Monte Blue
Encyclopedia
Monte Blue was a movie actor who began his career as a romantic leading man in the silent film
era, and later progressed to character roles.
Blue was born as Gerard Montgomery Bluefeather in Indianapolis, Indiana
. His father was half French, half Cherokee Indian. One of five children, his father died and his mother could not raise five children alone. Along with another brother, they both admitted to the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home
. This did not stop him working his way through to Purdue University
.
When growing up, Blue built up his physique to become a football player (he grew to six feet three inches tall). He not only played football, but he was also a fireman
, railroad worker, coal miner, cowpuncher, ranch hand
, circus rider, lumberjack
, and finally, a day laborer at the studios of D. W. Griffith
.
He had no theatrical experience when he came to the screen. In his first movie, The Birth of a Nation
(1915), he was a stuntman and an extra in the movie. In his next movie, he starred in another small part in the movie, Intolerance
(1916). Gradually moving to supporting roles for both D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille
, Blue earned his breakthrough role as Danton in Orphans of the Storm
, starring sisters, Lillian Gish
and Dorothy Gish
. Then he rose to stardom as a rugged romantic lead along with top leading actresses such as Clara Bow
, Gloria Swanson
, and Norma Shearer
. His most prolific female screen partner was Marie Prevost
with whom he made several films in the mid 20s at Warner Brothers. Blue's finest silent screen performance was as the alcoholic doctor who finds paradise in MGM's White Shadows in the South Seas
(1928). Blue became one of the few silent stars to survive the talkie revolution. However, he lost his investments in the stock market crash
of 1929.
He rebuilt his career as a character actor, working until his retirement from films in 1954, though he continued playing character roles in various TV programmes (mostly westerns) until 1960. One of his more memorable roles was the sheriff in Key Largo
opposite Lionel Barrymore
. He divorced his first wife in 1923 and married Tova Jansen in 1924. He had two children, Barbara Ann and Richard Monte. During the later part of his life, Monte Blue was an active Mason and the advance man for the Hamid-Morton Shrine Circus; while on business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
, he had a heart attack
because of complications from influenza
, dying at age 76.
Monte Blue has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6286 Hollywood Blvd.
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, and later progressed to character roles.
Blue was born as Gerard Montgomery Bluefeather in Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. His father was half French, half Cherokee Indian. One of five children, his father died and his mother could not raise five children alone. Along with another brother, they both admitted to the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home
Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home
The Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home was a residential and educational facility near Knightstown, Indiana in northwestern Rush County, Indiana. The home was founded in 1865 by Governor of Indiana Oliver Morton and was for veterans of the American Civil War. Two years later, it was...
. This did not stop him working his way through to Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
.
When growing up, Blue built up his physique to become a football player (he grew to six feet three inches tall). He not only played football, but he was also a fireman
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
, railroad worker, coal miner, cowpuncher, ranch hand
Ranch hand
A Ranch hand is a manual laborer on a ranch, such as a cowboy.Ranch hand may also refer to:*Operation Ranch Hand, a US Air Force operation during the Vietnam war*Ranch Hand Truck Accessories, an American manufacturer of heavy duty truck accessories...
, circus rider, lumberjack
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
, and finally, a day laborer at the studios of D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
.
He had no theatrical experience when he came to the screen. In his first movie, The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...
(1915), he was a stuntman and an extra in the movie. In his next movie, he starred in another small part in the movie, 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...
(1916). Gradually moving to supporting roles for both D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
, Blue earned his breakthrough role as Danton in Orphans of the Storm
Orphans Of The Storm
Orphans of the Storm is a drama film by D. W. Griffith set in late 18th century France, before and during the French Revolution.This was the last Griffith film to feature Lillian and Dorothy Gish, and is often considered Griffith's last major commercial success, after boxoffice hits such as Birth...
, starring sisters, Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....
and Dorothy Gish
Dorothy Gish
Dorothy Elizabeth Gish was an American actress, and the younger sister of actress Lillian Gish.-Early life:...
