Thomas Meighan
Thomas Meighan was born April 9, 1879, in Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania. His father was the president of Pittsburgh Facing
Mills, so his family was well-to-do. He attended St. mary's College
studying pharmacology but quit after three years to pursue an
acting career. He started out in the Pittsburgh Stock Company
in 1896 and by 1900 he made his first appearance on Broadway.
The next several years saw a successful career on Broadway, and
sometime around 1907-08 he met and married Frances Ring. In 1914,
he appeared in his first film -- "Dandy Donovan, the Gentleman
Cracksman" which was filmed in England. This led to a contract
with Famous-Players Lasky, and his first U.S. film was "The
Fighting Hope" in 1915. Although he had appeared opposite
in several successful features, including Mary Pickford's "M'liss"
in 1918, it was "The Miracle Man," which also featured
Lon Chaney, in 1919 that solidified his stardom. Cecil B. DeMille
used him in such pictures as "Male and Female" (1919)
opposite Gloria Swanson and Lila Lee, with Swanson and Bebe Daniels
in "Why Change Your Wife?" (1920) and with Leatrice
Joy in "Manslaughter" (1922). Meighan continued to be
a successful star throughout the twenties with such films as "The
Alaskan" (1924), "Tin Gods" (1926), "The Canadian"
(1926), "The Racket" (1928) which was one of three films
nominated for the first Best Picture Oscar, and "The Mating
Call" (1928). When he made his first talkie in 1928, "The
Argyle Case," Meighan was nearly 50 years old and feared
his movie days were over, so he went into real estate. However,
he did return to pictures in 1931, but only made five talkies
before succumbing to cancer in 1936. His career spanned approximately
81 films. He and Ring had remained married until his death. They
had no children.
Selected films of this star available for viewing:
The Forbidden City (1918)
Male
and Female (1919)
Why Change Your Wife? (1920)
Conrad
in Quest of His Youth (1920)
Manslaughter (1922)
The
Canadian (1926)
The Mating Call (1928)
The
Racket (1928)
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