One hundred years ago today, Harold Lloyd first appeared on a movie screen wearing his trademark glasses. A look at how his on screen persona evolved over the years
Harold Lloyd
American actor
Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. was an American actor, comedian, director, producer, screenwriter, and stunt performer who is best known for his silent comedy films. Wikipedia
Born: April 20, 1893, Burchard, Nebraska, United States
Died: March 8, 1971, Beverly Hills, California, United States
Height: 1.78 m
Spouse: Mildred Davis (m. 1923–1969)
Children: Gloria Lloyd, Harold Lloyd Jr., Marjorie Elisabeth Lloyd
Safety Last – Harold Lloyd 1923
https://youtu.be/V-XZWZVVhvQ
1917 was a pretty big year for movie comedy, with the screen debuts of Buster Keaton and Stan Laurel, as well what would become Lloyd’s iconic screen persona.
I think there’s something a bit endearing about way Lloyd had to work his way up from the bottom of the movie industry, versus how Chaplin and Keaton were both already somewhat established as stage stars, and started out co-starring with top Hollywood talent (Roscoe Arbuckle in both cases).
Lloyd has to try a few different things before he figured out his on screen image, while Chaplin already had the classic elements of his Tramp costume together in his second time in front of a camera.
asifinperson: I forget sometimes how handsome Lloyds was. That last clip shows how dashing he could be. I think that made the comedy even stronger in some way.