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Richard Barthelmess




Richard (Dick) Barthelmess (May 9, 1895 - August 17, 1963) was a silent film
star. The son of an actress, Barthelmess began acting in college, doing
amateur productions. Convinced by a family friend, actress Alla Nazimova, to
try acting professionally, he made his first film appearance in 1916 in the
serial Gloria?s Romance as an extra. His next role, in War Brides opposite
Nazimova herself, attracted the attention of legendary director D. W.
Griffith, who offered him several important roles, finally casting him
opposite Lillian Gish in Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920).

In the coming years, he was one of Hollywood?s highest paid performers,
starring in such classics as The Patent Leather Kid (1927) and The Noose
(1928); he was nominated for Best Actor at the first Academy Awards for his
performance in both these films. He also founded his own production company,
Inspiration Film Company, together with Charles Duell and Henry King. One of
their films, Tol?able David (1921), in which Barthelmess starred as a
teenage mailman, was a major success, and is considered by many to be his
finest performance.

With the advent of the sound era, Barthelmess?s fortunes changed. He made
several films in the new medium, most notably Only Angels Have Wings, but he
failed to achieve the stardom of his silent film days and gradually left
entertainment. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve in World War II, served as a
lieutenant commander, and never returned to film, preferring instead to live
off of his investments. He died of cancer in 1963.

Barthelmess was one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences.

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