Gerald Ames (12 September 1880 – 2 July 1933) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

actor, film director and Olympic fencer. Ames was born in

Blackheath, London Blackheath is an area in Southeast London, straddling the border of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham. Historically within the county of Kent, it is located northeast of Lewisham, south of Greenwich, London, G ...

in 1880 and first took up acting in 1905. He was a popular leading man in the post-

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

cinema, appearing in more than sixty films between his debut in 1914 and his retirement from the screen in 1928 in a career entirely encompassing the

silent era A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. He was also a regular stage actor who took on many leading roles in the theatre. He competed in the individual

épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

event at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

. He died in 1933 after falling down the steps of

Knightsbridge tube station Knightsbridge () is a London Underground station, located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is on the Piccadilly line between South Kensington tube station, South Kensington and Hyde Park Corner tube station, Hyde Park Corner s ...

and suffering a heart attack. He was married to the actress

Mary Dibley Mary Dibley (21 February 1883 in London – 11 September 1968) was a British film actress. She was married to the actor Gerald Ames. Selected filmography * '' The Christian'' (1915) * '' The Shulamite'' (1915) * '' Sally in Our Alley'' (1916) * ...

Partial filmography

* ''

She Stoops to Conquer ''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays ...

'' (1914) * '' The Black Spot'' (1914) * '' The Difficult Way'' (1914) * '' The Christian'' (1915) * '' Love in a Wood'' (1915) * '' The Shulamite'' (1915) * ''

The Prisoner of Zenda ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in o ...

'' (1915) * ''

Rupert of Hentzau ''Rupert of Hentzau'' is a sequel by Anthony Hope to '' The Prisoner of Zenda'', written in 1895 but not published in book form until 1898. The novel was serialized in ''The Pall Mall Magazine'' and '' McClure's Magazine'' from December 1897 ...

'' (1915) * ''

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin () is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine '' Je sais tout''. The first ...

'' (1916) * '' The Hypocrites'' (1916) * '' The King's Daughter'' (1916) * '' The Game of Liberty'' (1916) * '' The Ragged Messenger'' (1917) * '' Masks and Faces'' (1917) * '' A Gamble for Love'' (1917) * '' A Peep Behind the Scenes'' (1918) * '' Boundary House'' (1918) * ''

Missing the Tide ''Missing the Tide'' is a 1918 British silent drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually ...

'' (1918) * '' A Turf Conspiracy'' (1918) * '' A Fortune at Stake'' (1918) * ''

Adam Bede ''Adam Bede'' was the first novel by English author George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans, first published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time. The novel ...

'' (1918) * '' Red Pottage'' (1918) * '' The Irresistible Flapper'' (1919) * '' Comradeship'' (1919) * ''

Possession Possession may refer to: Law *Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance *Drug possession, a crime *Ownership *Pe ...

'' (1919) * '' The Forest on the Hill'' (1919) * ''

Sheba Sheba, or Saba, was an ancient South Arabian kingdoms in pre-Islamic Arabia, South Arabian kingdom that existed in Yemen (region), Yemen from to . Its inhabitants were the Sabaeans, who, as a people, were indissociable from the kingdom itself f ...

'' (1919) * '' Sunken Rocks'' (1919) * '' The Nature of the Beast'' (1919) * ''

Missing the Tides Missing or The Missing may refer to: Film * ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young * ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras about the 1973 coup in Chile *, a Belgian film ...

'' (1919) * '' Broken in the Wars'' (1919) * ''

John Forrest Finds Himself ''John Forrest Finds Himself'' is a 1920 British silent romance film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Edwards, Chrissie White and Gerald Ames. Cast * Henry Edwards - John Forrest * Chrissie White - Joan Grey * Gerald Ames - Ezra B ...

'' (1920) * '' Once Aboard the Lugger'' (1920) * ''

Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the 30th president of Chile and the first president to be elect ...

'' (1920) * '' Anna the Adventuress'' (1920) * '' Alf's Button'' (1920) * '' The Amazing Quest of Mr. Ernest Bliss'' (1920) * ''

Helen of Four Gates ''Helen of Four Gates'' is a 1920 British silent melodrama film directed by cinema pioneer Cecil Hepworth and starring Alma Taylor (in a dual role as mother and daughter), James Carew, and Gerald Ames. Production background The film was adapt ...

'' (1920) * '' Mrs. Erricker's Reputation'' (1920) * '' Mr. Justice Raffles'' (1921) * ''

Tansy Tansy (''Tanacetum vulgare'') is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant in the genus ''Tanacetum'' in the aster family, native to temperate Europe and Asia. It has been introduced to other parts of the world, including North America, and in ...

'' (1921) * '' Wild Heather'' (1921) * '' The Woman Who Obeyed'' (1923) * ''

The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots ''The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots'' is a 1923 British silent historical film directed by Denison Clift and starring Fay Compton, Gerald Ames and Ivan Samson. The film depicts the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her eventual execution. It ...

'' (1923) * ''

God's Prodigal In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the univ ...

'' (1923) * '' A Royal Divorce'' (1923) * '' The Little People'' (1926) * ''

The King's Highway ''The King's Highway'' is a 1927 British romantic adventure film directed by Sinclair Hill and starring James Carew, Gerald Ames, Matheson Lang and Joan Lockton. The film follows the romance and escapades of an eighteenth-century English high ...

'' (1927) * '' The Rising Generation'' (1928) * '' A Light Woman'' (1928)

References

External links

* * 1880 births 1933 deaths People from Blackheath, London Sportspeople from the London Borough of Lewisham English male stage actors English male film actors English male silent film actors English film directors Olympic fencers for Great Britain Fencers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Male actors from London 20th-century English male actors Male actors from Kent English male fencers accidental deaths in London accidental deaths from falls Actors from the Royal Borough of Greenwich Actors from the London Borough of Lewisham Sportspeople from the Royal Borough of Greenwich {{england-actor-stub