Max Davidson
Encyclopedia
Max Davidson was a German
film actor
known for his comedic Jewish persona during the silent film
era. With a career spanning over thirty years, Davidson appeared in over 180 films.
, Germany
, Davidson emigrated to the United States
in the 1890s where he began working in stock theater and vaudeville
. He entered silent movies in 1912. By the mid-teens, Davidson had appeared in his first feature film, Edward Dillon's Don Quixote (1915), followed by D.W. Griffith's Intolerance
, and Tod Browning
's Puppets
(both 1916). In the 1920s, he began working for Hal Roach
, appearing in numerous two-reeler comedies including Call of the Cuckoo with Charley Chase
, Pass the Gravy
and Get 'Em Young
with Stan Laurel
, Why Girls Say No
and Love 'Em and Feed 'Em
with Oliver Hardy
, and The Extra Girl
with Mabel Normand
. He also portrayed the crazy old man who haunts a house in the Our Gang
short Moan and Groan, Inc.
(1929), and starred alongside a young Jackie Coogan
in a pair of silent features, The Rag Man
(1923) and Old Clothes
(1925). He also received the colorization treatment as an irate shopkeeper in the Three Stooges film No Census, No Feeling
(1940).
, but ended his career by playing mostly uncredited roles. He made his final screen appearance in the 1945 Clark Gable
film Adventure
. Davidson died on September 4, 1950 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
known for his comedic Jewish persona during the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era. With a career spanning over thirty years, Davidson appeared in over 180 films.
Career
Born in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Davidson emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the 1890s where he began working in stock theater and vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
. He entered silent movies in 1912. By the mid-teens, Davidson had appeared in his first feature film, Edward Dillon's Don Quixote (1915), followed by D.W. Griffith's Intolerance
Intolerance (film)
Intolerance is a 1916 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era. The three-and-a-half hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines each separated by several centuries: A contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; a...
, and Tod Browning
Tod Browning
Tod Browning was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras...
's Puppets
Puppets (film)
Puppets is a 1916 short drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* DeWolf Hopper Sr. - Pantaloon * Jack Brammall - Harlequin* Robert Lawler - Clown* Pauline Starke - Columbine* Kate Toncray - The Widow* Edward Bolles - Pierrot...
(both 1916). In the 1920s, he began working for Hal Roach
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
, appearing in numerous two-reeler comedies including Call of the Cuckoo with Charley Chase
Charley Chase
Charley Chase was an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director, best known for his work in Hal Roach short film comedies...
, Pass the Gravy
Pass the Gravy
Pass the Gravy is a 1928 short comedy silent film in which neighbors argue over their pet chickens and their children, who are in love. It stars Max Davidson, Gene Morgan, Spec O'Donnell, Martha Sleeper, and Bert Sprotte....
and Get 'Em Young
Get 'Em Young
Get 'Em Young is a 1926 film starring Stan Laurel.In a sad twist, this was the film being shown at the 1927 Laurier Palace Theatre Fire in Montreal, where 78 people died, all but one under the age of 16.-Cast:* Harry Myers - Orvid Joy...
with Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel
Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
, Why Girls Say No
Why Girls Say No
Why Girls Say No is a 1927 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Marjorie Daw - Becky* Creighton Hale - The boy* Max Davidson - Papa Whisselberg* Ann Brody* Spec O'Donnell - Maxie* Oliver Hardy - Police Officer...
and Love 'Em and Feed 'Em
Love 'Em and Feed 'Em
Love 'Em and Feed 'Em is a 1927 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Max Davidson - 'Cherokee' Cohen* Oliver Hardy - 'Happy' Hopey* Viola Richard - Viola, a telephone operator* Martha Sleeper - Martha, a stenographer...
with Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
, and The Extra Girl
The Extra Girl
The Extra Girl is a 1923 American silent comedy film starring Mabel Normand. Produced by Mack Sennett, The Extra Girl followed earlier films about the film industry and also paved the way for later films about Hollywood, such as King Vidor’s Show People...
with Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand was an American silent film comedienne and actress. She was a popular star of Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and is noted as one of the film industry's first female screenwriters, producers and directors...
. He also portrayed the crazy old man who haunts a house in the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
short Moan and Groan, Inc.
Moan and Groan, Inc.
Moan and Groan, Inc. is a 1929 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 94th Our Gang short to be released.-Synopsis:...
(1929), and starred alongside a young Jackie Coogan
Jackie Coogan
John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...
in a pair of silent features, The Rag Man
The Rag Man
The Rag Man is a 1925 film starring Jackie Coogan. The film was directed by Edward F. Cline, and written by Willard Mack. This was the first Jackie Coogan movie made entirely under the MGM banner.-Plot:...
(1923) and Old Clothes
Old Clothes
Old Clothes is a 1925 MGM silent film, starring Jackie Coogan and Joan Crawford.This was the first film in which Miss Crawford was credited with her new name — Joan Crawford...
(1925). He also received the colorization treatment as an irate shopkeeper in the Three Stooges film No Census, No Feeling
No Census, No Feeling
No Census, No Feeling is the 50th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1940).
