Charles Emmett Mack (November 25, 1900 – March 17, 1927), was an American film actor during the silent film era. He appeared in seventeen films between 1916 and 1927.
Charles Emmett Mack | |
|---|---|
 Mack in Motion Picture Classic, 1926 | |
| Born | Charles Stewert McNerney November 25, 1900 Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 17, 1927 (aged 26) Riverside, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse | Marion Mack (??-1927, his death) |
Biography
editBorn Charles Emmett McNerney in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to an Irish family, at a young age Mack could speak three or four languages. One of Mack's early jobs was as a peanut vendor at the Ringling Brothers Circus. After that, he appeared in vaudeville, specializing in buck-and-wing dancing. Later he became a tour guide for D.W. Griffith's Mamaroneck Studios. After that he was Griffith's prop man, fetching all sorts of props for the director.
One day, Griffith invited Mack to rehearse a scene from Dream Street with him. Mack enjoyed the part he had and thought Griffith was friendly. He ended up playing the lead.[1]
The first time I saw myself on the screen I thought I couldn't stand it. We were all in the projection room looking at the rushes of my first day's work. I couldn't think of the shadow on the screen as myself—I thought of it as "It." I saw this thing sneak in. It had such big ears and such a strange nose. Its mouth seemed to be all over its face. And then suddenly it turned around on me and I bolted out of the room. Mr. Griffith sent for me and had me sit by him while he showed me what was wrong and why. I thought it all terrible, but he seemed to think it good, and so I kept on acting instead of going back to the property room.
— Charles Emmett Mack, Prop Boy to Star, Motion Picture Classic[1]
While filming America in 1924, a soldier's arm was blown off. As Mack recalls, "Neil Hamilton and I went to neighboring towns and raised a fund for him—I doing a song and dance and Neil collecting a coin."[2]
Death
editAfter signing with Warner Brothers, Mack was killed when the car he was driving collided with another and overturned on his way to a racetrack in Riverside, CA to film an auto racing scene for the film The First Auto (1927). He was 26 years old.[3]
Mack was survived by his wife, Marion Mack and her twelve-year-old adopted daughter and three-year-old son.[4] She was born in Italy and came to the United States when she was three. A 1929 issue of Picture-Play revealed that it was anticipated that she would perhaps become a leading actress, but it doesn't seem her career ever went past bit parts. She is not to be confused with the other Marion Mack.[5]
Filmography
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- Dolly's Scoop (1916)
- Dream Street (1921)
- One Exciting Night (1922)
- Driven (1923)
- The White Rose (1923)
- The Daring Years (1923)
- America (1924)
- The Sixth Commandment (1924)
- Youth for Sale (1924)
- Bad Company (1925)
- Down Upon the Suwanee River (1925)
- A Woman of the World (1925)
- The Devil's Circus (1926)
- The Unknown Soldier (1926)
- Old San Francisco (1927)
- The First Auto (1927)
- The Rough Riders (1927)
References
edit- ^ a b Tildesley, Alice L. (July 1926). "Prop Boy to Star". Motion Picture Classic. Chicago: Brewster Publications. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- ^ Tildesley, Alice L. (July 1926). "Prop Boy to Star (Continued)". Motion Picture Classic. Chicago: Brewster Publications. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- ^ Fandango
- ^ McKegg, William H. (January 1929). "Carrying On (Part One)". Picture-Play Magazine. New York City: Street & Smith Corporation. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ McKegg, William H. (January 1929). "Carrying On (Part Two)". Picture-Play Magazine. New York City: Street & Smith Corporation. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
External links
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