Henry Lewis Solter (November 19, 1873 – March 2, 1920) was an American

silent film 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, w ...

actor and director.

Career

Solter began his career as an actor in 1908 with

Biograph Studios Biograph Studios was an early film studio and laboratory complex, built in 1912 by the Biograph Company at 807 East 175th Street, in The Bronx, New York City, New York, which was preceded by two locations in Manhattan. History 841 Broadway ...

. That same year he met actress

Florence Lawrence Florence Lawrence (born Florence Annie Bridgwood; January 2, 1886 – December 28, 1938) was a Canadian-American stage performer and film actress. She is often referred to as the "first movie star", and was long thought to be the first film act ...

while making the film ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' for

Vitagraph Studios Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...

and married on August 30 of that year. In 1909, Solter began working for

Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle ; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a German-American film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. He produced or worked on over 400 films. Regarded as one of the ...

's Independent Moving Pictures Co. of America (IMP) as an actor but also as a director. Over the next nine years, he directed 148 silent films. In 1912, Solter and his wife established the Victor Studios in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

. In 1913, they sold out to Laemmle whose amalgamation of several studios created the colossal Universal Film Manufacturing Co. Solter continued to direct for the new company until 1918 when health problems emerged. With this new prosperity, Florence was able to realize a "lifelong dream", buying a estate in

River Vale, New Jersey River Vale is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. River Vale is the easternmost municipality in an area of the county referred to as the Pascack Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population ...

.Florence Lawrence
, Women Film Pioneers Project. Accessed September 23, 2015. "Florence Lawrence intended her last Victor photoplay to be her second two-reel film, The Lady Leone (1912), and after its completion, she and Solter retired to their home in River Vale, New Jersey."PHS Answer Girl & Curator
, Pascack Historical Society. Accessed September 23, 2015. "Florence Lawrence was America’s first movie star according to movie historians. She lived at 565 Rivervale Road in River Vale from 1913 through 1916."

Death

Solter died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on March 2, 1920, at the age of 46. He is interred in the Baltimore Cemetery in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Selected filmography

References

External links

* * 1873 births 1920 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male silent film actors Film directors from Maryland Male actors from Baltimore People from River Vale, New Jersey Film directors from New Jersey Actors from Bergen County, New Jersey Male actors from New Jersey {{US-film-director-1870s-stub