Lon
Chaney starred in
over one hundred
movies, only a fraction
of which displayed
his brilliant gift
for creating transformative
horror make-up.
Yet those few legendary
films alone are
the reason for his
eternal legacy
Born in 1883 to
deaf parents , he
began a career in
theater and vaudeville
at the age of 19
and four years later,
he married a singer
named Cleva Creighton
with whom he had
an only child, Lon
Jr.
An attempted suicide
by his wife and
their subsequent
divorce ruined his
career in theater,
and he began to
work in films for
Universal Studios.
The Universal production
of The Hunchback
of Notre Dame was
a huge success and
it confirmed Chaney's
growing star status
as a master make-up
artist and character
actor.
The next few years
brought several
more roles in horror
silents including
little- known films
like The Monster
and The Unknown
and for the lost
film London After
Midnight.
Chaney is best remembered
for his horrific
portrayal of The
Phantom of the Opera.
Above,
Chaney as The Phantom,
as the deformed Quasimodo
and as the Vampyre
in London After Midnight.
Chaney preferred to
play his monsterous
characters with human
frailties and is known
for enduring torturous
devices to create
his transformations.
He died in 1930 from
cancer after starring
in his first and only
'talkie.'
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