James Hall (born James E. Brown; October 22, 1900 – June 7, 1940) was an American film actor.

Career

Hall debuted as an actor at age 15 in the ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

''. Hall began his film career during the

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 ...

era. He made his

sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

debut in the 1929 film ''

The Canary Murder Case ''The "Canary" Murder Case'' (1927) is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of an attractive nightclub singer known as "the Canary," and, eventually, her boyfriend, solved by Philo Vance. S. S. Van Dine's classic whodunnit, sec ...

'', opposite

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the ''The Thin Man (film), Thin M ...

and

Louise Brooks Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an cultural icon, icon of the flapper culture, in part due to the bob cut, bob hairstyle that she helped ...

. In 1930, he co-starred in

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

' epic film, '' Hell's Angels''. His last film role was in the 1932

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

'' Manhattan Tower''. In the following years, he headlined in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

at the Loew's State Theatres in 1932 and 1933 and in such independent stage productions as Ches Davis's 1934 edition of the ''Chicago Follies'' and in another show, the ''Showboat Follies'' at the Deadwood Theatre in South Dakota (1934). At the time of his death, he had fallen into obscurity and had been earning his livelihood by performing in small nightclubs and cabarets in New Jersey and New York.

Death

Hall died of

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

on June 7, 1940, in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, at age 39.

Filmography

References

External links

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Photographs and literature
1900 births 1940 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male silent film actors Deaths from cirrhosis Alcohol-related deaths in New Jersey {{US-film-actor-1900s-stub