- Born
- 1 April 1883, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
- First work
- 1912: The Honor of the Family
- Peak
- 1920 to 1928 (estimated)
- Last work
- 1930: The Unholy Three
- Died
- 26 August 1930, Los Angeles, United States; aged 47; illness
Lon Chaney
Film: actor, director, United States
Lon Chaney, revered as The Man of a Thousand Faces, was a master of transformative character acting during the silent era. The child of deaf parents, he developed extraordinary pantomimic skill and pioneered complex, painful prosthetic make-up techniques to depict tormented outcasts. His astonishing characterisations in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera set the standard for cinematic grotesque pathos. Collaborating extensively with director Tod Browning, Chaney delivered intense psychological performances in pictures such as The Unknown. Chaney completed only one talkie before succumbing to throat cancer in Los Angeles in 1930, closing a remarkable chapter in screen acting.
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Signature works
- The Penalty film1920
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame film1923
- He Who Gets Slapped film1924
- The Phantom of the Opera film1925
- The Unholy Three film1925
- The Unknown film1927
- Laugh, Clown, Laugh film1928
Honours
- Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1960
Groups: Universal Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.