Harold Lloyd joined the Hollywood Masonic Lodge, which bore the name of Alexander Hamilton. He advanced very quickly in Freemasonry and reached the degree of Honorary Inspector General. Over time, his career as an actor began to decline. He has been involved in many charitable projects. This activity fascinated him entirely, and he had less and less time left for the cinema. In addition, he became picky about roles. After all, his position in the Masonic lodge was truly very high. His last film was the picture "Crazy Wednesday."
Filmography
Harold Lloyd began acting in 1914. The oldest film with his participation dates back to this year. It was a Give and Take picture. Some of the films today can be found on DVD, others are preserved in their original form and are of great value. They say that he kept most of the tapes with his participation in his house. However, in 1943, a fire broke out in the house, and much of the archival materials burned down. These were mainly short films, but the full-length films to this day remain in excellent condition, and generations can appreciate his work and understand what peak Harold Lloyd was in the cinema.
His filmography includes more than 200 comedy films, among them there are both silent and sound ones. The last paintings were shot in 1947. Despite the fact that his fame as a film actor could not overshadow the great Chaplin, Lloyd, however, starred in much more films that brought him more than $ 15 million. Of course, all the films cannot be listed, but here are some of them: Just Nuts (1915), Luke, Crystal Gazer (1916), Over the Fence (1917), Back to the Woods (1918), Pay Your Dues (1919), His Royal Slyness (1920), Now or Never (1921), Safety Last! (2013), The Freshman (1925), Welcome Danger (1927), The Cat's-Paw (1934), The Milky Way (1938), The Sin of Harold (1947), etc.
Every year, starting in 1917, he starred in more than 10 films. And every year their number increased. The most “prolific” were 1918 and 1919, when the number of paintings with his participation reached 44. This was an absolute record for his time, each time he appeared in front of the audience in a completely new look, nevertheless, all his roles were incredibly funny and kind.
Trail of Harold Lloyd in the cinema
Some of today's comedians considered themselves followers of Lloyd. Some would like to repeat his bold stunts at all costs. So, for example, his namesake Christopher Lloyd repeated the same famous trick with the hands of the clock in the movie "Back to the Future." But in the famous comedy "Dumb and Dumber" the "sweet couple" is called Lloyd and Harry. Apparently, the screenwriter when creating the plot was inspired by the role of Harold Clayton. The same probably happened with the scriptwriter of the animated series Futurama. There you will meet the hero Harold Zozoid. In 1962 and 1963, the Paramount film company created editing films dedicated to the art of Harold Lloyd - "The World of Comedies" and "The Funny Side of Life." These paintings, telling about the formation of the great comedian, were accepted by film enthusiasts with a bang.
Prizes and awards
For almost 35 years of activity in the world of cinema, Harol Lloyd has been awarded many awards, among which the most significant is the Oscar (1952), which was called “Good Citizen and Master of Comedy”. Comedian Harol Lloyd was perhaps one of the most reckoned comedic actors of his time. In popularity, he was inferior only to Charlie Chaplin. However, he more often than that appeared on the screens, and always in new images. After all, there were much more films with his participation than Chaplin's.
Epitaph
Harold Lloyd died in the spring of 1971. The diagnosis is prostate cancer. He was 77 years old. The great comedian was buried at Forest Laun Cemetery, located in the city of Glendale (California). The inscription “Finally safe” is left on his gravestone, as the name of one of his films.