1886-1962
Spanish born American character actor of the stage and screen Luis Alberni was born on this day in Barcelona. He had an early interest in the acting profession and, though some sources cite that he studied acting in some capacity while at university, his major at the University of Madrid was law (his father was a judge). Pursuing acting, he reportedly worked in performance in Europe before immigrating to the the United States in the spring of 1912. Though of course he made his stage debut in his native country, he did not make his film debut until three years after arriving in the U.S. His first film appearance came in the Frank Powell directed ethnic melodrama Children of the Ghetto, based on the novel by British Jewish writer Israel Zangwill; the film starred Wilton Lackaye. It would be four years before he appeared in another film--The Madonna of the Slums (1919)--and that was a short form film. In the entire decade of the 1920's he only appeared in eight films, the last of which was an early talkie. 39 East, his only film appearance in 1920, was his first feature film--it is a comedy based on a popular play of it's day, and sadly another film lost to us. He appeared in only one film in 1921--based on another popular comedic play--Little Italy was directed by George Terwilliger, who also directed 39 East. His film appearance in 1922 came in a film that is still well known to viewing audiences today; written by and starring Houdini: The Man From Beyond is a strange little science fiction mystery released in April (it is actually available to stream on free services as of this writing). In 1923, he appeared in two films: one a melodrama with Cuban intrigue starring Richard Barthelemess and Dorothy Gish--The Bight Shawl; the second was a lesser independent production--The Valley of Lost Souls--directed by Caryl Fleming. All of his other roles in films of the decade, including his first appearance in a talking picture (Battle of Paris) went uncredited. With the coming of sound films, Alberni began to act much more frequently in films. He had been on the stage (mostly Broadway) consistently from 1915 through 1928, including a the stage production of 39 East. But with the new decade and era of fully talking films, he acting switched from the stage to the set. Also, though, with coming of sound, came too type casting. It was a given that as a Spanish born actor, this would be an aspect of his career that he would have to deal with. Case in point, is his first film role in 1930 was as a Spaniard in the western The Santa Fe Trail. His "exotic European" roots however also meant that he was tapped to play various continental roles of different backgrounds, from rogues to royalty. Since this is "spooktober," I would be remiss if I didn't mention his turn in two John Barrymore horror films, both dating from 1931. The first is Svengali--today regarded as a classic despite it's not listed among the great horror films of that year--being rather drowned out by the two uber-classics from Universal: Dracula and Frankenstein. He again appeared with Barrymore in the Michael Curtiz horror that most have never heard of: The Mad Genius. Both films featured Marian Marsh opposite Barrymore (bit of trivia: Boris Karloff has a very small role in this film; Karloff [whose real name was William Henry Pratt] was hired by Curtiz [who was Hungarian] because he thought the actor was Russian). By the late 1930's, his name had begun to appear on promotional posters in high end supporting roles. He worked with a number of really well known actors of the day, including: Ray Milland, Ralph Bellamy, Edward Arnold, Myrna Loy, Robert Donat, Dolores del Rio, Fred Astaire, Irene Dunn, Olivia de Havilland, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Alberni reportedly spoke a jaw dropping seven languages, which made him convincing in just about any "foreigner" role that he was hired for--though he was principally cast as an Italian. He worked steadily in film all the way through 1946, after which his career slowed considerably. Alberni did make one appearance on the small screen in the television series Hollywood Opening Night in the November 1952 episode Welcome Home, Stranger. His last film role came in a tiny uncredited role in the massive production that was The Ten Commandments in 1956. In increasingly frail health, Alberni moved into an assisted living facility for motion picture/television actors some time after his last film role. He died there on the 23rd of December in 1962 at the age of 76. He was buried at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood.
In The Mad Genius
With Barrymore in Svengali
