Louis Bennison (October 17, 1884 – June 9, 1929) was an American stage and silent film actor, known for

westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...

Biography

Bennison was born on October 17, 1884, in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. He attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Bennison performed in plays such as ''

The Unchastened Woman ''The Unchastened Woman'' is a 1925 American silent drama film starring vamp Theda Bara, directed by James Young, the former husband of Clara Kimball Young, and released by start-up studio Chadwick Pictures. The film is based on a 1915 Bro ...

'' and ''

Johnny Get Your Gun ''Johnny Get Your Gun'' is a 1919 American comedy silent film directed by Donald Crisp and written by Edmund Lawrence Burke and Gardner Hunting. The film stars Fred Stone, Mary Anderson, Casson Ferguson, James Cruze, Sylvia Ashton, Nina Byro ...

''. In 1912, he was a member of the stock company at the Alcazar Theatre in San Francisco. He had starring film roles and made his motion picture debut in the silent film '' Damaged Goods'' in 1914, other films included '' Pretty Mrs. Smith'' (1915), '' Oh, Johnny!'' (1918) and as the titular character in '' Speedy Meade'' (1919). In the 1920s, Bennison developed a relationship with Broadway actress Margaret Lawrence, and on June 9, 1929, the two were found dead in Lawrence's New York apartment, the result of a murder–suicide by firearm. Police believed the incident was alcohol-related.Biography of Louis Bennison and His Involvement with Margaret Lawrence
Retrieved August 18, 2017 Louis Bennison woodcut

Filmography

*'' Damaged Goods'' - Dr. Clifford (1914) *''The Keeper of the Flock'' (1915) (film short) *'' Pretty Mrs. Smith'' - Mr. Smith No. 1, Ferdinand (1915) *'' Oh, Johnny!'' - Johnny Burke (1918) *'' Sandy Burke of the U-Bar-U'' - Sandy Burke (1919) *'' Speedy Meade'' - Speedy Meade (1919) *''

The Road Called Straight ''The Road Called Straight'' is a 1919 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Louis Bennison, Ormi Hawley, Henry Mortimer, Berton Churchill, Jane Adler, and John Daly Murphy. The film was released by Goldwyn Pic ...

'' - Al Boyd (1919) *'' High Pockets'' - 'High Pockets' Henderson (1919) *'' A Misfit Earl'' - Jim Dunn (1919) *'' Lavender and Old Lace'' - Captain Charles Winfield / Carl Winfield (1921)

References

External links

* * * 1884 births 1929 deaths American male silent film actors 20th-century American male actors American male stage actors Male actors from Oakland, California Suicides by firearm in New York City Murder–suicides in New York City 1929 suicides 20th-century American murderers {{US-film-actor-1880s-stub