Frank Powell Family, Real Name, Spouse, Profession, Eye Color, body stats, Feet Size, Wiki

Frank Powell Family, Real Name, Spouse, Profession, Eye Color, body stats, Feet Size, Wiki

Frank Powell (born Francis William Powell, May 8, 1877) was a

Canadian-born stage and silent film actor, director, producer, and

screenwriter who worked predominantly in the United States. He is also

credited with "discovering" Theda Bara and casting her in a starring

role in the 1915 release A Fool There Was. Her performance in that

production, under Powell's direction, quickly earned Bara widespread

fame as the film industry's most popular evil seductress or on-screen

"vamp".Frank Powell was born in 1877 in Hamilton, Canada, the child of

Elizabeth and Francis Powell. According to the 1920 edition of the

Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Journal, he received part of

his education in Cleveland, Ohio, although that publication provides

no other information about his schooling or reveals whether his

interest in theatre began in that city. However, a 1916 notice in the

trade paper Variety does confirm Powell's close and early connection

to Cleveland. In an April 26 news item titled "Frank Powell Resting",

the widely read publication announces that the 38-year-old director

was traveling to Cleveland, "his boyhood home", for a vacation. What

is known about Powell's 12-year stage career is that he worked with

playwright Kirke La Shelle and performed in at least two major

Broadway productions. In 1904 he performed in the play Tit for Tat at

the Savoy Theatre, and the next year he both acted in and served as a

director for Augustus Thomas's comedy The Education of Mr. Pipp. He

then relocated for several years to England, where he directed

productions for actress Ellen Terry before returning to North America.

In its October 15, 1915 issue, the Austin Statesman and Tribune

provides details about the course of Powell's initial stagework with

Terry, background that he shared with the newspaper in an

interview:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em

0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote

.templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}In

New York in 1909, Powell expanded his career into the rapidly

expanding motion picture industry, working initially as an actor and

scriptwriter at Biograph Studios. There he also co-directed his first

film with D.W. Griffith and demonstrated an adeptness at directing

comedies. After directing 63 short films for Biograph, Powell in 1914

journeyed again to Europe, where he joined Pathé Frères as a

producer of historical and romantic dramas. Ill health required him to

curtail his work for a while, but he used the opportunity to travel

around Europe and increase his knowledge of acting types and of

costumes and landscapes in various countries. On his return to the

United States, Powell in April 1912 was engaged by Powers Motion

Pictures, and after being with that company for less than a year, he

worked briefly again for Biograph before rejoining Pathé as a

director of special features. For the 1914 Pathé film The Taint, he

bought a steam locomotive and then destroyed it in a dramatically

staged derailment. The stunt did not go as planned. It was reported

that the "wild" unmanned engine jumped the tracks and "narrowly missed

hitting the platform on which Mr. Powell and his camera were

stationed." Fortunately, no one was seriously injured.
Frank Powell Family, Real Name, Spouse, Profession, Eye Color, body stats, Feet Size, Wiki


Share this

Share/Bookmark

SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER

Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.



Related Post

Newer Post Older Post Home