Fred C. Newmeyer (August 9, 1888 – April 24, 1967) was an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and film producer.

Biography

A native of

Central City, Colorado Central City is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Gilpin County, Colorado, Gilpin and Clear Creek County, Colorado, Clear Creek counties, Colorado, United States. Central City is the c ...

, Newmeyer is best known for directing a handful of films in the ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' series and for directing several

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many Silent film, silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influent ...

movies, eight of them being features. With

Sam Taylor Samuel, Sam or Sammy Taylor (male first name) may refer to: Arts * Sam Taylor (director) (1895–1958), American film director and screenwriter * Samuel W. Taylor (1907–1997), American author * Samuel A. Taylor (1912–2000), playwright and sc ...

, Newmeyer co-directed Lloyd in films including '' Safety Last!'' (1923), ''

Girl Shy ''Girl Shy'' is a 1924 romantic comedy silent film starring Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston. The movie was written by Sam Taylor (director), Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan and Ted Wilde and was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Taylor. In 2020, the f ...

'' (1924), and '' The Freshman'' (1925). Newmeyer also had an extensive directing and acting resume in other comedy short films. He appeared as an actor in 71 films between

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

and

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

. Prior to his film career, Newmeyer played

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

. Partial statistics exist for his time as a left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

at the Class D level from 1911 to 1913 in the Southwest Texas League, Michigan State League, and

Central Association The Central Association was an American minor league baseball league. The Central Association began play in 1908, evolving from the 1907 Iowa State League. The Central Association played continuously through 1917 before folding. The league reforme ...

. He made at least 66 appearances and was the winning pitcher of at least 26 games. Newmeyer was the original director of the first short in the ''Our Gang'' series, also titled ''Our Gang''; his version tested poorly, and producer

Hal Roach Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...

scrapped most of the footage and remade the short with Robert McGowan as the director. Newmeyer, after directing numerous other shorts at Roach, returned to the ''Our Gang'' series in 1936 to direct '' The Pinch Singer'', ''

Arbor Day Arbor Day (or Arbour Day in some countries) is a Secularity, secular day of observance in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant trees. Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date v ...

'', '' Mail and Female'' and the

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

'' General Spanky''. Newmeyer and his wife, Berna, had a son, Fred W. After his film career, Newmeyer worked with the athletic department of University High School in Los Angeles. Newmeyer died on April 24, 1967, in

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

, at the age of 78.

Selected filmography

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Newmeyer, Fred R. 1888 births 1967 deaths People from Central City, Colorado American male film actors Hal Roach Studios filmmakers 20th-century American male actors American comedy film directors Film directors from Colorado Baseball players from Colorado Baseball pitchers Corpus Christi Pelicans players Bay City Rice Eaters players Ludington Mariners players Muscatine Wallopers players 20th-century American sportsmen