1. Richard Semler Barthelmess was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era.
19 Facts About Richard Barthelmess
1. 2.
Richard Barthelmess's father died when he was a year old.
3.
Richard Barthelmess did some acting in college and other amateur productions.
4.
Nazimova convinced Richard Barthelmess to try acting professionally, and he made his debut screen appearance in 1916 in the serial Gloria's Romance as an uncredited extra.
5.
Richard Barthelmess appeared as a supporting player in several films starring Marguerite Clark.
6.
Richard Barthelmess founded his own production company, Inspiration Film Company, together with Charles Duell and Henry King.
7.
One of their films, Tol'able David, in which Richard Barthelmess starred as a teenage mailman who finds courage, was a major success.
8.
Different fans have different opinions, and although Wallace Reid, Thomas Meighan, and Niles Welch are mighty fine chaps, I think that Richard Barthelmess beats them all.
9.
Richard Barthelmess soon became one of Hollywood's higher paid performers, starring in such classics as The Patent Leather Kid in 1927 and The Noose in 1928; he was nominated for Best Actor at the first Academy Awards for his performance in both films.
10.
Richard Barthelmess played numerous leads in talkie films, most notably Son of the Gods, The Dawn Patrol, The Last Flight, The Cabin in the Cotton and Heroes for Sale.
11.
Richard Barthelmess was able to choose his own material and often played in controversial or socially conscious films.
12.
Richard Barthelmess became too old for the boyish leads he usually played.
13.
Richard Barthelmess failed to maintain the stardom of his silent film days and gradually left entertainment.
14.
Richard Barthelmess enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II, and served as a lieutenant commander, stationed at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.
15.
Richard Barthelmess never returned to film, preferring to live off his real estate investments.
16.
On June 18,1920, Richard Barthelmess married Mary Hay, a stage and screen star, in New York.
17.
Richard Barthelmess later adopted her son, Stewart, from a previous marriage.
18.
Richard Barthelmess died of throat cancer on August 17,1963, aged 68, in Southampton, New York.
19.
Richard Barthelmess was interred at the Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Hartsdale, New York.