Laurence Trimble

Laurence Norwood Trimble (February 15, 1885 – February 8, 1954) was an American silent film director, writer and actor. Trimble began his film career directing Jean, the Vitagraph Dog, the first canine to have a leading role in motion pictures. He made his acting debut in the 1910 silent Saved by the Flag, directed scores of films for Vitagraph and other studios, and became head of production for Florence Turner's independent film company in England (1913–1916). Trimble was most widely known for his four films starring Strongheart, a German Shepherd dog he discovered and trained that became the first major canine film star. After he left filmmaking he trained animals exclusively, particularly guide dogs for the blind.

Biography

Laurence Norwood Trimble was born February 15, 1885, in Robbinston, Maine. He grew up on a rocky farm near the Bay of Fundy. "I wanted a dog more than anything, but my family could not afford to let me have one," he later wrote. "By the time I had worked my way through school I had owned a number of dogs. Mostly they had bad reputations and nobody else wanted them, but I loved them and learned from them." In 1909, he visited Vitagraph Studios in New York while doing research for a series of articles called "How Movies Are Made". As he chatted with the sole assistant working under Rollin S. Sturgeon, head of the scenario department, he learned that a story of special interest to producer Albert E. Smith had been set aside because it required a dog that could act—not simply do tricks, but to behave naturally on command. Trimble scanned the script and said he could train any dog to do what was needed. "Jean, the Vitagraph Dog" became the first canine to have a leading role in motion pictures.

Trimble was married to concert singer Louise Trenton; their daughter, Janet, was born in September 1912.

In March 1913, Trimble and Jean resigned from Vitagraph, along with actor Tom Powers and Florence Turner. They went to England, where Turner formed her own company with studios at Walton-on-Thames. He directed Fool's Gold (1919), an independent production partially filmed in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, in which Turner tried to return to starring roles in American motion pictures. In 1920 Trimble directed three features for Selznick Pictures—notably, the last two films made by Olive Thomas before her death.

Knowing what qualities a dog needs to be a success in motion pictures — particularly the ability to register feelings that actual conditions do not warrant — Trimble set out to select a German Shepherd dog for his next canine actor. After extensive research he narrowed the field to three specific dogs, one of them in Germany and two in the U.S. In the autumn of 1920, Trimble found a dog at a kennel in White Plains, New York. Etzel von Oeringen was a male German Shepherd born in 1917. He was trained in Berlin as a police dog and served in the German Red Cross during World War I. A new name, Strongheart, was suggested by the publicity department of First National Pictures, which released his first film.

Strongheart became the first major canine film star. Trimble trained the dog and directed him in four rugged outdoor adventure pictures that were shot on location: The Silent Call (1921), Brawn of the North (1922), The Love Master (1924) and White Fang (1925). The partnership between Trimble and Murfin faltered; after their breakup, Strongheart's death and the loss of most of his investments in the Wall Street Crash of 1929,

Trimble's special interest was training guide dogs for the blind. He became president of the dog education foundation that supplied dogs for the Hazel Hurst Foundation of Monrovia, California, and spoke to clubs and community service organizations about the work of the foundation and the need for service dogs. The Hazel Hurst Foundation educated and found employment for the blind, including injured war veterans, and trained German Shepherds as assistance dogs that were given free to each student. By August 1944 the school had supplied the Lockheed-Vega Aircraft Corporation with 300 workers, greatly needed for production work during World War II.

In 1941, Trimble married Marian Constance Blackton, a daughter of J. Stuart Blackton, one of the founders of Vitagraph Studios. In her personal biography of her father, Marian Blackton Trimble recalled watching Trimble work with Jean on location in 1909:

If any member of the company had stepped out of the group that sunny morning and pointing a finger first at Larry Trimble and then at the producer's scrawny, eight-year-old daughter and said, "These two will be married one day", we would have thought it the prophecy of a lunatic. For myself I would have protested hotly that I would never marry a man with red hair.

Trimble died from a heart ailment on February 8, 1954, at age 68, at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.

Select filmography Larry Trimble served as director of these motion pictures unless otherwise noted.

Year Title Notes 1910 Saved by the Flag Short film, 1910 Jean and the Calico Doll Short film starring Jean 1911 Short film 1911 Her Crowning Glory Short film 1911 Wig Wag Short film 1912 Cardinal Wolsey Short film 1912 Bunny and the Dogs Short film 1912 Bunny All at Sea Short film 1913 Short film 1915 Alone in London Also producer 1915 Lost and Won 1915 Far from the Madding Crowd Also screenwriter 1917 1918 1924 Also producer and screenwriter 1924 Sundown Co-directed with Harry O. Hoyt 1925 White Fang 1926 My Old Dutch Also screenwriter