Holbrook Blinn was an American stage and film actor.

Early years

Blinn was the son of Civil War veteran Col. Charles Blinn and actress Nellie Holbrook-Blinn. He was born in San Francisco and attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

before he began a career in acting.

Biography

Blinn debuted on stage as an adult early in the 1890s with a traveling company in the western United States. By 1892 he had moved to the East, acting for two seasons in ''The New South''. Following that experience, he headed the first dramatic troupe to tour in Alaska. Blinn had appeared on the legitimate stage at age 6, in ''The Streets of London'', and played throughout the United States and in London. He appeared in silent films, and was the director of popular one-act plays at New York's Princess Theatre. He also was one of the founders of that theatre. For three years Blinn acted in London in ''The Only Way'', ''Don Juan's Last Wager'', and ''

Ib and Little Christina ''Ib and Little Christina'' refers to two theatrical adaptations by Basil Hood of the 1855 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, Hans Andersen of the same name: a play (1900) and an opera (1901). Play The first version was a play subtitled "A Pi ...

''. His Broadway stage successes include ''

The Duchess of Dantzic ''The Duchess of Dantzic'' is a comic opera in three acts, set in Paris, with music by Ivan Caryll and a book and lyrics by Henry Hamilton (playwright), Henry Hamilton, based on the play ''Madame Sans-Gêne (play), Madame Sans-Gêne'' by Victorien ...

'' (1903, as Napoleon), ''Salvation Nell'' (1908) in a breakout performance as the brutish husband of Mrs. Fiske, ''Within the Law'' (1912), ''Molière'' (1919), ''

A Woman of No Importance ''A Woman of No Importance'' by Oscar Wilde is "a new and original play of modern life", in four acts, first given on 19 April 1893 at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirises English upper-class society. It ...

'' (1916), ''

The Lady of the Camellias ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article An article is any member ...

'' (1917), and ''Getting Together'' (1918). Holbrook Blinn 2

Some of his finest silent screen accomplishments are in ''

McTeague ''McTeague: A Story of San Francisco'', otherwise known as simply ''McTeague'', is a novel by Frank Norris, first published in 1899. It tells the story of a couple's courtship and marriage, and their subsequent descent into poverty and violence ...

'' (1916), '' The Bad Man'' (1923), '' Rosita'' (1923), ''

Yolanda Yolanda may refer to: * Yolanda (name), a given name derived from the Greek ''Iolanthe'' Places * Yolanda, California * Yolanda Shrine, monument located at Barangay Anibong, Tacloban, Leyte Film * ''Yolanda'' (film), a 1924 film starring ...

'' (1924), and ''

Janice Meredith ''Janice Meredith'', also known as ''The Beautiful Rebel'', is a silent film starring Marion Davies, released in 1924 and based on the book and play of the same name written by Paul Leicester Ford and Edward Everett Rose. The play opened at the ...

'' (1924), the latter two films both starring

Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...

. In 1928, Blinn was unanimously elected president of the

Actors' Fidelity League The Actors' Fidelity League (Fidelity) was a short-lived unaffiliated American craft union representing actors who worked in live theater, live theatrical performances. It split off from Actors' Equity Association (Equity) in August 1919 when the ...

Personal life and death

At the time of his death, Blinn was married to the former Ruth Benson, an actress. Blinn died from complications of a fall off his horse near Journey's End, his

Croton-on-Hudson, New York Croton-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 8,327 at the 2020 United States census over 8,070 at the 2010 census. It is located in the town of Cortlandt as part of New York City's northern subu ...

home, and is buried in

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch C ...

in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Selected filmography

*''

The Butterfly on the Wheel ''The Butterfly on the Wheel'' is a lost 1915 American silent drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Holbrook Blinn, Vivian Martin and George Relph. Plot Cast * Holbrook Blinn as Mr. Admaston * Vivian Martin as Peggy Admasto ...

'' (1915) * ''

The Ballet Girl ''The Ballet Girl'' (german: Das Mädel vom Ballet) is a 1918 German silent film, silent comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Ossi Oswalda, Harry Liedtke and Margarete Kupfer.Thomson p. 145 It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in ...

'' (1916) *'' Husband and Wife'' (1916) *''

'' (1916) *''

The Weakness of Man ''The Weakness of Man'' is a lost 1916 silent film drama directed by Barry O'Neil. It stars Holbrook Blinn and is based on the 1911 play '' The Living Corpse'' by Leo Tolstoy. It was produced by William A. Brady and distributed by World Film Com ...

'' (1916) * '' The Empress'' (1917) * ''

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

'' (1917) * ''

The Seventh Sin ''The Seventh Sin'' is a 1957 American drama film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Eleanor Parker, Bill Travers and George Sanders. It is based on the 1925 novel '' The Painted Veil'' by W. Somerset Maugham. Plot In post-World War II Hong ...

'' (1917) *'' Rosita'' (1923) *''

'' (1924) *''

The New Commandment The New Commandment is a term used in Christianity to describe Jesus's commandment to "love one another" which, according to the Bible, was given as part of the final instructions to his disciples after the Last Supper had ended, and after Judas ...

'' (1925) * ''

The Unfair Sex ''The Unfair Sex'' is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Henri Diamant-Berger and starring Hope Hampton, Holbrook Blinn and Nita Naldi.Munden p.846 Cast * Hope Hampton as Shirley Chamberlain * Holbrook Blinn as Don Calvert * Nita ...

'' (1926) *'' The Telephone Girl'' (1927)

Sources

*''Great Stars of the American Stage'', Profile #65 by Daniel C. Blum c.1952;1954 edition 2nd printing

References

External links

* * *
portrait of Holbrook Blinn
moviecard) American male child actors American male film actors American male silent film actors Deaths by horse-riding accident in the United States Male actors from San Francisco Accidental deaths in New York (state) 19th-century American male actors American male stage actors 20th-century American male actors Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery People from Croton-on-Hudson, New York American expatriates in the United Kingdom {{US-theat-actor-1870s-stub