Raymond Griffith

Raymond Griffith
Raymond Griffith
	Lobby card with Jeanette Daudet, Pola Negri,; and Griffith in Lily of the Dust (1924)
Born	January 23, 1895; Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died	November 25, 1957 (aged 62); Los Angeles, California, United States
Cause of death	Asphyxia due to partially masticated food
Occupation	actor
Spouse(s)	Bertha Mann (1928–1957)
Children	Patricia Stout (adopted)

Raymond Griffith (January 23, 1895 – November 25, 1957) was a silent movie comedian. Later in his career, he worked behind the camera as writer and producer.

Biography

Griffith was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He lost his voice at an early age, causing him to speak for the rest of his life in a hoarse whisper. Griffith claimed that it was the result of his having to scream at the top of his lungs every night in a stage melodrama as a child actor—others have stated that a childhood disease was more likely the cause.

Although a few comedy films of his are considered classics he is almost totally forgotten today. His film debut was for the L-KO Kompany. Many of his starring feature films have long since been lost, but probably the best known of his films today is Hands Up! (1926), a Civil War comedy feature directed by Clarence G. Badger, and co-starring Mack Swain, which was entered into the National Film Registry in 2005. Also considered a classic is Badger's Paths to Paradise, a caper film that is in all circulating prints missing its final reel. Like many silent comedians, he had a traditional costume; his was a top hat, white tie and tails, often augmented by a cape and/or walking stick.

The coming of sound ended Griffith's acting career, but he did have one memorable role in a motion picture before retiring from the screen, playing a French soldier killed by Lew Ayres in the 1930 Lewis Milestone film All Quiet on the Western Front. He then segued into a writing/producing career at Twentieth Century Fox.

Griffith choked to death at the Masquers Club in Los Angeles, California, aged 62, on November 25, 1957.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1918	The Red-Haired Cupid	Albert Jones
1919	The Follies Girl	Fredric
1920	Love, Honor and Behave	Man with Married Girlfriend
1920	Down on the Farm		Writer
1922	The Crossroads of New York	Wall Street 'Wolf'
1922	Fools First	Tony
1922	Minnie	Chewing Gum Salesman
1923	Red Lights	Sheridan Scott
1923	The Eternal Three	Leonard Foster
1923	The Day of Faith	Tom Barnett
1923	White Tiger	Roy Donovan
1923	Souls for Sale	Himself
1924	Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo	Martel aka The Rat
1924	The Dawn of a Tomorrow	The Dandy
1924	Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model	Shorty Burchell
1924	The Yankee Consul		Writer
1924	Lily of the Dust	Karl Dehnecke
1924	Open All Night	Igor
1925	The Night Club	Robert White
1925	Miss Bluebeard	The Honorable Bertie Bird
1925	Forty Winks	Lord Chumley
1925	Paths to Paradise	The Dude from Duluth
1925	Fine Clothes	Oscar
1925	A Regular Fellow	The Prince
1925	When Winter Went	Bookworm
1926	Hands Up!	Jack - a Confederate Spy
1926	Wet Paint	He
1926	You'd Be Surprised	Mr. Green - The Coroner
1926	The Waiter from the Ritz
1927	Wedding Bills	Algernon Schuyler Van Twidder
1927	Time to Love	Alfred Sava-Goiu
1929	Trent's Last Case	Philip Trent
1930	All Quiet on the Western Front	Gerard Duval	Uncredited, (final film role)
1933	Ladies They Talk About		Producer
1933	Broadway Through a Keyhole		Co-producer
1936	Private Number		Producer
1939	Hotel for Women		Producer

External links

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