Leo Maloney
American Arcade card. Ex. Sup. Co., Chicago. Pathé.
Leo Daniel Maloney (San Jose or Santa Rosa, 4 January 1888 - New York, 2 November 1929) was an American actor, stuntman, director and screenwriter. As an actor, he appeared in 183 films. He directed forty-eight films, produced thirteen and wrote the screenplay for ten films.
Maloney started his film career in 1911 at Selig, as bit actor opposite western hero Tom Mix. In 1912 he played at Nestor under direction of Milton J. Fahrney and at Bison under direction of Thomas Ince, before moving over in 1913 to the Kalem company. Under direction of J.P. McGowan Maloney became the male lead (hero or villain) opposite McGowan's wife Helen Holmes in countless two-reelers as well as the Helen Holmes serial The Hazards of Helen (1914-1915), which was a huge success. In parallel to his work at Kalem, from 1914 Maloney also started to act in the Tom Mix films at Selig, directed by Mix himself. In 1916-1917 Maloney mainly co-acted in the Helen Holmes serials The Girl and the Game (1916), A Lass of the Lumberlands (1916), The Railroad Raiders (1917), and The Lost Express (1917), now made at Signal Films, the company of McGowan and Holmes. But when Signal's distributor Mutual collapsed, it also meant the end for the Holmes serials.
So, while Maloney's production was low in 1918 (possibly because of the above), it increased again in 1919-1920, now working for Universal. From 1920 he also directed some of his films there, such as The Honor of the Range (1920) and One Law for All (1920), while at Arrow Film he acted in the crime serial The Fatal Sign (Stuart Paton, 1920). In 1922-1923 he made many short westerns as the Range Rider, with Ford Beebe as director, for their own company Malobee Productions. In 1925 he built the Leo Maloney Studio, aka Skyland Studio, in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California, a studio village of fifty buildings where thirty-five people could live all year around. In 1924-25 Maloney directed several of his westerns for producer William Steiner, with Beebe as his scriptwriter, while from 1926 he did a few westerns distributed by Pathé, such as The High Hand (1926). By the end of the silent era he was still directing himself, but also acted under direction of Richard Thorpe in serials like The Vanishing West (1928). In 1929 the West vanished for Maloney himself. After having directed, and acted in what is known as the first B-western with sound, Overland Bound (1929), Maloney died of a heart attack, brought on by acute and chronic alcoholism, while at a party in Manhattan to celebrate the completion of that picture.
Sources: Italian and English Wikipedia, IMDb.
Leo Maloney
American Arcade card. Ex. Sup. Co., Chicago. Pathé.
Leo Daniel Maloney (San Jose or Santa Rosa, 4 January 1888 - New York, 2 November 1929) was an American actor, stuntman, director and screenwriter. As an actor, he appeared in 183 films. He directed forty-eight films, produced thirteen and wrote the screenplay for ten films.
Maloney started his film career in 1911 at Selig, as bit actor opposite western hero Tom Mix. In 1912 he played at Nestor under direction of Milton J. Fahrney and at Bison under direction of Thomas Ince, before moving over in 1913 to the Kalem company. Under direction of J.P. McGowan Maloney became the male lead (hero or villain) opposite McGowan's wife Helen Holmes in countless two-reelers as well as the Helen Holmes serial The Hazards of Helen (1914-1915), which was a huge success. In parallel to his work at Kalem, from 1914 Maloney also started to act in the Tom Mix films at Selig, directed by Mix himself. In 1916-1917 Maloney mainly co-acted in the Helen Holmes serials The Girl and the Game (1916), A Lass of the Lumberlands (1916), The Railroad Raiders (1917), and The Lost Express (1917), now made at Signal Films, the company of McGowan and Holmes. But when Signal's distributor Mutual collapsed, it also meant the end for the Holmes serials.
So, while Maloney's production was low in 1918 (possibly because of the above), it increased again in 1919-1920, now working for Universal. From 1920 he also directed some of his films there, such as The Honor of the Range (1920) and One Law for All (1920), while at Arrow Film he acted in the crime serial The Fatal Sign (Stuart Paton, 1920). In 1922-1923 he made many short westerns as the Range Rider, with Ford Beebe as director, for their own company Malobee Productions. In 1925 he built the Leo Maloney Studio, aka Skyland Studio, in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California, a studio village of fifty buildings where thirty-five people could live all year around. In 1924-25 Maloney directed several of his westerns for producer William Steiner, with Beebe as his scriptwriter, while from 1926 he did a few westerns distributed by Pathé, such as The High Hand (1926). By the end of the silent era he was still directing himself, but also acted under direction of Richard Thorpe in serials like The Vanishing West (1928). In 1929 the West vanished for Maloney himself. After having directed, and acted in what is known as the first B-western with sound, Overland Bound (1929), Maloney died of a heart attack, brought on by acute and chronic alcoholism, while at a party in Manhattan to celebrate the completion of that picture.
Sources: Italian and English Wikipedia, IMDb.