Harold Lloyd: biography and photos

Lloyd Harold Clayton is known to the world as an American comedian and silent film director. He starred in an incredible number of films and amazed spectators with his masterful play.

Harold Lloyd: biography, photos of different periods of life

Born Clayton in 1893, April 20 - the birthday of the great dictator, the founder of fascism Adolf Hitler. The homeland of the actor is the city of Burchard, which is in the American state of Nebraska. His ancestors had once emigrated from Wells to the States. The boy's family barely made ends meet, his father - James Lloyd - was a photographer. The boy was left to himself, and when he was 10 years old, he met a troupe of stray musicians and began to perform with them on the stage. However, he could not last so long and began selling sweets and programs in the theater from the age of 11.

The first steps in the theater

It was during the moonlight that Harold Lloyd Clayton was deeply involved in theatrical art and a year later, thanks to his exceptional artistic abilities, made his debut on stage as a performer of the supporting role. It was a "one-coin" comedy lasting 10-12 minutes. After he nineteen-year-old boy moved to California (San Diego), he established relations with the film company Thomas Edison and began to star in small roles. There he also met director Hal Routch, who, after organizing his own film studio, took Lloyd to himself. Well, when Lloyd inherited, they together founded the "Roach-Lloyd" film studio. While filming Hal's films, Harold Lloyd made great strides and soon became one of the most successful comedic actors of the second decade of the twentieth century. His acting education Harry received at the Denver School of Dramatic Art, as well as acting courses in San Diego.

Cinema and personal life

His partner in the movie was Bibi Daniels. She starred in secondary roles, and between them a romance broke out. To the public this loving couple was known as "The Boy" and "The Girl". In 1919, Bibi broke up with Lloyd, since she wanted to try herself in dramatic films. Without thinking twice, Harold Lloyd found her a replacement in the face of Mildred Davies. When he first saw her, he thought that she looks like a real French doll, only very large.

Roles

At the beginning of his career, the young artist had to reduce his full name to Harold Lloyd. Films with his participation were very popular and, thus, the abbreviated name (without Clayton) was easier to keep by ear. His first character in the movie was "Lone Luke." Lloyd himself admitted that this is an imitation of Chaplin, simply in contrast to the fact that the clothes on it were also not in time, but in this case it was not too big, but, on the contrary, small and narrow, which also looked very funny. Soon he himself developed another character - a "character with glasses." He, as well as the performer of the role, was called Harold. This hero is also very fond of the audience, because he caused all viewers both smiles and sympathy. In short, the tandem Roach and Harold managed to prove that he can work independently and arouse the interest of the audience.

Lloyd Harold Clayton: movies and curious stories from the filming

Since 1921, Lloyd and Roach have stopped creating short films, and Lloyd had to rebuild to the full meter. The first among them was the "Born Sailor", which was released at the end of 1921. The next film was "Grandma's granddaughter." This picture combined a complex characteristic development and comedy. Surely, many experts of silent cinema remember the episode from the film, shot in 1923, "Finally in safety!". Harold Lloyd hangs here on the arrows of the tower clock, and far below him is the street. This frame is one of the most famous in the history of cinema. Thanks to this picture, the actor was known as a real trickster, and he was invited to appear in films with dangerous tricks. It used to happen that he broke down and received multiple bruises and injuries. Back in 1920, during the shooting of Haunted Spooks, when the accident with the bomb was being shot, he lost the big and index fingers of his right hand. In the future, to hide this mutilation, he wore a special glove-prosthesis.

Masonry

In 1925, Harold Lloyd joined the Hollywood Masonic Lodge, which bore the name of Alexander Hamilton. He very quickly advanced in Freemasonry and reached the rank of Honorary Inspector General. Over time, his career as an actor began to decline. He was involved in many charity projects. This activity fascinated him entirely, and he had less and less time left for the cinema. In addition, he became legible about roles. After all, his position in the Masonic lodge was truly ochen and very high. His last film was "Crazy Wednesday".

Filmography

Harold Lloyd began filming since 1914. The oldest film with his participation dates back to this year. This was the picture Give and Take. Some of the films today can be found on DVD, others have remained intact and are of great value. They say that he kept most of the tapes with his participation in his house. However, in 1943, a fire broke out in the house, and much of the archival material was burnt. These were mostly short films, but full-length films remain in perfect condition to this day, and generations can appreciate his work and understand what the top was in the cinema art Harold Lloyd.

His filmography includes more than 200 comedic films, among them are both mute and sonic. The last pictures were taken in 1947. Despite the fact that his fame as a film actor could not eclipse the great Chaplin, Lloyd, however, starred in a much larger number of films that earned him more than $ 15 million. Of course, all the films are not listed, but here are some of them: Just Nuts (1915), Luke, Crystal Gazer (1916), Over the Fence (1917), Back to the Woods (1918), Pay Your Dues (1919), His Royal Slyness (1920), Now or Never (1921), Safety Last! (2013), The Freshman (1925), The Welcome Danger (1927), The Cat's-Paw (1934), The Milky Way (1938), The Sin of Harold (1947)

Every year, beginning in 1917, he was shot in more than 10 films. And with each year their number increased. The most "prolific" were 1918 and 1919, when the number of paintings with his participation reached 44. This was an absolute record for his time, every time he appeared before the viewer in a completely new guise, yet all his roles were incredibly funny and kind.

Harold Lloyd's Trail in Cinema

Some of the modern comedians considered themselves followers of Lloyd. Some wanted at all costs to repeat his bold stunts. So, for example, his namesake Christopher Lloyd repeated the same famous trick with the hands of the clock in the film "Back to the Future." But in the famous comedy "Stupid and even more stupid" "sweet couple" is called Lloyd and Harry. Apparently, the writer of the plot inspired the role of Harold Clayton. The same thing probably happened with the scriptwriter of the animated series "Futurama". There you will meet the hero Harold Zizod. In 1962 and 1963 the Paramount film company created editing films on the art of Harold Lloyd - "The World of Comedies" and "The Funny Side of Life". These pictures, which tell of the formation of the great comedian, were received by film enthusiasts for "hurray."

Prizes and awards

For nearly 35 years in the world of motion pictures, Garol Lloyd was awarded a number of awards, among which the most notable is the Oscar (1952) honorary award, entitled "A Good Citizen and a Comedy Master." Comedian Garol Lloyd, perhaps, was one of the most obscene actors of the comedic genre of his time. By popularity, he conceded only to Charlie Chaplin. However, more often than he appeared on the screens, always in new images. After all, the films with his participation were much more than the Chaplinov films.

Epitaph

Harold Lloyd died in the spring of 1971. The diagnosis is prostate cancer. He was 77 years old. The great comedian was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, located in Glendale, California. On his gravestone there is an inscription - "Finally safe", as the name of one of his films.