Douglas Patrick Haig (March 9, 1920 – February 1, 2011) was an American

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

appearing in

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s in the 1920s and 1930s. His career began at age two in

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s and (unlike many silent film actors) continued into

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

s ("talkies"). From 1928 onward he appeared in at least 14 films. As a small child he was placid and pleasant-looking. In a scholarly review of '' Attorney for the Defense'', a 1932 sound film, his performance is described as ''very annoying''. The high point of Haig's career as a film actor came in 1935, with a starring role in ''Man's Best Friend'' (1935). Before this he had appeared in both

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s and

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s such as ''The Family Group'' (1928), ''Sins of the Fathers'' (1928 lost silent film, of which only excerpts survive at the

UCLA Film and Television Archives The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the ar ...

), ''Betrayal'' (1929, a silent film with talking sequences, synchronized music and sound effects), and ''Welcome Danger'' (1929). In ''Man's Best Friend'' (1935), he starred in the lead role of Jed Strong, a boy whose abusive father wants to kill his dog. In 1986, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' described the film as a “simple, unpretentious story of a little mountain boy and his pet police dog”. Although some early films in which Haig appeared have been lost, the later film survive and of those a few have been released on DVD. These include ''Man's Best Friend'' (together with ''The Secret Code'') and ''High Gear''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haig, Douglas (actor) 1920 births 2011 deaths American male child actors American male film actors American male silent film actors Male actors from New Orleans 20th-century American male actors