Josef Swickard (26 June 1866 â€" 29 February 1940) was a German-born
veteran stage and screen character actor, who had toured with stock
companies in Europe, South Africa, and South America.Swickard
emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1882. He was a stage
actor several years before entering films with D.W. Griffith in 1912
and by 1914 was playing supporting roles for Mack Sennett. He appeared
in Charles Chaplin's Laughing Gas and Caught in a Cabaret. He remained
with Sennett until 1917, when he settled into his prolific career of
playing mostly aristocratic characters.Modern audiences are perhaps
most familiar with his role of Marcelo Desnoyers, the well-intentioned
but impractical French upper class father in Rex Ingram's 1921 film
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His career in sound films was
somewhat limited and he played in low-budget and action serial type
films. He played the villainous Prime Minister Kruel in the 1925 film
version of The Wizard of Oz.Born in the Federal Republic of Germany in
1866 to Peter Schwecherath and Geniveve Steffens, Swickard was the
brother of actor Charles Swickard. After arriving in the United States
in November 1882, Schwecherath changed his name to Swickard and
married a Scottish woman named Queeny in 1896. In 1902, Swickard
applied for citizenship in the Eastern District of New York under the
name Joseph P. Schwickerath. Records also show Swickard submitted a
petition for naturalization in Los Angeles, California in February
1936 under the name of Peter Joseph Schwickerath. Sometime around 1928
Swickard married Broadway actress Margaret Campbell. That union was
short-lived and the couple divorced on January 15, 1929. Swickard's
last known residence was the Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles where he lived
after his divorce from Campbell. Tragedy befell his ex-wife on June
27, 1939 when she was brutally murdered by her adult son from a
previous marriage, Campbell McDonald. Nearly seven months to-the-day
after his ex-wife's murder, Swickard died on February 29, 1940. He was
73.
veteran stage and screen character actor, who had toured with stock
companies in Europe, South Africa, and South America.Swickard
emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1882. He was a stage
actor several years before entering films with D.W. Griffith in 1912
and by 1914 was playing supporting roles for Mack Sennett. He appeared
in Charles Chaplin's Laughing Gas and Caught in a Cabaret. He remained
with Sennett until 1917, when he settled into his prolific career of
playing mostly aristocratic characters.Modern audiences are perhaps
most familiar with his role of Marcelo Desnoyers, the well-intentioned
but impractical French upper class father in Rex Ingram's 1921 film
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His career in sound films was
somewhat limited and he played in low-budget and action serial type
films. He played the villainous Prime Minister Kruel in the 1925 film
version of The Wizard of Oz.Born in the Federal Republic of Germany in
1866 to Peter Schwecherath and Geniveve Steffens, Swickard was the
brother of actor Charles Swickard. After arriving in the United States
in November 1882, Schwecherath changed his name to Swickard and
married a Scottish woman named Queeny in 1896. In 1902, Swickard
applied for citizenship in the Eastern District of New York under the
name Joseph P. Schwickerath. Records also show Swickard submitted a
petition for naturalization in Los Angeles, California in February
1936 under the name of Peter Joseph Schwickerath. Sometime around 1928
Swickard married Broadway actress Margaret Campbell. That union was
short-lived and the couple divorced on January 15, 1929. Swickard's
last known residence was the Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles where he lived
after his divorce from Campbell. Tragedy befell his ex-wife on June
27, 1939 when she was brutally murdered by her adult son from a
previous marriage, Campbell McDonald. Nearly seven months to-the-day
after his ex-wife's murder, Swickard died on February 29, 1940. He was
73.
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