May

Today in 1895 – Birth of Richard Barthelmess

Though most celebrated as a silent star, especially for his roles in Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920), let’s not forget Richard Barthelmess was pretty good when we heard him speak too.

At least I enjoyed him tremendously in both William A. Wellman’s Heroes for Sale (1933) opposite Loretta Young and later in his acclaimed supporting role as the disgraced flyer MacPherson in Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings (1939) with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur.

Probably early 1920's Richard Barthelmess 5x7 Fan Photo

We have a complete Richard Barthelmess biography on things-and-other-stuff.com as part of Tammy Stone’s The Silent Collection. An excerpt follows, but be sure to check out Tammy’s entire profile:

Richard was born on May 9, 1895 (the year the cinema was born, it’s worth repeating) in New York City. His location of residence alone was auspicious; the new medium of the pictures was largely based on the East Coast. His mother was also a stage actress of some note at the time, making it all but inevitable that Richard would be exposed to the world of performance. After high school, he left New York to go to Trinity College in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and while there, he became a stage actor himself.

In 1916, Richard was on vacation when he made the acquaintance of actress Alla Nazimova, a friend of his mothers and a Russian actress of note who is perhaps best known today for her title role in 1923’s Salome. Alla was about to start production in her first feature film, War Brides and asked Richard if he would be interested in appearing in the film. Though the pictures were entirely new to him, something must have told him that this was an offer he shouldn’t refuse, and a career was about to begin.

Another early 1920's Richard Barthelmess 5x7 Fan Photo

This page includes several images of vintage Richard Barthelmess movie cards and collectibles from across his entire film career which spanned 1916-1942. Barthelmess died of throat cancer at age 68, August 17, 1963.