Thomas G. Lingham

Thomas G. Lingham (April 7, 1870 – February 19, 1950; also credited as Thomas Lingham, Tom Lingham, and as T. G. Lingham) was an American stage performer and then a film actor during both the silent and early sound eras. He appeared in more than 100 motion pictures between 1914 and 1934, often portraying villains, which in the film industry at that time were also called "heavies". During his 20-year screen career, Lingham was cast in productions for Kalem Company, Signal Film Corporation, Pathé, Universal Pictures, Mascot Pictures, Lone Star Film Company, and for other studios in and around Hollywood.

Early life and stage career Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Thomas was the son of actress Katherine Fletcher and Matheis ("Matt") V. Lingham, who was also a well known stage actor and leading player on Broadway in the late 1870s and 1880s. Thomas Lingham began his own entertainment career performing in operatic productions in 1894 and then acting for five years with theatrical star James Neill, initially serving as a supporting character in the 1895 stage production Monte Cristo. Then, during the early 1900s, Lingham acted with several stock companies in Indianapolis, Buffalo, Louisville, and Boston as well as being featured in a variety of Broadway plays, including an "all-star cast" adaptation of The Three Musketeers.

By 1916, Lingham had established a reputation at Kalem, Signal Film Corporation, and at other California studios as a reliable supporting player and as one particularly skilled in portraying villains on screen. In fact, in the 1916 "Motion Picture Studio Directory" published in the trade publication Motion Picture News, a section of several pages is devoted to profiling actors who specialize in roles as villains or "heavies". Lingham is listed and pictured among those actors. His directory entry even includes a basic description of him: "Hght., 6ft.; wght. 185; complexion brunette, green eyes, dark brown hair, is ice skater." In the film, Lingham portrays Sir Thomas Holstead; Goodrich, the character Lady Holstead. That same year, in its July 8 issue, the "photoplay" critic for Motion Picture News gives a complimentary review to the Western Medicine Bend, Signal's sequel to its popular release Whispering Smith. In his review, William Esty alludes to Lingham, identifying him as part of the film's "competent" supporting cast. Then, in its August 12 issue, MPN reports that Lingham was injured during the filming of the "railroad picture" The Manager of the B. and A.:...The set was burned to the ground amid exciting scenes. In a fight scene between [Paul] Hurst and Lingham, the latter was thrown to the floor of the printing office so violently that he received a bad scalp wound. He was supposed to be unconscious when the scene ended, and it was not until the camera had stopped running that players discovered he actually was unconscious. In an earlier issue of Wid's Daily, in 1919, the paper's advice columnist "Polly Perkins" shares with her readers Lingham's ideas about what makes the portrayal of a "heavy" successful on screen, along with his suggestions on how to be a dapper dresser on a tight budget:

Throughout the rest of the 1920s and into the early years of the sound era, Lingham continued to perform regularly in pictures for various studios, often again as a "true-to-type villain" in Westerns, which remained very popular with American moviegoers. Some of the features in which he was cast and credited in the late 1920s and early 1930s include The Bandit's Son (1927), Son of the Golden West (1928), The Trail of Courage (1928), The Cowboy and the Outlaw (1929), The Invaders (1929), Two Sisters (1929), The Oklahoma Sheriff (1930), and Hunted Men (1930). In the final years of Lingham's career, up to 1935, he was cast in several uncredited parts. His final credited role, at least the one consistently cited in Lingham's available filmographies, is in the 1934 Western or "oater" The Star Packer starring John Wayne. In that release presented by Lone Star Productions, "Tom Lingham" plays Sheriff Al Davis, whose time on the screen is short-lived, for the character is shot and killed in the first 10 minutes of the 54-minute film.

By 1940, Lingham identified himself as fully retired from the motion picture industry. The United States Census for that year documents that he and his wife Alberta, who was long retired from her acting career, were still living in California, residing together in a $30-a-month apartment on Fountain Avenue in Los Angeles. In that federal survey of the nation's population, Lingham classifies himself as retired and also documents that he was not seeking employment in 1940 and had not worked for wages at all in the preceding year. Thomas's obituary, however, in the Los Angeles Times in 1950 indicates that he may have been married a second time late in life. At the time of his death his surviving wife was identified in the newspaper simply as "Mary". Published three days after his death, Lingham's full obituary reads as follows:

Partial filmography

The Shadow of Guilt (1914) The Bond Eternal (1914) The Barrier of Ignorance (1914) The Potter and the Clay (1914) The Strangler's Cord (1915) The Dream Seekers (1915) The Pitfall (1915) Stingaree (1915) The Taking of Stingaree (1915) A Bushranger at Bay (1915) The Master Swindlers (1916) Medicine Bend (1916) The Manager of the B. and A. (1916) The Social Pirates (1916) Judith of the Cumberlands (1916) Lass of the Lumberlands (1916) The Lost Express (1917) The Railroad Raiders (1917) The Lion's Claws (1918) The Red Glove (1919) The Adventures of Ruth (1919) The Vanishing Dagger (1920) Ruth of the Rockies (1920) The Fire Eater (1921) The Honor of Rameriz (1921) My Lady Friends (1921) The Spirit of the Lake (1921) Riders of the Law (1922) The Crow's Nest (1922) Wolf Tracks (1923) The Forbidden Trail (1923) Itching Palms (1923) Desert Rider (1923) Desert Driven (1923) The Lightning Rider (1924) Wanted by the Law (1924) Riders of Mystery (1925) Heartless Husbands (1925) Where Was I? (1925) Sky High Corral (1926) The Border Sheriff (1926) Daniel Boone Thru the Wilderness (1926) The Set-Up (1926) Splitting the Breeze (1927) Tom's Gang (1927) Daring Deeds (1927) The Desert Pirate (1927) The Bandit's Son (1927) The Trail of Courage (1928) The Rawhide Kid (1928) Son of the Golden West (1928) The Bantam Cowboy (1928) Man in the Rough (1928) Young Whirlwind (1928) Fangs of the Wild (1928) Into the Night (1928) Orphan of the Sage (1928) The Cowboy and the Outlaw (1929) The Invaders (1929) The Fatal Warning (1929) The Freckled Rascal (1929) Two Sisters (1929) Pals of the Prairie (1929) The Oklahoma Sheriff (1930) Firebrand Jordan (1930) Hunted Men (1930) The Star Packer (1934)

References and notes