Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 1878
â€" 2 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer,
producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major
director of the silent film era of the Australian cinema. He formed a
production team with Lottie Lyell. His contributions to Australian
cinema with his ongoing collaborations with Lyell, including The
Sentimental Bloke (1919) and The Blue Mountains Mystery (1921),
prompted the Australian Film Institute's AFI Raymond Longford Award,
inducted in 1968, named in his honour.John Walter Hollis Longford was
born in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, the son of John Walter
Longford, a civil servant originally from Sydney, and his English
wife, Charlotte Maria. His family soon started referring to him as
"Ray". By 1880 they briefly moved to Paynesville, then went to Sydney
when Longford's father became a warder at Darlinghurst Gaol.Longford
became a sailor and spent his early life at sea. He started acting on
the stage in India under the name Raymond Hollis Longford. In the
early 1900s he toured Australia and New Zealand with Edwin Geach's
Popular Dramatic Organisation, and Clarke and Meynell companies. He
was a stage manager for the Liliam Meyers Dramatic Company. Longford
often appeared alongside a young actress called Lottie Lyell, who
would become Longford's key creative partner.
â€" 2 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer,
producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major
director of the silent film era of the Australian cinema. He formed a
production team with Lottie Lyell. His contributions to Australian
cinema with his ongoing collaborations with Lyell, including The
Sentimental Bloke (1919) and The Blue Mountains Mystery (1921),
prompted the Australian Film Institute's AFI Raymond Longford Award,
inducted in 1968, named in his honour.John Walter Hollis Longford was
born in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, the son of John Walter
Longford, a civil servant originally from Sydney, and his English
wife, Charlotte Maria. His family soon started referring to him as
"Ray". By 1880 they briefly moved to Paynesville, then went to Sydney
when Longford's father became a warder at Darlinghurst Gaol.Longford
became a sailor and spent his early life at sea. He started acting on
the stage in India under the name Raymond Hollis Longford. In the
early 1900s he toured Australia and New Zealand with Edwin Geach's
Popular Dramatic Organisation, and Clarke and Meynell companies. He
was a stage manager for the Liliam Meyers Dramatic Company. Longford
often appeared alongside a young actress called Lottie Lyell, who
would become Longford's key creative partner.
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