From Silents to Talkies to TV

[telical]

I know Loretta Young, Alfred Hitchcock, and Buster Keaton all had
TV careers later in their lives. Who else did all three?

[Harold Aherne]

Previous thread that you might find relevant:
http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6785

One person who wasn't named in the previous discussion: Mary Brian, who was a regular on "Meet Corliss Archer" in 1954.

-HA

[Donald Binks]

Edward Everett Horton
Charles Farrell

[Hal Erickson]

Lois Wilson was one of several "Mrs. Aldriches" on the HENRY ALDRICH TV series.
Both Carmel Myers and Neil Hamilton had their own TV shows in the early days of network television--and we know where Hamilton went after that.
Francis X. Bushman was VERY busy as a guest-star on television (PETER GUNN, BATMAN, PERRY MASON, 77 SUNSET STRIP, DOBIE GILLIS etc.), as was Jack Mulhall.
Lillian Gish wasted little time getting into live and then filmed TV. Ironically after having "witnessed" Lincoln's assassination in BIRTH OF A NATION, she played Mary Todd in a live dramatization of Jim Bishop's "The Day Lincoln Was Shot."
In addition to his guest work, Eddie Quillan was a semi-regular on such sitcoms as VALENTINE'S DAY and JULIA.
ZaSu Pitts--in films from 1917, still in harness as "Nugey" on THE GALE STORM SHOW in 1960, didn't stop working until her death in 1963.

[Harlett O'Dowd]

Neil Hamilton on Batman.

La Craw did a lot of TV guest work. Swanson did a fair amount.

[telical]

I wonder which ones had the biggest talkies career, and then big TV careers.
It would be fun to see a statistically accurate top ten for each domain, in that,
the ranking would be for biggest silent star, moving into a big talkie career, then
a big TV career. One could have different variations of this, like biggest silent
star who had the biggest TV career, etc.

[syd]

Mickey Rooney

[Ann Harding]

Ronald Colman

[Flyin' A]

Jean Arthur (add stage too)

1 appearance on Gunsmoke and her own short-lived show.

[sepiatone]

William Frawley
William Demarest
Ethel Barrymore
Florence Reed
Carroll McComas

[sepiatone]

Claude Rains
Alfred Hitchcock(*my bad you did say AH)
Victor McLaglen

[sepiatone]

Leatrice Joy

[sepiatone]

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

[sepiatone]

Basil Rathbone

[sepiatone]

ok I see several of the ones I pulled out of my 'you know where' are listed on a previous thread Harold Aherne has linked.[;)] (*I did list these before I went and checked that link)

[sepiatone]

Sylvia Field (Mrs. Wilson Dennis the Menace, though Im not sure if some of her early sound pics were released in silent versions).

[sepiatone]

Mary Boland

[sepiatone]

Mary Astor

[Wm. Charles Morrow]

Andy Clyde. From the Sennett Studio of the '20s to his Columbia two-reelers to "Lassie."

[sepiatone]

Doris Lloyd
Joan Crawford

[ajabrams]

Donald Crisp and William Farnum both made TV appearances.

[Jim Roots]

We could make a shorter list of silent film stars who lived into the television era but did NOT appear on TV.


Jim

[Donald Binks]

As television started with regular broadcasts in 1936, I am sure there could have been plenty of silent screen actors and actresses who appeared on it. The other point I have just though of is - how many of the silent actors and actresses appeared over the air on the wireless - and so shattered their audience's allusions as to what their voices sounded like?

[Roseha]

I've become a regular PERRY MASON show viewer the last few months, having not really seen the original show before, METV seems to be running all of them without too many cuts. Anyway, I did see Francis X Bushman in one show as the blind family patriarch, and just saw a very enjoyable performance by Zasu Pitts as the flighty landlady of a murder victim. I hoped she'd get her turn on the witness stand and she didn't disappoint naturally.

Anyone remember any other silent stars showing up on the show? I've started renting the early seasons.

[boblipton]

Neil Hamilton

Bob

[Roseha]

Thanks Bob, I had forgotten - I saw Hamilton in one of his appearances:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0673242/" target="_blank

[LouieD]

El Brendel appears in "Case of the Borrowed Baby"

[Roseha]

Thanks Louie!

[odinthor]

Billy Barty. Walter Brennan. Hedda Hopper. Reginald Denny.

[odinthor]

The Marx Bros. supposedly made a silent "in 1921 that was never released, and is believed to have been destroyed at the time" (quoth Wikipedia). Jumping over sound films into TV: Groucho of course had a well-known presence on TV; Harpo had his TV appearances; Chico's last appearance in show biz before his death was on a TV show playing cards. No TV for Zeppo, though.