The Wolf
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,153
- Location
- Santa Rosa, Calif
Elsewhere on this site people have brought up Lon Chaney, Jr and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. It got me thinking about how much I enjoyed their fathers.
As much as I like Fairbanks, Jr., I thought his father was incredible. His movies were thrilling, his movements graceful and heroic; when I watched him, I wanted to be him. I thought it unfair to put the son in swashbuckeling roles because it invited comparison and he was a different type of actor.
Lon Chaney, Sr senior was another fantastic actor of the silent screen. He portrayed a wide variety of characters believably. Leave out that he did his own make-up and endured pain for a roll and you still have an actor that is mesmerizing to watch. His son was fine. He made some great films. Again he was very different from his father. It was a disservice for the studios to change Creighton's name (his real name) to Lon chaney, Jr. I don't like later films calling him just Lon Chaney in the credits.
Same story with John Barrymore and junior.
Can anyone think of a famous Senior and Junior where the son surpassed or equalled the father in entertainment?
As much as I like Fairbanks, Jr., I thought his father was incredible. His movies were thrilling, his movements graceful and heroic; when I watched him, I wanted to be him. I thought it unfair to put the son in swashbuckeling roles because it invited comparison and he was a different type of actor.
Lon Chaney, Sr senior was another fantastic actor of the silent screen. He portrayed a wide variety of characters believably. Leave out that he did his own make-up and endured pain for a roll and you still have an actor that is mesmerizing to watch. His son was fine. He made some great films. Again he was very different from his father. It was a disservice for the studios to change Creighton's name (his real name) to Lon chaney, Jr. I don't like later films calling him just Lon Chaney in the credits.
Same story with John Barrymore and junior.
Can anyone think of a famous Senior and Junior where the son surpassed or equalled the father in entertainment?