Later career and death
Davidson made the transition to sound filmSound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
, but ended his career by playing mostly uncredited roles. He made his final screen appearance in the 1945 Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
film Adventure
Adventure (1945 film)
Adventure is a 1945 film, based on the novel The Anointed by Clyde Brion Davis. Clark Gable and Greer Garson star as a sailor and a librarian...
. Davidson died on September 4, 1950 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | Scenting a Terrible Crime | The Superintendent | |
| 1914 | An Interrupted Séance | Landlord | |
| 1915 | Caught by the Handle | Mr. Riche | |
| 1916 | Sunshine Dad | Mystic Seer | |
| 1916 | Intolerance Intolerance (film) Intolerance is a 1916 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era. The three-and-a-half hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines each separated by several centuries: A contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; a... |
Neighbor | |
| 1917 | A Daughter of the Poor | Joe Eastman | Alternative titles: The Heart of the Poor The Spitfire |
| 1918 | The Hun Within | Max | |
| 1919 | The Mother and the Law | The Kindly Neighbor | |
| 1921 | No Woman Knows No Woman Knows -Cast:* Max Davidson - Ferdinand Brandeis* Snitz Edwards - Herr Bauer* Grace Marvin - Molly Brandeis* Bernice Radom - Little Fanny Brandeis* Danny Hoy - Aloysius* E. Alyn Warren - Rabbi Thalman -Cast:* Max Davidson - Ferdinand Brandeis* Snitz Edwards - Herr Bauer* Grace Marvin - Molly Brandeis*... |
||
| 1922 | Second Hand Rose | Abe Rosenstein | |
| 1923 | The Darling of New York | Solomon Levinsky | |
| 1924 | Hold Your Breath | Street Merchant | |
| 1925 | The Rag Man The Rag Man The Rag Man is a 1925 film starring Jackie Coogan. The film was directed by Edward F. Cline, and written by Willard Mack. This was the first Jackie Coogan movie made entirely under the MGM banner.-Plot:... |
Max Ginzberg | |
| 1925 | Justice of the Far North | Izzy Hawkins | |
| 1926 | Raggedy Rose | Moe Ginsberg | |
| 1927 | Hotel Imperial Hotel Imperial (film) Hotel Imperial is a 1927 American silent film directed by Mauritz Stiller, set in World War I and starring Pola Negri as a hotel chambermaid... |
Elias Butterman | |
| 1927 | Pleasure Before Business | Sam Weinberg | |
| 1927 | Jewish Prudence | Papa Gimplewart | |
| 1928 | Feed 'em and Weep | Max, restaurant manager | |
| 1929 | So This Is College | Moe Levine, the tailor | |
| 1929 | Moan and Groan, Inc. Moan and Groan, Inc. Moan and Groan, Inc. is a 1929 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 94th Our Gang short to be released.-Synopsis:... |
The lunatic | |
| 1930 | The Shrimp | Professor Schoenheimer | |
| 1931 | Oh! Oh! Cleopatra | Royal musician | |
| 1932 | Docks of San Francisco Docks of San Francisco -Cast:* Mary Nolan as Belle* Jason Robards Sr. as John Banning* Marjorie Beebe as Rose Gillen* John Davidson as Vance* William Haynes as Reggie, the Detective* Max Davidson as Max Ranovich, the Detective... |
Max, Detective | |
| 1933 | The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble is a 1933 comedy film starring George Sidney, Charlie Murray, and Maureen O'Sullivan. The film is the last in the Cohens and Kellys series, and the first director credit for George Stevens.-Cast:... |
Larsen | Uncredited |
| 1934 | Straight Is the Way | Old clothes man | Uncredited |
| 1935 | Metropolitan Metropolitan (1935 film) Metropolitan is a 1935 back-stage drama film interlaced with songs and musical segments from opera.Directed by Ryszard Bolesławski , it featured the famous baritone Lawrence Tibbett , with Virginia Bruce as his leading lady... |
Tailor | Uncredited |
| 1936 | Roamin' Wild | Abe Wineman | |
| 1937 | The Girl Said No | Max | Alternative title: With Words and Music |
| 1939 | The Great Commandment The Great Commandment The Great Commandment is a Christian film directed by Irving Pichel, which portrays the conversion to Christianity of a young Zealot, Joel, and the Roman soldier Longinus through the teachings of Jesus in his Parable of the Good Samaritan. It was co-produced by Rev. James K. Friedrich and released... |
Old man | |
| 1940 | Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman Kitty Foyle (film) Kitty Foyle, subtitled The Natural History of a Woman, is a 1940 film starring Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, James Craig, Ernest Cossart and Gladys Cooper.-Plot:... |
Flower man | Uncredited |
| 1940 | No Census, No Feeling No Census, No Feeling No Census, No Feeling is the 50th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:... |
Storekeeper | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Reap the Wild Wind Reap the Wild Wind Reap the Wild Wind is a serialized story written by Thelma Strabel in 1940 for The Saturday Evening Post, which was the basis for the 1942 film starring Ray Milland, John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Robert Preston, and Susan Hayward, and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, his second picture to be filmed in... |
Juror | Uncredited |
| 1945 | Adventure Adventure (1945 film) Adventure is a 1945 film, based on the novel The Anointed by Clyde Brion Davis. Clark Gable and Greer Garson star as a sailor and a librarian... |
Man in library | Uncredited |