Johnny Hines
Vintage German postcard. Ross Verlag,No. 1183/1. First National Pictures.
John F. 'Johnny' Hines (July 25, 1895 – October 24, 1970) was an American actor who had numerous film roles during the silent era, including many starring ones. He appeared in more than 50 films and numerous film shorts. But he did not succeed well in transitioning well into talking pictures.
Born in Golden, Colorado on June 25, 1895, John (known as Johnny) was the third of three Hines brothers: Samuel E. was the oldest and Charles was the second. All three brothers were later active in the film industry, Hines as an actor, Charles as a director primarily during the silent era, and Samuel as a bit-part actor during the early years of sound film. In the early 1910s, Hines attended the City College of New York, although it is unclear whether he obtained his degree. During the early years, many films were produced in New York and New Jersey, before Hollywood, California became a center of filmmaking. Hines made his film debut in 1914, after which he appeared in several shorts and three features; all were silent films. He was first seen in a major supporting part in the feature The Man of the Hour (1914), starring Robert Warwick, directed by Maurice Tourneur, produced by William Brady Pictures, and distributed by World Film. Brady/ World Film had its studio at Fort Lee, New Jersey - the East-Coast center of filmmaking in the 1910s.
Hines remained with Tourneur and Warwick for several films in a row, including Alias Jimmy Valentine (1915). Often these were adaptations of stage plays. After some seven films with Tourneur and Brady as supporting actor, Hines' first starring role was in The Cub (1915), directed by Maurice Tourneur, again based on a stage play, written by Brady himself. Hines continued with Tourneur and Brady in the following years, acting mostly supporting parts, e.g. in World Film's film version of Leo Tolstoy's Zhivoy trup (The Living Corpse), entitled The Weakness of Man (Barry O'Neil, 1916), and in The Dancer's Peril (Travers Vale, 1917) with Brady's daughter Alice in the lead, and referring to the Ballets Russes, then appearing in a show by the Shubert Brothers, major backers of World Film. Hines was co-starring with Marie Dressler in World Film's Tillie Wakes Up (1917), a quasi-sequel to Keystone's Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914).
After over 25 films at World Film in 1914-1918, in 1918 Hines went to California to freelance for companies like moved to Lewis J. Selznick's Select Pictures and Famous Players/ Paramount. In the early 1920s, Hines co-directed two of the films in which he starred: Burn 'Em Up Barnes (George Beranger, Hines, Mastodon Films 1921) and Little Johnny Jones (Arthur Rossin, Hines, Warner Bros. 1923). Hines wrote the screenplay for Conductor 1492 (Warner, 1924), in which he also starred, and his brother, Charles, directed. It would be the start of several silent comedies directed by Charles Hines and starring his brother Johnny, including The Speed Spook (1924), The Crackerjack (1925), The Early Bird (1925), The Live Wire (1925), The Brown Derby (1926), Rainbow Riley (1926), Stepping Along (1926), All Aboard (1927), Home Made (1927), White Pants Willie (1927), Chinatown Charlie (1928), The Wright Idea (1928), etc. - all produced by C.C. Burr Productions, and distributed by East Coast Productions and, afterward, First National. His female co-stars in these years were a.o. Louise Lorraine, Mary Brian, Leila Hyams, and Sigrid Holmquist. Yet, after 1928 Hines had a long break in film acting until 1931, when sound had set in.
During his career of over 10 years of silent pictures, Johnny Hines appeared in almost 50 films, many times in starring roles. Some of his more notable films included the above mentioned Little Johnny Jones, in which he had a title role. It was the first film adaptation of the George M. Cohan musical of the same name. With the advent of sound in the motion picture industry, Hines's career went into decline. The "talkies" called for different skills and not all actors could make the transition. During the 1930s, Hines appeared in only six films, all in smaller, supporting roles. In 1938 he played his last significant film role, that of Parsons in Too Hot to Handle. It starred Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Walter Pidgeon. He appeared in only one more film, Magnificent Doll (1946), in which he had a bit part while Ginger Rogers and David Niven starred.
Hines died on October 24, 1970, at the age of 75 in Los Angeles, California. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
Sources: English Wikipedia, IMDb.
