Creighton Hale

Born in County Cork, Ireland, Hale was educated in Dublin[3] and London, and later attended Ardingly College in Sussex. He emigrated to America in 1910, with a company headed by Gertrude Elliott. He was initially billed as Pat Creighton Hale in the United States. Remaining in the country, he acted in stock theater in Hartford, Indianapolis, and other cities.[3] While starring in Charles Frohman's Broadway production of Indian Summer, Hale was spotted by a representative of the Pathe Film Company. He eventually became known professionally as Creighton Hale, although the derivation of those names remains unknown. His first movie was The Exploits of Elaine (1914).[3] He starred in hit films such as Way Down East, Orphans of the Storm, and The Cat and the Canary.

It was thought that in 1923 Hale starred in an early pornographic "stag" film On the Beach (a.k.a. Getting His Goat and The Goat Man).[4] In the film, three nude women agree to have sex with him, but only through a hole in a fence. Photographs of the scene clearly show that the man in the film is not Hale, but is another actor who also wore glasses.[5]

When talkies came about, his career declined. He made several appearances in Hal Roach's Our Gang series (School's Out, Big Ears, Free Wheeling), and also played uncredited bits in major talking films such as Larceny, Inc., The Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca.[6]

His two sons, Creighton Hale Jr. and Robert Lowe Hale, from his first marriage to Victoire Lowe were adopted by Lowe's second husband, actor John Miljan. After his divorce, Hale married Kathleen Bering in Los Angeles in 1931.[7] He died in South Pasadena at age 83 and was buried at Duncans Mills Cemetery in Northern California.[6]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Creighton Hale.

• Creighton Hale at IMDb
• Creighton Hale at the Internet Broadway Database
• Creighton Hale at Find a Grave