Charles Bryant (8 January 1879 – 7 August 1948) was a British actor and film director.

Life

Bryant was born in

Hartford, Cheshire Hartford is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the Cheshire Plain, to the south-west of the town of Northwich, ...

, on 8 January 1879. He was educated at

Ardingly College Ardingly College () is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school ...

in Sussex. He left school at the age of 14 to become a stage actor. Three years later, he traveled to the United States to begin working on Broadway, starring in ''The First Born'' in 1897. Bryant starred in ''A Train of Incidents'' (1914) and ''War Brides'' (1916). This was the first film of his wife

Alla Nazimova Alla Aleksandrovna Nazimova (, born Marem-Ides Leventon; June 3 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. May 22 1879 – July 13, 1945) was a Russian-American actress, director, producer and scre ...

. Bryant and Nazimova signed with

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a Film, motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at le ...

in 1918 and starred alongside each other in a number of films, including ''Revelation'', ''Out of the Fog'', and '' Billions''. In 1918, Nazimova founded Nazimova Productions. It was there that Bryant began directing, with the pair creating a film adaptation of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

’s play ''

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

'' in 1923. Bryant and Nazimova's pairing was short-lived. '' Salomé'' was notably too far ahead of its time and failed at the box office, bankrupting Nazimova Productions. Bryant never worked in film again, instead returning to Broadway. He divorced Nazimova shortly after leaving Hollywood. Their marriage was apparently only one of convenience, as she was lesbian. They no longer thought it necessary.

Marriages and children

He claimed to have married Alla Nazimova on 5 December 1912, but the marriage never was consummated. On 16 November 1925, Bryant, 43, surprised the press, Nazimova, and Nazimova's fans by marrying Marjorie Gilhooley, 23, in Connecticut. When the press learned that Bryant had recorded his current marital status as "single" on his marriage licence, the revelation that the marriage between Alla and Charles had been a sham from the beginning embroiled Nazimova in a scandal that damaged her career. Charles and Marjorie divorced in 1936.Bailey, Blake, ''A Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates'', Macmillan, 1 May 2004 Bryant had two children with Gilhooley, Charles Bryant Jr. and Sheila Bryant. On 8 June 1948, Sheila married American novelist Richard Yates.

Death

Bryant died on 7 August 1948 in Mount Kisco, New York at age 69.

Partial filmography

*'' Eye for Eye'' (1918) *''

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

'' (1918) *'' The Red Lantern'' (1919) *''

The Brat ''The Brat'' is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film directed by John Ford, starring Sally O'Neil, and featuring Virginia Cherrill. The film is based on the 1917 play by Maude Fulton. A previous silent film had been made in 1919 with Al ...

'' (1919) *'' Stronger Than Death'' (1920) *'' The Heart of a Child'' (1920) *'' Billions'' (1920) *''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...

'' (1922) (directed) *'' Salomé'' (1923) (directed)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Charles 1879 births 1948 deaths Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Hillside, New Jersey) People educated at Ardingly College English male film actors English male silent film actors English male stage actors People from Hartford, Cheshire 20th-century English male actors British expatriate male actors in the United States