Johnny Hines
Vintage German postcard. Ross Verlag,No. 1183/1. First National Pictures.
John F. 'Johnny' Hines (July 25, 1895 – October 24, 1970) was an American actor who had numerous film roles during the silent era, including many starring ones. He appeared in more than 50 films and numerous film shorts. But he did not succeed well in transitioning well into talking pictures.
Born in Golden, Colorado on June 25, 1895, John (known as Johnny) was the third of three Hines brothers: Samuel E. was the oldest and Charles was the second. All three brothers were later active in the film industry, Hines as an actor, Charles as a director primarily during the silent era, and Samuel as a bit-part actor during the early years of sound film. In the early 1910s, Hines attended the City College of New York, although it is unclear whether he obtained his degree. During the early years, many films were produced in New York and New Jersey, before Hollywood, California became a center of filmmaking. Hines made his film debut in 1914, after which he appeared in several shorts and three features; all were silent films. He was first seen in a major supporting part in the feature The Man of the Hour (1914), starring Robert Warwick, directed by Maurice Tourneur, produced by William Brady Pictures, and distributed by World Film. Brady/ World Film had its studio at Fort Lee, New Jersey - the East-Coast center of filmmaking in the 1910s.
Hines remained with Tourneur and Warwick for several films in a row, including Alias Jimmy Valentine (1915). Often these were adaptations of stage plays. After some seven films with Tourneur and Brady as supporting actor, Hines' first starring role was in The Cub (1915), directed by Maurice Tourneur, again based on a stage play, written by Brady himself. Hines continued with Tourneur and Brady in the following years, acting mostly supporting parts, e.g. in World Film's film version of Leo Tolstoy's Zhivoy trup (The Living Corpse), entitled The Weakness of Man (Barry O'Neil, 1916), and in The Dancer's Peril (Travers Vale, 1917) with Brady's daughter Alice in the lead, and referring to the Ballets Russes, then appearing in a show by the Shubert Brothers, major backers of World Film. Hines was co-starring with Marie Dressler in World Film's Tillie Wakes Up (1917), a quasi-sequel to Keystone's Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914).
After over 25 films at World Film in 1914-1918, in 1918 Hines went to California to freelance for companies like moved to Lewis J. Selznick's Select Pictures and Famous Players/ Paramount. In the early 1920s, Hines co-directed two of the films in which he starred: Burn 'Em Up Barnes (George Beranger, Hines, Mastodon Films 1921) and Little Johnny Jones (Arthur Rossin, Hines, Warner Bros. 1923). Hines wrote the screenplay for Conductor 1492 (Warner, 1924), in which he also starred, and his brother, Charles, directed. It would be the start of several silent comedies directed by Charles Hines and starring his brother Johnny, including The Speed Spook (1924), The Crackerjack (1925), The Early Bird (1925), The Live Wire (1925), The Brown Derby (1926), Rainbow Riley (1926), Stepping Along (1926), All Aboard (1927), Home Made (1927), White Pants Willie (1927), Chinatown Charlie (1928), The Wright Idea (1928), etc. - all produced by C.C. Burr Productions, and distributed by East Coast Productions and, afterward, First National. His female co-stars in these years were a.o. Louise Lorraine, Mary Brian, Leila Hyams, and Sigrid Holmquist. Yet, after 1928 Hines had a long break in film acting until 1931, when sound had set in.
During his career of over 10 years of silent pictures, Johnny Hines appeared in almost 50 films, many times in starring roles. Some of his more notable films included the above mentioned Little Johnny Jones, in which he had a title role. It was the first film adaptation of the George M. Cohan musical of the same name. With the advent of sound in the motion picture industry, Hines's career went into decline. The "talkies" called for different skills and not all actors could make the transition. During the 1930s, Hines appeared in only six films, all in smaller, supporting roles. In 1938 he played his last significant film role, that of Parsons in Too Hot to Handle. It starred Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Walter Pidgeon. He appeared in only one more film, Magnificent Doll (1946), in which he had a bit part while Ginger Rogers and David Niven starred.
Hines died on October 24, 1970, at the age of 75 in Los Angeles, California. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
Sources: English Wikipedia, IMDb.