Volume III: Biographies

GANE, Nolan **

Actor, director, scenario writer (1913-1915)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Nolan Gane was with Thanhouser from 1913 until his death in 1915.

Biographical Notes: Nolan Gane was born Nolan Gagne, of French parents in Houma, Louisiana, and was educated in New Orleans. He followed a stage career from the age of 13, when he appeared in Rags to Riches. Soon thereafter, he joined the traveling company headed by Orloff, the celebrated Russian actor. Later, he appeared in the original company of The Great Divide. He subsequently played the part of Billy in Billy the Kid, and from January through at least May 1914 he was seen in the role of Raymond Floriot in the traveling company of Madame X. The latter play was staged in early 1914 at the Valentine Theatre in Toledo in January, at the Colonial Theatre in Baltimore in May, and at other locations.

His first motion picture work was with Pathé, for whom he worked before coming to Thanhouser in the summer of 1913. Gane appeared in Frazzled Finance, released in August of the same year. A paragraph in the April 11, 1914 issue of Reel Life noted the following, many months after he was with Thanhouser: "Nolan Gane - who created such a sensation in the theatrical world by starring at the age of 13 - has gone to the Thanhouser Company to be one of their juvenile leading men...." At the same time he was with Thanhouser, he was also seen on the stage in Madame X. Apparently, he alternated stage appearances with his work at the Thanhouser studio.

In its April 25, 1914 issue, The Moving Picture World incorrectly informed readers that Nolan Gane's first Thanhouser role was as Francois in Cardinal Richelieu's Ward. This same misinformation was parroted in the June 1914 issue of The Photoplay Magazine, which at the time printed little that could not be found in other magazines. Nolan Gane, who had the appearance of a teen-aged youth, acted in many Thanhouser films released from the summer of 1913 through early 1915. He stated to a reporter: "My favorite role is emotional. Perhaps this is due to my French parentage." Around the Thanhouser studio his nickname was "Noley," occasionally spelled as "Nole."

A 1914 sketch in the Photoplay Arts Portfolio of Thanhouser Motion Picture Stars noted: "Mr. Gane is interested in Christian Science and is fond of all sports. He chooses music for his principal diversion. Paradoxical as it may seem, his greatest ambition is to become a photoplay favorite, although he admits that his strongest personal characteristic is indifference - the world calls it blasé." Another biographical sketch of Gane was printed in The New Rochelle Pioneer, October 3, 1914.

In 1914 he lived in New Rochelle at 74 Main Street, not far from the Thanhouser studio.Variety, in its issue of February 6, 1915, carried this item: "Nolan Gane, Thanhouser's boy director, is very proud of his forthcoming first release, The Gratitude of Conductor 786. Mr. Gane, who is only 22, has been playing leads for Thanhouser for three years and has the distinction of being the youngest director in the world." While acting in a film in early January 1915, Nolan Gane contracted a cold, of which he thought little at first. On Monday, January 8th, the cold took a turn for the worse, and he was hospitalized. He died of typhoid-pneumonia on Friday evening, February 12th, at the age of 23. Certain of his films were released posthumously, including The Last Concert, on May 3, 1915.

The following appeared in the New Rochelle Evening Standard, February 15, 1915: "Nolan Gagne, known professionally as 'Gane,' who played juvenile leads with the Thanhouser Company, died of pneumonia in the New Rochelle Hospital. The remains are to be taken to New Orleans, his birthplace. He was only in his 23rd year but had won a place for himself in the film world.... Before joining the Thanhouser forces he was with Pathé. He had been working hard of late acting and directing part of the time. Lately he wrote several scenarios which he directed. What is considered his masterpiece is The Master's Model, just completed and not yet released. He caught cold a few days ago and on Monday his friends took him from the place where he lived, 11 Lafayette Street, to the hospital. Pneumonia had developed. For two days he was kept alive by oxygen."

Note: His first name was sometimes misspelled as "Nolen" in publicity.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1913: Frazzled Finance (8-31-1913), The Farmer's Daughters (9-28-1913), The Plot Against the Governor (10-14-1913)

1914: Cardinal Richelieu's Ward (3-1-1914), The Grand Passion (Princess 3-20-1914), Her First Lesson (Princess 4-3-1914), A Debut in the Foreign Service (4-7-1914), Too Much Turkey (Princess 4-10-1914), Her Awakening (Princess 4-17-1914), Politeness Pays (Princess 5-1-1914), The Widow's Mite (6-28-1914), The Cooked Goose (7-5-1914), The Substitute (7-14-1914), A Mother's Choice (9-1-1914), The Varsity Race (9-22-1914), A Dog's Love (10-4-1914), The Cripple (10-6-1914), The Benevolence of Conductor 786 (10-9-1914), Mr. Cinderella (10-25-1914), A Messenger of Gladness (11-22-1914), The Center of the Web (12-1-1914), The Reader of Minds (12-8-1914), Shadows and Sunshine (Princess 12-18-1914)

1915: Shep the Sentinel (1-1-1915), The Shoplifter (2-7-1915), The Gratitude of Conductor 786 (2-14-1915), The Master's Model (3-16-1915), Big Brother Bill (4-18-1915), The Last Concert (5-3-1915)

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