Marshall Ambrose "Mickey" Neilan (April 11, 1891 â€" October 27, 1958)
was an American motion picture actor, screenwriter, film director, and
producer.Born in San Bernardino, California, Neilan was known by most
as "Mickey." Following the death of his father, the eleven-year-old
Mickey Neilan had to give up on school to work at whatever he could
find in order to help support his mother. As a teenager, he began
acting in bit parts in live theatre, and in 1910 he got a job as
chauffeur, driving Biograph Studios executives around Los Angeles to
determine the suitability of the West Coast as a place for a permanent
studio.Neilan made his film debut as part of the acting cast on the
American Film Manufacturing Company Western The Stranger at Coyote
(1912). Hired by Kalem Studios for their Western film production
facility in Santa Monica, Neilan was first cast opposite Ruth Roland.
Described as confident, but egotistical at times, Neilan's talent saw
him directing films within a year of joining Kalem. After acting in
more than seventy silent film shorts for Kalem and directing more than
thirty others, Neilan was hired by the Selig Polyscope Company then
Bison Motion Pictures and Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. In 1915,
Neilan was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Directors
Association along with directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, Allan Dwan,
and William Desmond Taylor.
was an American motion picture actor, screenwriter, film director, and
producer.Born in San Bernardino, California, Neilan was known by most
as "Mickey." Following the death of his father, the eleven-year-old
Mickey Neilan had to give up on school to work at whatever he could
find in order to help support his mother. As a teenager, he began
acting in bit parts in live theatre, and in 1910 he got a job as
chauffeur, driving Biograph Studios executives around Los Angeles to
determine the suitability of the West Coast as a place for a permanent
studio.Neilan made his film debut as part of the acting cast on the
American Film Manufacturing Company Western The Stranger at Coyote
(1912). Hired by Kalem Studios for their Western film production
facility in Santa Monica, Neilan was first cast opposite Ruth Roland.
Described as confident, but egotistical at times, Neilan's talent saw
him directing films within a year of joining Kalem. After acting in
more than seventy silent film shorts for Kalem and directing more than
thirty others, Neilan was hired by the Selig Polyscope Company then
Bison Motion Pictures and Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. In 1915,
Neilan was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Directors
Association along with directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, Allan Dwan,
and William Desmond Taylor.
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