Ralph Wilson Sipperly (1890â€"1928) was a comic and character actor
who appeared in ten films (mostly silents) between 1923 and 1927. His
most notable portrayal was as the barber in the Academy Award-winning
film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927).Born in Rochester, New York,
Sipperly had a career in the Broadway theatre before breaking into
silent films. His earliest known appearance was in a performance of A
Prince There Was (1918), followed by The Meanest Man in the World
(1920), Six Cylinder Love (1921), The Deep Tangled Wild-Wood (1923)
and other (mostly) comedies. His first known film part was in the
movie version of Six Cylinder Love (1923) in which he played the same
character he had on-stage.During one theatrical performance of
Six-Cylinder Love in New York in 1921, Sipperly, who played a
high-powered car salesman, accidentally drove an actual automobile off
the stage and into the first row of seats. No one was injured, though
screams erupted in the sold-out hall, and one woman "became
hysterical" as people scrambled out of the way. The incident made The
New York Times the following day, but apparently had no effect on
Sipperly's career.Another New York Times article of 1925 reported that
Sipperly, "saxophonist de luxe of The Fall Guy has selected the design
for the monument that is to mark the site of his Rochester birthplace.
It is to consist of two baseball bats crossed above a dumbbell. It
seems that baseball has been the dominant fact in this actor's life."
who appeared in ten films (mostly silents) between 1923 and 1927. His
most notable portrayal was as the barber in the Academy Award-winning
film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927).Born in Rochester, New York,
Sipperly had a career in the Broadway theatre before breaking into
silent films. His earliest known appearance was in a performance of A
Prince There Was (1918), followed by The Meanest Man in the World
(1920), Six Cylinder Love (1921), The Deep Tangled Wild-Wood (1923)
and other (mostly) comedies. His first known film part was in the
movie version of Six Cylinder Love (1923) in which he played the same
character he had on-stage.During one theatrical performance of
Six-Cylinder Love in New York in 1921, Sipperly, who played a
high-powered car salesman, accidentally drove an actual automobile off
the stage and into the first row of seats. No one was injured, though
screams erupted in the sold-out hall, and one woman "became
hysterical" as people scrambled out of the way. The incident made The
New York Times the following day, but apparently had no effect on
Sipperly's career.Another New York Times article of 1925 reported that
Sipperly, "saxophonist de luxe of The Fall Guy has selected the design
for the monument that is to mark the site of his Rochester birthplace.
It is to consist of two baseball bats crossed above a dumbbell. It
seems that baseball has been the dominant fact in this actor's life."
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