George Siegmann

George A. Siegmann (also credited as George Seigmann; February 8, 1882 – June 22, 1928) was an American actor and film director in the silent film era. His work includes roles in notable productions such as The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), The Three Musketeers (1921), Oliver Twist (1922), The Cat and the Canary (1927), and The Man Who Laughs (1928).

George A. Siegmann
Siegmann in 1924
Born
George A. Siegmann

(1882-02-08)February 8, 1882
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedJune 22, 1928(1928-06-22) (aged 46)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeCalvary Cemetery
Other namesGeorge Seigmann
OccupationActor, film director
Years active1909–1928
Spouse(s)Marguerite H. Webb
(m. 1917-?)[1]
Maude Darby
(m. 1927-his death)

Early life and career

Born in New York City in 1882, Siegmann is listed as having been in over 100 films. His more notable roles include Silas Lynch in D.W. Griffith's Birth of A Nation (1915), Cyrus the Great in Intolerance (1916), Porthos in The Three Musketeers (1921), Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist (1922), the guard in the 1927 film The Cat and the Canary, and Dr. Hardquanonne in The Man Who Laughs, which was completed in 1927 but released in 1928. In 1919, Siegmann served as a director for Universal Pictures' production of the five-reel horror film The Trembling Hour starring Kenneth Harlan and Helen Eddy.[2]

Personal life and death

Siegmann's career almost ended early, in 1915, when he was seriously injured while riding as a passenger in a car driven by fellow film actor and director Tod Browning. Browning collided at full speed with a "street work car loaded with iron rails", reportedly due to his not seeing that work vehicle's "rear lamp".[3] Another actor, Elmer Booth, was a passenger as well in Browning's car. Booth died instantly, and Siegmann suffered four broken ribs, a deeply lacerated thigh, and internal injuries.[4] Browning was badly injured too, including a shattered right leg and the loss of his front teeth.[4]

Siegmann married at least twice. In 1917 he married 22-year-old Marguerite Webb, a native of Michigan.[1] The length of their union is undetermined, although it presumably ended by divorce prior to his marriage to Maud Darby in 1927. That second marriage proved to be a relatively brief one, for the following year George, at age 46, died of pernicious anemia.[5]

Léon Bary, Eugene Pallette, Douglas Fairbanks, and George Siegmann in The Three Musketeers (1921)

Filmography

References
  1. Digital copies of an original California marriage license and certificate document that Siegmann wed Michigan native Marguerite H. Webb on November 7, 1917 in Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Courthouse records, "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952". Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
  2. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 211.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  3. "Elmer Booth Killed", Moving Picture World, July 3, 1915, p.75. Internet Archive, San Francisco, California. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  4. Ska, David J. (2001). The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror. Macmillan. p. 35. ISBN 978-0571199969.
  5. "Noted Character Actor of Movies Dies at his Home in Hollywood, Cal". Las Vegas Daily Optic. June 23, 1928. p. 6.
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