1867-1934
Actor and sometime director of the silent era Alec Budd Francis was born on this day in London, England, UK. Francis was originally in the law profession, practicing in his birth country, but by chance he got into acting in the 1890's. His path to getting there included serving in the British Royal Artillery (posted to India) and in the Spanish-American war as medic nurse for the US Army, after which he moved to Iowa intending on becoming a gentleman farmer--but found the stage instead. His change of profession eventually led him back east and into film acting and he made his on camera debut in Troublesome Secretaries (1911), a Ralph Ince film for Vitagraph starring Mabel Normand. Not long after this, he directed his first film, The Sheriff's Friend (1911); he also starred in the film as well (according to currently film history, he only directed one other film the following year). He was in several Maurice Tourneur films made in Fort Lee, NJ. Once introduced to film acting, he was never out of work. Despite that he was only in his 40's, he most often played a older man (in many cases much older) who occupied the wise character in a variety of situations (many of them comedic) in which younger characters were acting out their youth and badly needed a guiding hand. He worked prolifically throughout the silent era; by the time 1930 rolled around, he had appeared in over 200 films. One of my personal favorite late silent comedies in which he had the role of Joan Crawford's father came in the Harry Langdon film Tramp, Tramp, Tramp released 1926. He also appeared as Dr. Redmayne in the breakthrough horror film The Terror in 1928--the film featured an all sound version that is now recognized as the first all talking horror film (a silent version was released to a much wider distribution); this introduced the world to his British speaking voice--his transition to sound was all but in the bag. [He had appeared in the Lloyd Bacon's partial silent/talkie The Lion and the Mouse earlier in the year.] The Terror was followed by his appearance in the last completely silent film of his career: Companionate Marriage in 1928. His turn in The Bishop Murder Case with Basil Rathbone in 1930 was a big hit, and he was never snagged in the studio system purge of silent stars. With these types of speaking roles, he slowly became the "older British man" character in a number talkies, eventually appearing in films based on British literature. His health though began to take a turn and this started to slow his appearance in front of the camera; though he continued to work right up until his untimely death. The last film that he appeared in was Outcast Lady a 1934 Constance Bennett film, which premiered in September, two months after his death. Francis had complications due to a hemophilia, and died suddenly after undergoing emergency surgery in a Los Angeles area hospital on the 6th of July in 1934. He was 66 years old. He was cremated, ashes either scattered, interred or urned for family.
Wikipedia (mostly just a filmography)
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