Monday, May 25, 2020

Born Today May 25: Kenean Buel


1880-1948

Prolific silent film director Kenean Buel was born on this day in Springfield, Kentucky (reportedly his birth name was John William Adams).  He was first hired by the Kalem company and made his directorial debut in their production of As You Like It, a short based on the Shakespeare play of the same name, in 1908. Buel did not direct another film for two years, spending the interim time period working under Kalem's Sidney Olcott.  His next round in the director's chair came on the dramatic short Chief Blackfoot's Vindication (1910).  From this time forward, Buel became one of Kalem's most prolific film directors; he was also a part of their team that started winter shoots in Florida, so it came as no surprise when he was selected to go west to Hollywood to spear-head Kalem productions there.  In late 1915, he made the move to Fox and the last film that he directed for Kalem was the 40 minute drama The Runaway Wife.  The first film that he directed at Fox was the 1916 feature length The Marble Heart (the adapted scenario was penned by Herbert Brenon).  He made just under 20 films at Fox, including The New York Peacock (1917) and the fantasy sci-fi She, both starring Valeska Suratt (his films for them were mostly consumed in the infamous 1937 Fox fire). The last film that he made for Fox was My Little Sister in 1919, one of the few films to feature the scandal ridden Evelyn Nesbit. He made just two more films after this: one for (if you can believe it) Hallmark The Veiled Marriage; and his last for Atlas The Place of the Honeymoons--both in 1920.  He then retired from the business and at some point returned to the east coast, dying in New York City on the 5th of November in 1948 at the age of 68. I can find no information on interment.




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