1866-1933
The man who be a World Heavyweight Champion of boxing, James John Corbett, affectionately known as "Gentleman Jim," was born on this day in San Francisco, California. He would eventually become an actor, but he very famously appeared in an early Edison Short Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph in 1894, with fellow boxer Peter Courtney. Edison later recalled in 1930 that the film was the very first film the company made for public exhibition (which was true-ish enough). Unlike Courtney, who is known to film only by his appearance in the above referenced title, Corbett had a eye for the theatrical and an aim to capitalize on it after his boxing career was ended. In addition to giving what we would call motivational speeches today, he also took to appearing in minstrel shows and eventually made his way back in front of the motion picture camera (he had appeared in a number of exhibition reels after the Edison Black Maria experience--as early as 1897). He starred, largely as himself--and billed by his nickname-- in the 1913 western The Man From the Golden West. His roles on film were few and far between, but by 1916, he was commanding the leading role. In all he appeared in just nine films (as far as anyone has been able to document to date)--and that includes the famous Edison 6 part (1 minute each) film (only 1 part of the film remains, but it is viewable on DVD format and can be viewed on YouTube). He had a role in the Edward Dillion feature comedy The Beauty Shop released in 1922 and did not appear again in film until the coming of the talkie in the late 1920's. Perhaps one of the most surprising things about Corbett, was his writing; he appeared as himself in a 1910 Vitagraph produced biographical short that he penned about his life (to date): James J. Corbett; or, How Championships Are Won and Lost (that same biographical material was later used in a film about his life starring Errol Flynn in 1942, appropriately titled Gentleman Jim). His role as a member of the minstrel show entertainers in the early all sound musical production Happy Days in 1929 directed by Benjamin Stoloff was his first in a sound picture. His last film appearance came in 1930 in the Murray Roth short At The Round Table (the film also had an appearance by DeWolf Hopper Sr.--the father of William Hopper and ex-husband of his mother Hedda). Corbett died three years later in Bayside, New York on the 18th of February at the age of 66. He was subsequently interred at Brooklyn's Cypress Hill Cemetery. His boxing career is the most interesting part of his biography, so I highly recommend reading up on it if you are interested in sports.
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