Robert House Peters Sr. (12 March 1880 – 7 December 1967) was a British-born American silent film actor, known to filmgoers of the era as "The Star of a Thousand Emotions".

House Peters Sr.
Peters Sr., 1922
Born
Robert House Peters

(1880-03-12)12 March 1880
Bristol, England
Died7 December 1967(1967-12-07) (aged 87)
Burial placeCremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale[1]
OccupationActor
Years active1900s–1950s
SpouseMae King (m. 1914)

Biography

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Born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, Peters began his career on a high note, playing the handsome leading man in In the Bishop's Carriage (1913), co-starring Mary Pickford. While The Bishop's Carriage was filmed in an East Coast studio, Peters was in Los Angeles by 1914, becoming one of the first screen stars to permanently settle there. Although he stated publicly that he preferred playing villains, Peters, curly haired and pleasantly dimpled, was from the outset typecast as the romantic hero.

 
Peters lifts Beatriz Michelena onto his horse in Salomy Jane (1914)

After enjoying his greatest success as the good-bad hero of The Girl of the Golden West (1915), Peters' career peaked in the early 1920s. He signed with Universal Studios for six films in 1924, hoping for a comeback. The results, however, were mostly mediocre and he was soon demoted to supporting roles. Retired after 1928's Rose Marie, Peters returned for a guest appearance in The Old West, a 1952 Gene Autry film that also featured his son, House Peters Jr., who subsequently enjoyed a lengthy film career portraying villains as well as Procter and Gamble's Mr. Clean character in cleaning product commercials from the late 1950s into the '60s.

Personal life

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Peters was married to actress Mae King in 1914 with whom he had three children, Gregg, Patricia and Robert Jr., who subsequently used the stage name House Peters Jr. Peters was 87 when he died of pneumonia[2] at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1913 In the Bishop's Carriage Obermuller
1913 Chelsea 7750 Prof. Grimble
1913 An Hour Before Dawn Kate's Father - the Ex-Detective
1913 The Port of Doom Kate's Father
1913 Leah Kleschna Paul Sylvain
1913 A Lady of Quality The Duke of Osmonde
1914 The Pride of Jennico Basil Jennico
1914 Clothes Arnold West
1914 The Brute Billy West Short
1914 Salomy Jane The Man
1914 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Bob
1915 The Girl of the Golden West Ramerrez
1915 Mignon Wilhelm Meister
1915 The Warrens of Virginia Ned Burton
1915 The Unafraid Stefan Balsic Short
1915 The Captive Muhamud Hassan
1915 Stolen Goods Richard Carlton
1915 Between Men Gregg Lewiston
1915 The Winged Idol Jack Leonard
1915 The Great Divide Stephen Ghent
1916 The Hand of Peril James Kestner
1916 The Closed Road Frank Sargeant
1916 The Rail Rider Jim Lewis
1916 The Velvet Paw Robert Moorehead
1917 Happiness of Three Women Billy Craig
1917 As Men Love Paul Russell
1917 The Lonesome Chap Stuart Kirkwood
1917 The Highway of Hope Steve King
1917 The Heir of the Ages Hugh Payne
1919 The Forfeit Jeffrey Masters
1919 Thunderbolts of Fate Robert Wingfield
1919 You Never Know Your Luck J.G. Kerry
1920 The Great Redeemer Dan Malloy
1920 The Leopard Woman John Culbertson
1920 Isobel or The Trail's End Sgt. William MacVeigh
1920 Silk Husbands and Calico Wives Deane Kendall
1921 Lying Lips Blair Cornwall
1921 The Invisible Power Sid Chambers
1921 The Man from Lost River Barnes
1922 The Storm Burr Winton
1922 Rich Men's Wives John Masters
1922 Human Hearts Tom Logan
1923 Lost and Found on a South Sea Island Capt. Blackbird
1923 Don't Marry for Money Peter Smith
1923 Held to Answer John Hampstead
1924 The Tornado Tornado
1925 Head Winds Peter Rosslyn
1925 Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman
1925 The Storm Breaker John Strong
1925 Counsel for the Defense Arnold Peters
1926 The Combat Blaze Burke
1926 Prisoners of the Storm 'Bucky' Malone
1928 Rose-Marie Sergeant Malone
1952 The Old West Parson Jonathan Brooks
1952 O. Henry's Full House Dave Bascom (segment "The Clarion Call"), Uncredited
1953 Treasure of the Golden Condor Magistrate Uncredited, (final film role)

References

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  1. ^ Wilson, Scott (19 August 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997.
  2. ^ "House Peters".
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