Volume III: Biographies

 

PHILLIPS, Joseph H. **

Actor (1914-1917)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Joseph H. Phillips appeared intermittently in Thanhouser films during the 1914-1917 era.

Biographical Notes: Joseph Phillips was born of Portuguese-American parents in Providence, Rhode Island and was educated in the same city. He began his acting career in 1884, and for the next 22 years was seen in many roles, including 15 years in vaudeville with Mattie Keene, playing sketches written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. He entered films about 1912. By 1914 he was with Thanhouser, for whom he played in The Million Dollar Mystery and various feature films, remaining there on an intermittent basis for three years, often playing "tough guy" roles.

The New Rochelle Pioneer, February 20, 1915, noted: "So Joe Phillips is a gun-toter. Well, given an equal chance for his mitt fists, Joe doesn't need a gun. He has put the kibosh on so many extras that the writer has lost count, and every clip given meant a bump that loomed up large and healthy as soon as the dazed one began to recover. At that I wouldn't care to go against Joe if I were a two-gun toter."

Phillips acted at the Thanhouser studio during the day and at night managed a bowling alley he owned on Huguenot Street in New Rochelle. At the time his residence was 301 Huguenot Street. During the autumn of 1914 Charles Van Houten organized a team of Thanhouser players to bowl there once a week. During the same time Phillips was often seen on stage in vaudeville acts and plays. In 1915 Joseph Phillips was with Universal and was subsequently seen in the February 1916 Universal release of The Path of Happiness. In 1916 the actor was in several Thanhouser films, and in 1917 he was seen in the Thanhouser's The Vicar of Wakefield and Her Life and His. At one time he also acted for Metro, Fox, and Peerless.

The 1917-1918 editions of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory listed him as being 5'7" tall, weighing 180 pounds, and having a dark complexion, gray hair, and gray eyes. At the time his home address was 102 West 45th Street, New York City, and his mailing address was care of the Screen Club in the same city. Among his leisure activities he collected clothing and accessories for his "character" wardrobe.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1914: The Cooked Goose (7-5-1914), The Substitute (7-14-1914), Gold (9-15-1914), The Dead Line (Princess 10-30-1914), The Terror of Anger (11-10-1914), The Chasm (11-13-1914), A Bum Mistake (Princess 11-20-1914), A Messenger of Gladness (11-22-1914), Sid Nee's Finish (12-20-1914)

1914-1915 Serial: The Million Dollar Mystery

1915: P. Henry Jenkins and Mars (Falstaff 7-23-1915)

1916: The Professor's Peculiar Precautions (Falstaff 4-8-1916), Where Wives Win (Falstaff 6-10-1916), The Fugitive (8-13-1916)

1917: Her Life and His (2-18-1917), The Vicar of Wakefield (2-25-1917)

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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.