Charles Eyton (24 June 1871 – 2 July 1941) was an actor-producer who became general manager of

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

subsidiary) during the silent film era.

Personal life

Charles F. Eyton was the son of Henry and Eleanor Eyton. His sisters were singer/actress

Vera Doria Vera Doria (born Veronica Eyton) was an Australian actress and opera singer active in Hollywood during the silent era. Biography Vera was born in Tasmania, Australia, to New Zealanders Robert Eyton and Maude Fosbery. She began singing opera i ...

and writer

Alice Eyton Alice Eyton (1874 – November 3, 1929), sometimes credited under her married name Alice von Saxmar, was a New Zealand–born journalist, screenwriter, playwright, and novelist active in Hollywood between 1918 and 1922. Biography Origins ...

, who died of burns in 1929 after her masquerade costume was accidentally set alight. In 1900 Charles Eyton married Anna S. Cole. They were divorced in May 1901. On 3 September 1908, Charles Eyton married actress Bessie Harrison, who would henceforth use the professional name Bessie Eyton. They were divorced on 16 March 1915. He became a United States citizen in December 1915. On 2 June 1916, Charles Eyton married actress

Kathlyn Williams Kathlyn Williams (born Kathleen Mabel Williams, May 31, 1879 – September 23, 1960) was an American actress, known for her blonde beauty and daring antics, who performed on stage as well as in early silent film. She began her career onstage in ...

. It was her third marriage. They were divorced in 1931 on the grounds of incompatibility, with Williams not seeking any payments from Eyton. He died of pneumonia in Hollywood on 2 July 1941.

Career

After establishing his reputation as a lightweight wrestler, in 1889 Eyton sailed from Australia to the United States, where he participated in a series of wrestling matches. In 1900, he came to Los Angeles and became assistant manager of the Burbank Theater and an officer of the

Los Angeles Athletic Club Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) is a privately owned Sports club, athletic club and social club in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1880, the club is today best known for its John R. Wooden Award pr ...

. He also worked as a boxing referee for over a decade, and was featured on a cigarette sports trading card in 1910. The championship bouts refereed by Charles Eyton included: In 1914, Frank Garbutt created the

Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company The Morosco Photoplay Company was created in 1914 by Frank Garbutt. It was named for Oliver Morosco. In 1916, it was acquired by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and became a subsidiary. Charles Eyton Charles Eyton (24 June 1871 – 2 Ju ...

, named after

Oliver Morosco Oliver Morosco (June 20, 1875 – August 25, 1945) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, film producer, and theater owner. He owned the Morosco Photoplay Company. He brought many of his theater actors to the screen. Frank A. Garb ...

. Charles Eyton was appointed to supervise the company's productions and also the productions of Bosworth, Inc., which were produced in the same studio at 201 N. Occidental, in Los Angeles. Bosworth, Inc. soon folded and was replaced by ''Pallas Pictures''. In 1916, Morosco and Pallas became part of Famous Players-Lasky, and Charles Eyton remained manager of the Morosco studio. In 1919, Eyton became manager of the larger Famous Players-Lasky studio at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood. In 1925, he was appointed to be in charge of Paramount productions abroad. He resigned from Paramount in 1926.

William Taylor's murder

Charles Eyton was one of the first people to arrive on the scene of the murder of film director

William Desmond Taylor William Desmond Taylor (born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner, 26 April 1872 – 1 February 1922) was an Anglo-Irish-American film director and actor. A popular figure in the growing Hollywood motion picture colony of the 1910s and early 1920s, ...

, and was said to have been the person to have discovered that Taylor was shot when he attempted to raise the body. Eyton was interviewed by police, ostensibly in relation to means of locating the deceased's missing butler, and Eyton denied knowing about letters apparently missing from Taylor's house.

References

External links

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Letter from Whitman Bennett to Charles Eyton, 1919Charles Eyton's testimony at the Inquest into the death of William Desmond Taylor, 1922
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyton, Charles 1871 births 1941 deaths American film producers Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Boxing referees New Zealand emigrants to the United States