Charles Eyton (24 June 1871 – 2 July 1941) was an actor-producer who became general manager of Famous Players–Lasky Corporation (a

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

subsidiary) during the silent film era.

Personal life

The second of five children, Charles F. Eyton was the son of journalist Robert Henry Eyton (–1885) and Eleanor Maud Eyton (née Fosbery), and born in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand. His sisters were singer/actress Vera Doria, and writer Alice Eyton, who died of burns in 1929 after her masquerade costume was accidentally set alight. In 1900 Charles Eyton married Anna S. Cole. They were divorced in May 1901. On 3 September 1908, Charles Eyton married actress Bessie Harrison, who would henceforth use the professional name Bessie Eyton. They were divorced on 16 March 1915. He became a United States citizen in December 1915. On 2 June 1916, Charles Eyton married actress Kathlyn Williams. It was her third marriage. They were divorced in 1931 on the grounds of incompatibility, with Williams not seeking any payments from Eyton. He died of pneumonia in Hollywood on 2 July 1941.

Career

Wrestling

After establishing his reputation as a lightweight wrestler, standing and weighing , in 1889 Eyton sailed from Australia to the United States, where he participated in a series of wrestling matches. In 1900, he came to Los Angeles and became assistant manager of the Burbank Theater and an officer of the

Los Angeles Athletic Club Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) is a privately owned Sports club, athletic club and social club in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1880, the club is today best known for its John R. Wooden Award pr ...

. He also worked as a boxing referee for over a decade, and was featured on a cigarette sports trading card in 1910. The championship bouts refereed by Charles Eyton included:

Motion pictures

Eyton formed the Real Art Picture Corporation in 1908. In 1914,

Frank Garbutt Garbutt House is a 20-room mansion in the Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, Silver Lake section of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles built from 1926 to 1928 as the residence of Frank A. Garbutt. It was listed in the National Register of H ...

created the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company, named after

Oliver Morosco Oliver Morosco (June 20, 1875 – August 25, 1945) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, film producer, and theater owner. He owned the Morosco Photoplay Company. He brought many of his theater actors to the screen. Frank A. Garbut ...

. Charles Eyton was appointed to supervise the company's productions and also the productions of Bosworth, Inc., which were produced in the same studio at 201 N. Occidental, in Los Angeles. Bosworth, Inc. soon folded and was replaced by ''Pallas Pictures''. In 1916, Morosco and Pallas became part of Famous Players–Lasky, and Charles Eyton remained manager of the Morosco studio. In 1919, Eyton became manager of the larger Famous Players–Lasky studio at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood. In 1925, he was appointed to be in charge of Paramount productions abroad.

Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; ; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of Ameri ...

announced the special production unit would include a production of

D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the n ...

's adaption of

Marie Corelli Mary Mackay (1 May 185521 April 1924), also called Minnie Mackey and known by her pseudonym Marie Corelli (, also , ), was an English novelist. From the appearance of her first novel '' A Romance of Two Worlds'' in 1886, she became a bestselli ...

's novel, ''

The Sorrows of Satan ''The Sorrows of Satan'' is an 1895 Faustian novel by Marie Corelli. It is widely regarded as one of the world's first best-sellers – partly due to an upheaval in the system British libraries used to purchase their books, and partly due to it ...

''; with Eyton described as having been in charge of the Paramount studio and was 'voted unqualifiedly the most popular man in the entire motion picture colony'. He resigned from Paramount in 1926.

William Taylor's murder

On 1 February 1922, Charles Eyton was one of the first people to arrive on the scene of the murder of film director

William Desmond Taylor William Desmond Taylor (born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner; 26 April 1872 – 1 February 1922) was an Anglo-Irish-American film director and actor. A popular figure in the growing Cinema of the United States, Hollywood motion picture colony o ...

(1872–1922), and was said to have been the person to have discovered that Taylor was shot when he attempted to raise the body. Eyton was interviewed by police, ostensibly in relation to means of locating the deceased's missing butler, and Eyton denied knowing about letters apparently missing from Taylor's house. There were a number of possible suspects and remains a cold case today.''Taylorology'' (newsheet)
Issue 4, April 1993; retrieved 12 May 2013.

References

External links

*
Letter from Whitman Bennett to Charles Eyton, 1919Charles Eyton's testimony at the Inquest into the death of William Desmond Taylor, 1922
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyton, Charles 1871 births 1941 deaths Film producers from Los Angeles Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Boxing referees New Zealand emigrants to the United States New Zealand film producers