Volume III: Biographies

ETHIER, Alphonse **

Actor (1910-1917)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Although Alphonse Ethier was an actor with Thanhouser intermittently for a long span of years, he was mentioned in publicity only occasionally.

Biographical Notes: Born in Virginia City, Nevada on December 10, 1874 (one account says Springfield, Utah in 1876), Alphonse Ethier pursued a vaudeville and stage career. After he had been before the footlights for two years, he enrolled at Stanford University, where he studied languages and dramatic literature, and was right tackle on the football team. During this period he spent his summers on a cattle ranch. After his education, he went back on the stage, where he was seen in dozens of productions over the years.

Among the plays in which he appeared were Faust (1908), The Count of Monte Cristo (1908), The Barrier (1910), The Squaw Man (1910), A Fool There Was (1911), An Aztec Romance (1912), The Argyle Case (1912), Steve (1912), The Right of Way (1913), The Revolt (1914), The Strange Woman (1913-1914), Our Children (1915), The Eternal Magdalene (1915), Marie-Odile (1915), Seremonda (1917), Keep It To Yourself (1919), The Broken Wing (1920), and Howdy Folks (1920).

He went into films at an unknown date. In an early film appearance, he played in Thanhouser's Thelma (released June 21, 1910), which indicates that he must have been among the first players at the New Rochelle studio. Although he spent most of his time on the stage, he appeared playing supporting roles in numerous Thanhouser films released from 1910 through 1917. An article in Reel Life, June 26, 1915, curiously described him as "one of the several talented actors recently recruited by Edwin Thanhouser from the legitimate...." In 1918 and 1919 he was with Betzwood Film in Oh, Johnny! and Sandy Burke of the U-Bar-U. He later went elsewhere to act on the stage and in movies through the late 1930s. Alphonse Ethier died in Hollywood, California on January 4, 1943.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1910: Jane Eyre (5-6-1910), Thelma (6-21-1910)

1911: The Old Curiosity Shop (1-20-1911), The Early Life of David Copperfield (10-17-1911), The Last of the Mohicans (11-10-1911), Cinderella (12-22-1911), She (12-26-1911)

1915: The Patriot and the Spy (6-7-1915), M. Lecoq (8-26-1915)

1917: The Woman and the Beast (Graphic Features 4-17-1917)

# # #