Ferdinand P. Earle

Ferdinand Pinney Earle (1839 – January 2, 1903) was a US military officer and hotel proprietor.

Early life and family Earle was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1839. His mother was Elizabeth (née Pinney), daughter of Judge Benjamin Pinney, of Ellington, Connecticut. His father, William Pitt Earle, was for many years a leading hotel proprietor in New York City, and at the time of his death, was one of the oldest men in that line of business. He was for many years proprietor of the Clinton House, of Hartford and later of the Lorillard House, New York, which was subsequently known and achieved a national reputation as Earle's Hotel. Here in this house, at 160th Street, near 10th Avenue, New York City, built by a relative of Earle's ancestor, Capt. William Morris, Earle spent his retirement the last years of his life.

Ferdinand P. Earle, Jr. (1871–1951) married Mlle Fischbacher of Paris, who claimed descent from Charlemagne. The wealthy artist-poet then met a Miss Julie Kuttner, and persuaded the first to return to Paris with their son for a divorce so he could marry his "preordained affinity". His neighbors in Monroe, New York were livid, as they had taken the first into their hearts. He turned his attention to moving pictures, first supplying artistic intertitles for the film Toys of Fate as Metro's art director, then adopted novel double-exposure techniques, anticipating chroma key, to produce his film Omar Khayyam in 1921.