James Hall (born James E. Brown; October 22, 1900 – June 7, 1940) was an American film actor.

Career

Born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, Hall debuted as an actor at age 15 in the ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ...

''. Hall began his film career during the

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 ...

era. He made his

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 ...

debut in the 1929 film ''

The Canary Murder Case ''For the film adaptation see The Canary Murder Case (film)'' ''The Canary Murder Case'' (1927) is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of a sexy nightclub singer known as "the Canary," and, eventually, her boyfriend, solved by Ph ...

'', opposite

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the ''The Thin Man (film), Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Cha ...

and

Louise Brooks Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...

. In 1930, he co-starred in

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

' epic film, '' Hell's Angels''. His last film role was in the 1932

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

'' Manhattan Tower''. In the following years, he headlined in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

at the Loew's State Theatres in 1932 and 1933 and in such independent stage productions as Ches Davis's 1934 edition of the ''Chicago Follies'' and in another show, the ''Showboat Follies'' at the Deadwood Theatre in South Dakota (1934). At the time of his death, he had fallen into obscurity and had been earning his livelihood by performing in small nightclubs and cabarets in New Jersey and New York.

Death

Hall died of

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

on June 7, 1940, in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. He is buried in

Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington, New Jersey Holy Cross Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located in North Arlington, New Jersey, United States. Since its establishment in 1915, it has interred over 289,000 individuals. The cemetery operates under the supervision of the Archdiocese of Newark. ...

Filmography

References

External links

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Photographs and literature
* 1900 births 1940 deaths 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Dallas American male film actors American male silent film actors Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (North Arlington, New Jersey) Deaths from cirrhosis Drug-related deaths in New Jersey {{US-film-actor-1900s-stub