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(May 9, 1895 – August 17, 1963)
 The
son of an actress, Barthelmess began acting in college, doing
amateur productions. Convinced by a family friend, actress Alla
Nazimova, to try acting professionally, he made his first film
appearance in 1916 in the serial Gloria's Romance as an extra. His
next role, in War Brides opposite Alla Nazimova, attracted the
attention of legendary director D. W. Griffith, who offered him
several important roles, finally casting him opposite Lillian Gish
in Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920).
In the coming years, he was one of Hollywood's highest paid
performers, starring in such classics as The Patent Leather Kid
(1927) and The Noose (1928); he was nominated for Best Actor at the
first Academy Awards for his performance in both these films. He
also founded his own production company, Inspiration Film Company,
together with Charles Duell and Henry King. One of their films,
Tol'able David (1921), in which Barthelmess starred as a teenage
mailman who finds courage, was a major success, and is considered by
many to be his finest performance.
With the advent of the sound era, he made several films in the new
medium, most notably Son of the Gods (1930), The Dawn Patrol (1930)
and The Last Flight (1931) and a supporting role as Rita Hayworth's
character's husband in Only Angels Have Wings (1939), but he failed
to maintain the stardom of his silent film days and gradually left
entertainment. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve in World War II,
served as a lieutenant commander, and never returned to film,
preferring instead to live off his investments.
Barthelmess was one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences. For his contribution as an actor, Richard
Barthelmess was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |
