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Joseph Henabery (January 15, 1888 – February 18, 1976) was an American film actor, screenplay writer, and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in D.W. Griffith's controversial 1915 silent historical epic The Birth of a Nation.
Joseph Henabery | |
|---|---|
 Henabery in Exhibitors Herald, 1919 | |
| Born | January 15, 1888 |
| Died | February 18, 1976 (aged 88) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1916-1948 |
| Known for | Playing Abraham Lincoln in The Birth of a Nation |
| Spouse | Lillian Nolan (1924-1976) (his death) |
| Children | 2 |
Early years
editHenabery was born in Omaha and raised in Los Angeles.[1] He began acting as an amateur in California. Before he worked in films, Henabery worked for the San Pedro, Los Angeles, Salt Lake Railroad. When he was 25 years old, he became an extra for Universal Pictures.[2]
Career
editHenabery's acting career began in The Joke on Yellentown (1914). From 1914 to 1917 he appeared in seventeen films, including his portrayal of Lincoln in The Birth of a Nation.
Henabery also worked as a second-unit director on Griffith's Intolerance (1916), and supervised the filming of at least one extended sequence that appeared in the film. Henabery also acted as Admiral de Coligny in the Renaissance French portion of the film depicting the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. Throughout the rest of his career, he worked as a director. From the mid-1920s, and after professional disagreements with both Louis B. Mayer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Adolph Zukor at Paramount Pictures, Henabery found employment as a director for smaller Hollywood studios.
In 1931 he joined the Vitaphone studio in New York City, where he directed dozens of short subjects for the next 10 years. Most of them were musicals and comedies, featuring a host of popular singers in 20-minute sketches. Henabery remained with Vitaphone until the New York studio closed in 1940.
Henabery made documentaries and training films as a member of the Army Signal Corps.[1]
As Abraham Lincoln
editAlthough Henabery's impersonation of Lincoln was a masterpiece of facial makeup, the 6'1" (185 cm) Henabery was three inches shorter than the 6'4" (193 cm) Lincoln.[3] Kevin Brownlow's book The Parade's Gone By (1968) contains a photo of Henabery in costume and makeup as Lincoln, seated in a chair with planks placed on the floor under Henabery's feet so that his knees are raised several inches; this effect (with the planks kept off-camera in the movie) made Henabery's legs appear longer than they actually were.
Personal life and death
editHenabery and his wife, Lilian, had a daughter and a son. Henabery died on February 18, 1976, aged 88, at the Motion Picture Country House in Los Angeles, California.[1]
Filmography
editDirector
edit| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Say! Young Fellow | 1918 | director and scenarist |
| Mr. Fix-It | 1918 | co-screenplay |
| Life of the Party | 1920 | |
| Love Madness | 1920 | |
| Brewster's Millions | 1921 | |
| Traveling Salesman | 1921 | |
| Don't Call Me Little Girl | 1921 | |
| Moonlight and Honeysuckle | 1921 | |
| Her Winning Way | 1921 | |
| Making a Man | 1922 | |
| The Stranger | 1924 | |
| A Sainted Devil | 1924 | |
| Cobra | 1925 | |
| Meet the Prince | 1926 | |
| Play Safe | 1927 | |
| Sailors' Wives | 1928 | |
| United States Smith | 1928 | |
| Red Hot Speed | 1929 | |
| The Quitter | 1929 | |
| Double or Nothing | 1936 | Short |
Actor
editThe Race War (1915) with Bessie Buskirk[4][5]
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Birth of a Nation | 1915 | Abraham Lincoln | |
| The Spell of the Poppy | 1915 | John Hale | |
| The Penitentes | 1915 | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| Intolerance | 1916 | L'amiral de Coligny / Defendant | (final film role) |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Joseph Henabery, Film Director, Dies". February 20, 1976 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Tucker, Jean E. (Summer 1980). "Voices from the Silents". The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress. 37 (3): 406. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ Henabery, Joseph (June 19, 1997). Before, In, and After Hollywood: The Autobiography of Joseph E. Henabery. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810832008 – via Google Books.
- ^ Katchmer, George A. (May 20, 2015). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. ISBN 9781476609058 – via Google Books.
- ^ Lentz, Harris M. (1996). Western and Frontier Film and Television Credits 1903-1995: Section I. Actors and actresses. Section II. Directors, producers, and writers. ISBN 9780786402175.
External links
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