. Then he rose to stardom as a rugged romantic lead along with top leading actresses such as Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
, Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
, and Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...
. His most prolific female screen partner was Marie Prevost
Marie Prevost
Marie Prevost was a Canadian-born actress of the early days of cinema. During her twenty year career, she made 121 silent and talking pictures.-Early life:...
with whom he made several films in the mid 20s at Warner Brothers. Blue's finest silent screen performance was as the alcoholic doctor who finds paradise in MGM's White Shadows in the South Seas
White Shadows in the South Seas
White Shadows in the South Seas is a silent film adventure romance produced by Cosmopolitan Productions in association with MGM and distributed by MGM. The movie was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starred Monte Blue and Raquel Torres...
(1928). Blue became one of the few silent stars to survive the talkie revolution. However, he lost his investments in the stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
of 1929.
He rebuilt his career as a character actor, working until his retirement from films in 1954, though he continued playing character roles in various TV programmes (mostly westerns) until 1960. One of his more memorable roles was the sheriff in Key Largo
Key Largo (film)
Key Largo is a 1948 film noir directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor...
opposite Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
. He divorced his first wife in 1923 and married Tova Jansen in 1924. He had two children, Barbara Ann and Richard Monte. During the later part of his life, Monte Blue was an active Mason and the advance man for the Hamid-Morton Shrine Circus; while on business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, he had a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
because of complications from influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
, dying at age 76.
Monte Blue has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6286 Hollywood Blvd.
Partial Filmography
- The Birth of a NationThe Birth of a NationThe Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...
(1915) - IntoleranceIntolerance (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...
(1916) - Wild and WoollyWild and WoollyWild and Woolly is a 1917 silent film which tells the story of one man's personal odyssey from sophisticated Easterner to Western tough guy. It stars Douglas Fairbanks, Eileen Percy, Walter Bytell and Sam De Grasse....
(1917) - M'LissM'Liss (1918 film)M'Liss is a 1918 silent film directed by Marshall Neilan, written by Frances Marion and based on a Bret Harte's story. The film was made previously in 1915 and was remade again in 1922 as The Girl Who Ran Wild, starring Gladys Walton. Another same-titled remake was released in 1936, starring Anne...
(1918) - Johanna Enlists (1918)
- The Romance of TarzanThe Romance of TarzanThe Romance of Tarzan is a silent, black and white action adventure film directed by Wilfred Lucas starring Elmo Lincoln, Enid Markey, Thomas Jefferson and Cleo Madison. The movie was the second Tarzan movie ever made, and is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' original novel Tarzan of the Apes...
(1918) - The Squaw ManThe Squaw Man (1918 film)The Squaw Man is a 1918 Western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It is a remake of DeMille's 1914 film of the same name. It would be remade again by DeMille in 1931...
(1918) - Something to Think AboutSomething to Think About-Cast:* Elliott Dexter - David Markely* Gloria Swanson - Ruth Anderson* Monte Blue - Jim Dirk* Theodore Roberts - Luke Anderson* Claire McDowell - Housekeeper* Michael D. Moore - Bobby * Julia Faye - Banker's Daughter...
(1920) - The Affairs of AnatolThe Affairs of AnatolThe Affairs of Anatol is a 1921 silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille.-Cast:* Wallace Reid as Anatol DeWitt Spencer* Gloria Swanson as Vivian Spencer * Wanda Hawley as Emilie Dixon* Theodore Roberts as Gordon Bronson...
(1921) - Orphans of the StormOrphans Of The StormOrphans of the Storm is a drama film by D. W. Griffith set in late 18th century France, before and during the French Revolution.This was the last Griffith film to feature Lillian and Dorothy Gish, and is often considered Griffith's last major commercial success, after boxoffice hits such as Birth...
