Harold Lloyd | |
|---|---|
 Lloyd in 1924 | |
| Born | Harold Clayton Lloyd April 20, 1893 Burchard, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | March 8, 1971 (aged 77) |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1913–1963 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, including Harold Lloyd Jr. |
| Relatives |
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Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.[1]
One of the most influential film comedians of the silent era, Lloyd made nearly 200 comedy films, both silent and talkies, from 1914 to 1947. His bespectacled "glasses character" was a resourceful, ambitious go-getter who reflected the zeitgeist of the 1920s-era United States.[2][3]
His films frequently contained "thrill sequences" of extended chase scenes and daredevil physical feats. Lloyd hanging from the hands of a clock high above the street (dangerous, but risk exaggerated by camera angles) in Safety Last! (1923) is considered one of the more enduring images in cinema.[4] Lloyd performed lesser stunts himself despite having injured himself in August 1919 while doing publicity pictures for the Roach studio. An accident with a bomb mistaken as a prop resulted in the loss of the thumb and index finger of his right hand (the injury was disguised on future films with the use of a special prosthetic glove, and was almost undetectable on the screen).[5]
- ^ Obituary Variety, March 10, 1971, page 55.
- ^ Austerlitz, Saul (2010). Another Fine Mess: A History of American Film Comedy. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-1569767634.
- ^ D'Agostino Lloyd, Annette. "Why Harold Lloyd Is Important". haroldlloyd.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ Slide, Anthony (September 27, 2002). Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. p. 221. ISBN 978-0813122496.
- ^ An American Comedy; Lloyd and Stout; 1928; page 129