"Karl Dane's life was a Cinderella story gone horribly
wrong. The immigrant from Copenhagen was rapidly transformed from
a machinist to a Hollywood star after his turn as the tobacco-chewing
Slim in "The Big Parade" in 1925. After that, Dane appeared
in more than 40 films with such luminaries as Lillian Gish, John
Gilbert and William Haines until development of talkies virtually
ruined his career. The most famous casualty of the transition
from silent to sound film, Dane reportedly lost his career because
of his accent. He was broke and alone at the height of the Great
Depression and committed suicide in 1934. But is this the full
story? Author Laura Petersen Balogh's extensive primary research
has uncovered the previous unknown life of an exciting, dynamic
and passionate man, who died tragically but achieved his dreams,
if but a short period of time."