Wallace A. Worsley, Sr. (December 8, 1878 – March 26, 1944) was an American stage actor who became a film director in the

silent era 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, wh ...

. During his career, Worsley directed 29 films and acted in 7 films. He directed several motion pictures starring

Lon Chaney Sr. Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

, and his professional relationship with the actor was the best Chaney had, second to his partnership with

Tod Browning Tod Browning (born Charles Albert Browning Jr.; July 12, 1880 – October 6, 1962) was an American film director, film actor, screenwriter, vaudeville performer, and carnival sideshow and circus entertainer. He directed a number of films of vari ...

. ''

The Hunchback of Notre Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story ...

'' (1923) is one of his best-known works, along with '' The Penalty'' (1920). Worsley's 1922 horror film ''

A Blind Bargain ''A Blind Bargain'' is a 1922 American silent horror film starring Lon Chaney and Raymond McKee, released through Goldwyn Pictures. The film was directed by Wallace Worsley and is based on Barry Pain's 1897 novel ''The Octave of Claudius''. Lo ...

'' with Chaney is one of the most sought after

lost films A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

Acting

In April 1901 Worsely appeared at the

Empire Theatre (41st Street) The Empire Theatre in New York City was a prominent Broadway theatre in the first half of the twentieth century. History The Empire Theatre opened in 1893 with a performance of ''The Girl I Left Behind Me'' by David Belasco. In February 1927 ac ...

as Lt. Earl of Hunstanton in a revival of Leo Trevor's comedy ''Brother Officers''. It ran for eight performances. He followed this immediately with ''

Diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

'', which ran for about six weeks. Between 1903 and 1915, Worsley was in nine more plays, most of them short-lived. In 1916 Worsley left Broadway for Hollywood and acted for two years before taking up directing.

''The Hunchback of Notre Dame''

This was to be the first big-screen adaptation of Hugo's novel and

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

's major production of 1923. Chaney owned the rights, and reportedly, his first choice for director was

Erich von Stroheim Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, actor and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. H ...

. However,

Irving Thalberg Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...

had recently fired von Stroheim due to conflicts over ''

Merry-Go-Round A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

''. Worsley, who had already worked on four films with Chaney, directed on loan from

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

. The cast of extras was so large that Worsley set aside his megaphone in favor of a radio and loudspeaker. The film was Universal's most successful

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 ...

Personal life

Worsley married Indiana-born actress, Julia Marie Taylor, on September 18, 1904. Amongst Julia's film credits is the title role of Juliet in the 1911 short, ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', directed by Barry O'Neil, considered to be the first attempt to distill the entire Shakespeare

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...

into a single film. Together, they had two sons, Wallace Worsley, Jr. (1908-1991), an assistant director and production manager whose career spanned nearly six decades and included '' The Wizard of Oz'' and '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', and Paul Brackenride Worsley (1920-1933).

Selected filmography

References

External links

* *
Wallace Worsley
as an actor on Broadway; photo from NYP Library
Wallace Worsley
gravesite at Findagrave
Wallace Worsley
on Broadway, 1914, in the play "Don't Weaken" with

Marion Lorne Marion Lorne MacDougal or MacDougall (sources differ) (August 12, 1883 – May 9, 1968), known professionally as Marion Lorne, was an American actress of stage, film, and television. After a career in theatre in New York and London, Lorne ...

(City Museum of NY) Silent film directors 1878 births 1944 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male stage actors People from Wappingers Falls, New York Male actors from New York (state) Film directors from New York (state) Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) {{US-film-director-1870s-stub