(1921) - Peacock AlleyPeacock Alley (1921 film)Peacock Alley is a black-and-white American silent film starring Monte Blue as Elmer Harmon and Mae Murray as Cleo. The film was directed by Murray's husband at the time, Robert Z. Leonard, was one of Murray's most successful films, and one of the biggest hits of 1921.In the film, Elmer travels...
(1921) - Broadway RoseBroadway Rose (1922 film)Broadway Rose is a 1922 silent film released by Metro Pictures and directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It stars Leonard's wife Mae Murray and Monte Blue. The story is an original for the screen by Edmund Goulding for star Murray. It was produced by Leonard and Murray's production company Tiffany Pictures...
(1922) - Brass (1923)
- Main StreetMain Street (1923 film)Main Street is a 1923 silent film drama based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers and directed by Harry Beaumont. A Broadway play version of the novel was produced in 1921. -Cast:...
(1923) - Loving LiesLoving LiesLoving Lies is a 1924 silent American drama film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring Evelyn Brent. The film is considered to be lost.- Cast :* Evelyn Brent as Ellen Craig* Monte Blue as Captain Dan stover* Joan Lowell as Madge Barlow* Charles K...
(1924) - The Marriage CircleThe Marriage CircleThe Marriage Circle is a 1924 silent film produced by Ernst Lubitsch and Warner Brothers with direction by Lubitsch and distribution by the Warners. Based on the play Only a Dream by Lothar Schmidt, the screenplay was written by Paul Bern...
(1924) - Mademoiselle MidnightMademoiselle MidnightMademoiselle Midnight is a 1924 film starring Mae Murray and directed by the star's then husband, Robert Z. Leonard. The film was written by Carl Harbaugh and John Russell...
(1924) - Kiss Me AgainKiss Me Again (1925 film)Kiss Me Again is a 1925 silent film comedy-romance produced and distributed by Warner Brothers and directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It stars Marie Prevost, Monte Blue and Clara Bow. It is a lost film.-Cast:*Marie Prevost - LouLou Fleury...
(1925) - Red Hot Tires (1925 film) (1925)
- So This Is Paris (1926)
- Across the PacificAcross the Pacific (1926 film)Across the Pacific is a 1926 silent film romantic adventure produced by Warner Brothers, directed by Roy del Ruth and starring Monte Blue. It was based on a turn of the century play by Charles Blaney and J. J. McCloskey...
(1926) - White Shadows in the South SeasWhite Shadows in the South SeasWhite Shadows in the South Seas is a silent film adventure romance produced by Cosmopolitan Productions in association with MGM and distributed by MGM. The movie was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starred Monte Blue and Raquel Torres...
(1928) - The Show of Shows (1929)
- Isle of Escape (1930)
- Desert Gold (1936)
- Mystery Sea RaiderMystery Sea Raider-Cast:* Carole Landis as June McCarthy* Henry Wilcoxon as Captain Jimmy Madden* Onslow Stevens as Carl Cutler* Kathleen Howard as Maggie Clancy* Wally Rairden as Blake, 3rd Mate * Sven Hugo Borg as Sven* Henry Victor as Cmdr. Bulow...
(1940) - Sullivan's TravelsSullivan's TravelsSullivan's Travels is a 1941 American comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges. It is a satire about a movie director, played by Joel McCrea, who longs to make a socially relevant drama, but eventually learns that comedies are his more valuable contribution to society. The film features...
(1941 uncredited) - Across the PacificAcross the PacificAcross the Pacific is a 1942 spy film set on the eve of the entry of the United States into World War II. The film was directed first by John Huston, then by Vincent Sherman after Huston joined the United States Army Signal Corps...
(1942) - Key LargoKey Largo (film)Key Largo is a 1948 film noir directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor...
(1948) - ApacheApache (film)-Plot:Following the surrender of Geronimo, Massai, the last Apache warrior is captured and scheduled for transportation to a Florida reservation. On the way he manages to escape and heads for his homeland to win back his girl and settle down to grow crops...
(1954)