Volume III: Biographies

LIEB, Hermann *

Actor (1914)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Hermann Lieb appeared in Dope, a film by Direct-From-Broadway Features, a Thanhouser "special production" released circa April 1, 1914. He was not a regular Thanhouser actor.

Biographical Notes: Hermann Lieb as a youth was a well-known figure on the stage in Chicago, the city of his birth. His greatest renown was attained at Chicago's Bush Temple Theatre and in dozens of other theatres across America, in Joseph Medill Patterson's Dope, in which he played over 1,500 times before it was made into a film by Thanhouser. He was also known as a writer, and in 1910 his articles on the subject of plays and acting appeared in The Chicago Record. In the same year his article, "Real Drama in Vaudeville," appeared in the September issue of Green Book magazine. In 1910 he also wrote a play, The Japanese Actor. In 1916 his articles appeared in The Chicago Tribune. In January 1913 he was on stage at the Harris Theatre in New York City in the lead role in The Flash.

Hermann Lieb was primarily a stage actor and was filmed in his stage role for Thanhouser's 1914 screen version of Dope. In October 1918, in the midst of anti-German sentiment in America during the World War, Lieb announced that he was changing his name to the English-sounding Harmon Lee. His brother, Francis Lieb, a baritone singer, followed suit and became known as Francis Barrett. Lieb was known for his role in The Bat, a Broadway play. At one time Lieb toured the Morris theatre circuit in London, Australia, and New Zealand. A long-time member of the Lambs Club, he wrote many items for The Lamb Script. Lieb also belonged to the Friars Club and the Sons of the American Revolution

Years later, in November 1940, he was seen on Broadway in the cast of Quiet Please. By that time he was again using the name of Herman (with one "n") Lieb. Hermann Lieb died in Tucson, Arizona on March 9, 1966, following a brief illness. Burial was in the family plot in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago. He was survived by his wife, a former actress who at one time used the stage name Evelyn Walls; and two sons, John Lieb, an attorney for the Allis-Chalmers Company, and Gordon V. Lieb, who was with KPRC in Houston, Texas.

Note: In the early days, his first name, Hermann, was often misspelled as "Herman." Later, he adopted this spelling himself.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1914: Dope (Direct-From-Broadway Features c. 4-1-1914)

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