Charles Brabin

Charles Brabin
Lili Damita, Charles Brabin, and Merritt B. Gerstad on the set of The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929)
Born	April 17, 1882 Liverpool, England, United Kingdom
Died	November 3, 1957 (aged 75) Santa Monica, California, United States
Spouse(s)	Theda Bara (1921–1955)

Charles J. Brabin (April 17, 1882 – November 3, 1957) was an American film director and screenwriter.

Biography

Born in Liverpool, England, he was educated at St. Francis Xavier College. Brabin sailed to New York in the early 1900s and, while holding down odd jobs there, he tried his hand as a stage actor. He joined the Edison Manufacturing Company around 1908, first acting then writing then directing. He was active during the silent era, then pursued a short-lived career in talkies. His last film was A Wicked Woman for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934.

Brabin married his first wife socialite Susan "Susette" Jane Mosher, a silent movie actress and daughter of Edwin Howard Mosher and Jenny Slater Mosher of New York City. They wed Dec. 14, 1913, at Bedford Congregational Church in the Bronx, shortly after Brabin returned from a trip to England and Europe. Brabin's best friend, screen actor Marc MacDermott, served as best man.^[1] Charles and Susan Brabin remained married for seven years.

Brabin later wed silent-film "vamp" star Theda Bara July 2, 1921, remaining married to her until her death from abdominal cancer in April 1955 and becoming one of the rare long-lasting Hollywood marriages.

Selected filmography

• A Soldier's Duty (1912)
• What Happened to Mary (1912, 12-episode serial)
• An Unsullied Shield (1913)
• The Man Who Disappeared (serial, 1914)
• The Raven (1915)
• The Poor Rich Man (1918)
• Kathleen Mavourneen (1919)
• While New York Sleeps (1920)
• Blind Wives (1920)
• Driven (1923)
• So Big (1924)
• Ben-Hur (1925, uncredited)
• Mismates (1926)
• Twinkletoes (1926)
• The Valley of the Giants (1927)
• The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929)
• The Ship from Shanghai (1929)
• Call of the Flesh (1930)
• The Great Meadow (1931)
• Sporting Blood (1931)
• The Beast of the City (1932)
• The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
• Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
• Stage Mother (1933)
• A Wicked Woman (1934)

References

1. "The Moving Picture World," Volume 18, Page 1528, Issues 8-13

External links

• Charles Brabin at the Internet Movie Database
• Charles J. Brabin at IBDb.com