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(October 12, 1886 in Copenhagen -
died April 15, 1934 in Los Angeles)
 Karl
Dane was a comedian and actor of the silent film era, and a sad
example of the fate that befell many silent movie stars who were
unable to make the transition to talkies.
Born Rasmus Karl Therkelsen Gottlieb in Copenhagen, Denmark to a
theatrical family, Dane first appeared on stage at the age of 14. In
January 1916, he bought steerage passage on board the SS Oscar II
which arrived in New York on February 11; after passing immigrant
inspection at Ellis Island, he moved to Brooklyn, where he found
work as a machinist. Soon he moved to Hollywood, and was immediately
put to work in several anti-German propaganda films. Later, his
tall, gangly appearance and wide grin made him perfect for comedic
roles. His most memorable work, however, didn't come until 1925,
when he signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
His first film at MGM was The Big Parade, directed by King Vidor and
starring John Gilbert and Renée Adorée. The movie went on to become
one of the highest-grossing silent films, and Dane’s role as a
tobacco-chewing doughboy proved to be his big break. Dane went on to
appear as the comic relief in several high-profile costume dramas,
including The Scarlet Letter (directed by Victor Sjöström and
starring Lillian Gish), La Boheme (again directed by Vidor, and
starring Gish, Gilbert and Adorée), and The Son of the Sheik
(starring Rudolph Valentino).
M-G-M producer Harry Rapf, in charge of the studio's low-budget
features, teamed big, burly Karl Dane with little, mild-mannered
George K. Arthur for a series of comedies. These efficiently made
features were very popular and profitable. Brief samples of the Dane
& Arthur comedies Detectives and China Bound can be seen in the
Robert Youngson compilation M-G-M's Big Parade of Comedy, released
in 1964.
The coming of sound hurt many film careers, and it killed the Dane &
Arthur series. Arthur was a Scotsman with a distinct but listenable
British accent, but Dane's guttural speech was so extreme that his
English recorded very poorly. (Dane and Arthur have guest roles in
M-G-M's "all-talking" musical comedy The Hollywood Revue of 1929,
but neither actor speaks.) M-G-M ended both the team's series and
the team itself.
Dane and Arthur's boxoffice value was potent enough for Paramount
Pictures to hire them for talking short subjects, but the venture
was unsuccessful and the team split for good.
Although friends such as Buster Keaton found small roles for Karl
Dane in their movies, by 1933, his career as an actor was over. His
last screen role was as comic relief in the low-budget Bela Lugosi
serial The Whispering Shadow (1933). Dane attempted to earn a living
as a carpenter and mechanic, but eventually he was reduced to
running a hot dog stand near the M-G-M studio gates. His marriage to
actress Thais Valdemar also collapsed around this time.
Dane, deeply depressed, committed suicide by raising a pistol to his
head. His body was found in his rented room, located in the Miracle
Mile section of Los Angeles.
Actor Jean Hersholt -- later famous for the Hersholt Award given by
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- insisted that MGM
pay for a funeral for Dane so he wouldn't be buried in a pauper's
grave. Dane was laid to rest in Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and was
posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |
