George Downing Clarke

George Downing Clarke (1859 – 17 August 1930) was a British-born stage and film actor who emigrated to the United States where he acted in Broadway theatrical productions and later appeared in films in a decade-long career during the silent era.

After success as a theatrical actor in England, Clarke arrived in New York in 1892 where he worked as a stage actor and manager, and later as a theatre manager, most often associated with the theatrical entrepreneurs Charles Frohman and David Belasco. In 1915 he began to act in films, initially in a series of Lubin Manufacturing Company productions. During his screen career from 1915 to 1925 Clarke appeared in more than forty films, working with various production companies. After 1918 his screen roles were credited as 'Downing Clarke'.

Biography

Early years

George Downing Clarke was born in 1859 at Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham in the West Midlands of England, the son of Richard Clarke and Sarah (née Baldwin). He was a descendant of Sir George Downing (hence his middle name).

By 1871 the Clarke family was living at Coleshill in Warwickshire, east of Birmingham. His father died in June 1876 at Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands.

Clarke was a cast member of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a production by Liebler & Co. at the Knickerbocker Theatre on Broadway. The play ran from late May to June 1903. In January 1904 Clarke played a role in The Taming of the Shrew. He played the role of "the seigneur" in the romantic drama The Harvester (an English adaptation of Le Chemineau) which opened at New York's Lyric Theatre on 10 October 1904. The production featured Otis Skinner in the lead role. In December 1904 The Harvester was playing at the Grand Opera House in Chicago.

In New York Clarke lived with his younger brother Franklin at 203 West 100th Street. In August 1912 Clarke travelled to Los Angeles to supervise "the business interests" of The Drums of Oude vaudeville production at the Orpheum Theatre. In a production at the Belasco Theatre in New York in about 1913, he personally received President Taft after the performance.

Films

Betty Brice and George Clarke in a still from the 1915 film The Rights of Man.

In 1915 George Clarke became involved in film acting, initially in productions by the Lubin Manufacturing Company.

In early 1915 Clark was one of the cast members of Road O' Strife, a fifteen-part serial directed by John Ince and produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company. Clark became a regular performer in films produced by the Philadelphia-based Lubin company. He appeared in about twenty Lubin productions, both multi-reel features and ten short films, released in the period from April 1915 to July 1916.

In 1915 Clarke had a leading role in the Lubin Company's film The Rights of Man, playing 'Prince Sigismund', the father of 'Princess Lorha' (played by Betty Brice). In early 1916 Clarke was in the supporting cast of The Flames of Johannis, a five-reel Lubin production with Nance O'Neil in the dual lead roles. Later that year Clarke played the role of 'Mr. Wakefield' in Remodeling Her Husband, the only film directed by the actress Lillian Gish, with her sister Dorothy Gish in the lead role.

In 1924 Clarke was cast as Lord Chamberlain in D. W. Griffith's historical romantic film America, set during the events of the American Revolutionary War. Later in 1924 he was cast as Lord Chesterfield in the historical romantic drama Monsieur Beaucaire, a major production by Paramount Pictures with Rudolph Valentino in the lead role.

Last years

George Downing Clark died on 17 August 1930 at New Haven, Connecticut, aged 71.

Filmography

Actor (as George Clarke) The Road O' Strife (April 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company (serial). The College Widow (May 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company. An Hour of Freedom (July 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). The Climbers (August 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company. Under the Fiddler's Elm (August 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). The Great Ruby (September 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company. Queenie of the Nile (September 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). When Youth is Ambitious (October 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). Playing Horse (October 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). The Rights of Man: A Story of War's Red Blotch (October 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company. A Man's Making (December 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company. Sweeter Than Revenge (December 1915), Lubin Manufacturing Company. The Evangelist (January 1916), Lubin Manufacturing Company. The Uplift (February 1916), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). Her Wayward Sister (February 1916), Lubin Manufacturing Company. The Flames of Johannis (April 1916), Lubin Manufacturing Company. Love and Bullets (April 1916), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). The Winning Number (May 1916), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). Two Smiths and a Haff (June 1916), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). Otto's Vacation (July 1916), Lubin Manufacturing Company (short film). Immediate Lee (November 1916), American Film Manufacturing Company.

The Vixen (December 1916), Fox Film Corporation. Twisted Trails (December 1916), Selig Polyscope Company. The Tiger Woman (February 1917), Fox Film Corporation. Redemption (June 1917), Triumph Films. The Silent Master (June 1917), Robert Warwick Film. Marriages are Made (October 1918), Fox Film Corporation. The Man Who Lost Himself (May 1920), Faversham Productions. Remodeling Her Husband (June 1920), New Art Film Company. The Stealers (October 1920), Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation. The Ghost in the Garret (February 1921), New Art Film Company. Know Your Men (March 1921), Fox Film Corporation. When Knighthood Was in Flower (September 1922), Cosmopolitan Productions. The Headless Horseman (November 1922), Sleepy Hollow Corporation. America (February 1924), D. W. Griffith Productions. Monsieur Beaucaire (August 1924), Paramount Pictures. Sandra (September 1924), Associated First National Pictures (uncredited). The Fool (November 1925), Fox Film Corporation.

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