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(3 April 1885, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada- 28 December 1981, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California)
 Born
Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, his family moved
to the United States when he was eleven years of age. At university,
he trained as an engineer and began working for a lighting company
in Chicago. However, he had a strong interest in the fledgling
motion picture industry and when Essanay Studios offered him the
opportunity to become a scriptwriter, he took the job. At that time,
some of the East Coast movie makers began to spend winters in
California where the climate allowed them to continue productions
requiring warm weather. Soon, a number of movie companies worked
there year-round and, in 1911, Dwan began working part time in
Hollywood. While still in New York, in 1917 he was the founding
president of the East Coast chapter of the Motion Picture Directors
Association.
Allan Dwan became a true innovator in the motion picture industry.
After making a series of westerns and comedies, he directed fellow
Canadian, Mary Pickford in several very successful movies as well as
her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, notably in the acclaimed 1922 Robin
Hood.
Following the introduction of the talkies, in 1937 he directed
child-star Shirley Temple in Heidi and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
the following year.
Over his long and successful career spanning over fifty years, he
directed over 400 motion pictures, many of them highly acclaimed,
such as the 1949 box office smash, Sands of Iwo Jima. His last movie
was in 1961.
Dwan is one of the directors who spanned the silent to sound era.
Most of the silent movies he directed are lost due to poor
preservation. Little historical writing has been devoted to Dwan,
but some believe that he will be the last "discovered" great
director from the Classic Hollywood Era.
Allan Dwan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263
Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. |
