Volume III: Biographies

HOLLINGSHEAD, Gordon *

Actor, assistant director (1914-1917)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Gordon Hollingshead was employed by Thanhouser circa 1914-1917 in the capacity of actor and assistant director.

Biographical Notes: Gordon Hollingshead, who claimed a blood relationship to Ethan Allen and Robert E. Lee, was born in Garfield, New Jersey on January 8, 1891 and was educated at St. Bernard's School in Bernardsville in the same state. He decided upon a stage career, and was subsequently seen for four years in many stock and vaudeville productions, including Human Hearts and A Fool There Was. He considered one of his most important roles to have been in Tangled Lives, under the management of H.H. Frazee.

His screen career included work with Kalem, after which he went to Thanhouser. By 1914 he was in Thanhouser films, and by 1916 he was an assistant director to William Parke. Although he was very active at the New Rochelle studio, he was not mentioned prominently in publicity. His friends called him "Holly." From at least 1916 to 1918 he lived at 33 Jackson Avenue in New Rochelle. Gordon Hollingshead was 5'11" tall and weighed 174 pounds (in 1918).

During World War I he was a photographer in the Signal Corps and was named by General Pershing to play the lead role in a group of educational films designed to prepare soldiers for their return to civilian life. He later went to California, where on April 25, 1925 he joined Warner Bros. In later years he went on to achieve great recognition in the film industry. He was assistant director for eight of John Barrymore's films at that studio, including Don Juan, When a Man Loves, Moby Dick, and The Man From Blankley's. At the opening of Don Juan at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, in Hollywood, Barrymore was called upon to make a statement to the audience. Instead of the expected commentary on the successful marriage of sound and pictures in the new "talkies," the actor delivered a testimonial to Hollingshead, concluding with the statement: "An assistant director must have the tenacity of a bulldog, the diplomacy of a Talleyrand, and the courage of a Jack Dempsey. Hollingshead qualified."

Hollingshead was also involved in the production of The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, and several other early Warner Bros. sound films. In 1938 he was named production chief of Warner Bros.' short subjects department. While with Warner Bros. he was nominated for Academy Awards 36 times and received 25, a number second only to Walt Disney's 31. In her syndicated Sunday column, May 2, 1943, Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper devoted a full page to the life story of Gordon Hollingshead, noting that he had discovered many stars and to his employer he was "worth his weight in gold."

In September 1946, Hollingshead and his wife suffered a fire in their home in Balboa, California, when they were severely burned prior to their flight from the structure's second story. Gordon Hollingshead died in Balboa, California on July 8, 1952. He was survived by his wife, Axelaine, two daughters, Mrs. Ebba Webb and Mrs. H.R. Ring; a sister, Mrs. Hettie Bryant; a stepson, Otto Hoeg; and five grandchildren.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1914: Beating Back (released by Direct-From-Broadway Features 6-9-1914), Old Jackson's Girl (10-20-1914), The Dead Line (Princess 10-30-1914), When Vice Shuddered (Princess 11-6-1914)

1915: The Song of the Heart (5-11-1915), The Patriot and the Spy (6-7-1915)

1916: The Reunion (2-23-1916), The Shine Girl (8-27-1916), Prudence the Pirate (10-22-1916)

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