eMoviePoster.com

What are the objects in the corners of some images? Learn More

Harold Lloyd was born in Burchard, Nebraska, USA in 1893. His parents divorced when he was small (odd at that time) and he lived with his father (more odd). In 1912, they moved to California, and Harold, who had acted in community theater got a job at the Thomas Edison studio. He met fellow actor (and sometime director) Hal Roach, and when Roach got an inheritance and was able to buy part of a studio in 1913, Lloyd went with him. The following year he met Bebe Daniels, and the two became a team, both onscreen and off. In 1915, Lloyd created the Lonesome Luke character (essentially a rip-off of Chaplin's Tramp character) and between 1915 and 1917 made over 60 one-reel shorts. In 1918, Lloyd created a new character, with trademark horn rimmed glasses (Roach would later take credit for creating the character!). In 1919, Lloyd was injured performing one of his many dangerous stunts when a prop bomb exploded, and he lost his right thumb and forefinger (he would wear prosthetic fingers the rest of his life). Also in 1919, Daniels and Lloyd split up romantically and professionally, although they remained good friends the rest of their lives. In 1921, Lloyd made his feature movie, A Sailor-Made Man, followed by Grandma's Boy, and both were huge hits. Lloyd soon split from Roach and started producing his own movies, distributing them through Paramount, and he made a fortune from them. Lloyd had many hits through the 1920s (he made more movies than Chaplin or Keaton, and they grossed more money overall). He had married in 1923, and had two children, and he used some of the vast amount of money he made to build his own studio and an immense estate, called Greenacres, with 44 rooms, 26 bathrooms, 12 fountains, 12 gardens, and a nine hole golf course. Lloyd had always been eccentric, and his huge wealth allowed him to explore many odd hobbies, including stereopticon-like three-dimensional slides, and he had hundreds of thousands of them made, many of pretty naked (and near-naked) young women! When sound came to movies, Lloyd had trouble adapting, and each of his sound movies were less and less successful, until he pretty much retired in 1938. He spent much of his time on his charity work, and on his odd hobbies. He made the unfortunate move of not allowing his movies to be distributed or shown on TV for many years, which (like Will Rogers) helped to largely cause him to be forgotten by later generations. Worse yet, a nitrate fire in Lloyd's vault caused most of his early movies to become permanently "lost". When Lloyd passed away in 1971 at the age of 77, he was one of the richest men in Hollywood, but he was largely forgotten except by film buffs. But in recent years, he has been "re-discovered" and it is generally accepted that Lloyd was one of the three giants of silent comedy, fully the equal of Chaplin and Keaton! His best movies hold up exceedingly well, and I highly recommend seeking them out.

Important Added Info: Note that we don't know who the other man is in this still or exactly what the men are doing, or if it was made in conjunction with a movie. If anyone knows more about this, please e-mail us and we will post it here. Also note that this still is a key book still, mounted to a linen backing. Many studios spent extra money to have their most special photos, the key book stills, either backed with linen or printed on a heavy paper, both of which enhanced their durability. They had an extra 1" at the left or top, with punch holes, because of how they were stored. Key book stills are far more rare than regular stills, which has increased their popularity among collectors, since only a few keybooks were manufactured per film, and a key book still is guaranteed to be authentic. Someone trimmed away the extra 1" from the left of the still.

Our address for UPS or FedEx only is:
Bruce Hershenson,
306 Washington Avenue, West Plains, MO 65775