Ralph Sipperly
Encyclopedia
Ralph Wilson Sipperly was a comic and character actor who appeared in ten films (mostly silents) between 1923 and 1927. His most notable portrayal was as the barber in the Academy Award winning film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927).
Born in Rochester, New York
, Sipperly had a career in the Broadway theatre
before breaking into silent films. His earliest known appearance was in a performance of "A Prince There Was" (1918), followed by "The Meanest Man in the World" (1920), "Six Cylinder Love" (1921), "The Deep Tangled Wild-Wood" (1923) and other (mostly) comedies. His first known film part was in the movie version of "Six Cylinder Love" (1923) in which he played the same character he had on-stage.
During one theatrical performance of "Six-Cylinder Love" in New York in 1921, Sipperly, who played a high-powered car salesman, accidentally drove an actual automobile off the stage and into the first row of seats. No one was injured, though screams erupted in the sold-out hall, and one woman "became hysterical" as people scrambled out of the way. The incident made The New York Times
the following day, but apparently had no effect on Sipperly's career.
Another New York Times article of 1925 reported that Sipperly, "saxophonist de luxe of The Fall Guy has selected the design for the monument that is to mark the site of his Rochester birthplace. It is to consist of two baseball bats crossed above a dumbbell. It seems that baseball has been the dominant fact in this actor's life."
Sipperly died in Bangor, Maine
and is buried in that city's Mount Hope Cemetery
Born in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, Sipperly had a career in the Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
before breaking into silent films. His earliest known appearance was in a performance of "A Prince There Was" (1918), followed by "The Meanest Man in the World" (1920), "Six Cylinder Love" (1921), "The Deep Tangled Wild-Wood" (1923) and other (mostly) comedies. His first known film part was in the movie version of "Six Cylinder Love" (1923) in which he played the same character he had on-stage.
During one theatrical performance of "Six-Cylinder Love" in New York in 1921, Sipperly, who played a high-powered car salesman, accidentally drove an actual automobile off the stage and into the first row of seats. No one was injured, though screams erupted in the sold-out hall, and one woman "became hysterical" as people scrambled out of the way. The incident made The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
the following day, but apparently had no effect on Sipperly's career.
Another New York Times article of 1925 reported that Sipperly, "saxophonist de luxe of The Fall Guy has selected the design for the monument that is to mark the site of his Rochester birthplace. It is to consist of two baseball bats crossed above a dumbbell. It seems that baseball has been the dominant fact in this actor's life."
Sipperly died in Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
and is buried in that city's Mount Hope Cemetery
Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor
Mt. Hope Cemetery in Bangor, Maine is the second oldest garden cemetery in the United States. It was designed by architect Charles G. Bryant in 1834, the same year that Bangor was incorporated as a city, and likely modeled after Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts...