Slim Summerville (born George Joseph Somerville; July 10, 1892 – January 5, 1946) was an American film actor and director best known for his work in comedies.

Early life

Summerville was born in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, where his mother died when he was only five. Moving from

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

to Canada and later to

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, he had a

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

ic upbringing. In Canada, in Chatham, Ontario, he lived with his English grandparents and obtained his first job there, working as a messenger for the Canadian Pacific Telegraphs.

Film career

The beginning of Summerville's three-decade screen career can be traced to another early job he had, one working in a poolroom in California. There in 1912 he met actor Edgar Kennedy, who took him to see

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career. Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting i ...

, the head of Keystone Studios in Edendale. Sennett immediately hired him for $3.50 per day to perform in bit parts, his first being in the role of a " Keystone Cop" in the short '' Hoffmeyer's Legacy''. Tall and gangly, Summerville used his physical appearance to great effect in many comedies during both the silent and

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

eras. His work in films, however, was not limited to acting; he also directed more than 50 productions, mostly shorts. Occasionally, Summerville played in dramatic films, such as '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930) and ''

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...

'' (1939), but he was most successful in comedies, including several with

ZaSu Pitts ZaSu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who, in a career spanning nearly five decades, starred in many silent film drama film, dramas, such as Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic ''Greed (1924 film), Greed'', along wi ...

. He also performed with child star

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

in the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

- comedy dramas '' Captain January'' (1936) and '' Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' (1938).

Personal life

Summerville married Gertrude Martha Roell on 19 November 1927. Five years later they adopted a four-week-old baby boy whom they christened Elliott George. The couple divorced in September 1936, and the following year Summerville married Eleanor Brown, a nurse who had cared for him while he was sick.

Death

Summerville 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 January 5, 1946, in

Laguna Beach, California Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Located in Southern California along the Pacific Ocean, this seaside resort city has a mild year-round climate, scenic c ...

. He is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...

community of

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

. Two decades after his death, his beach-front house on Sleepy Hollow Lane in Laguna Beach was converted into the Beach House restaurant, which was later renamed the Driftwood Kitchen.

Legacy

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Slim Summerville has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

at 6409 Hollywood Blvd. He was inducted into the New Mexico Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2012.

Selected filmography

* '' Hoffmeyer's Legacy'' (1912, Short) as Keystone Kop (uncredited) * '' Mabel's Busy Day'' (1914, Short) as Policeman (uncredited) * '' Fatty and the Heiress'' (1914, Short) * '' A Rowboat Romance'' (1914, Short) * '' Laughing Gas'' (1914, Short) as Pedestrian / Patient * '' Those Happy Days'' (1914, Short) as Cop (uncredited) * '' Lover's Luck'' (1914, Short) as Villager * '' Dough and Dynamite'' (1914) as Striking Baker (uncredited) * '' Tillie's Punctured Romance'' (1914) as Policeman / Guest in Restaurant (uncredited) * '' Leading Lizzie Astray'' (1914, Short) as Dancing Cafe Patron (uncredited) * '' Fatty's Magic Pants'' (1914, Short) as Cop (uncredited) * '' Fatty and Minnie He-Haw'' (1914, Short) as Railroad Guard (uncredited) * ''

Fatty's New Role ''Fatty's New Role'' is a 1915 American Short film, short comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe Arbuckle, Fatty Arbuckle. Plot summary Cast * Roscoe Arbuckle, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle as Hobo * Mack Swain as Ambrose Schnitz * Joe Bordea ...

'' (1915, Short) as Bartender * '' That Little Band of Gold'' (1915, Short) as Waiter / Audience Member (uncredited) * '' Their Social Splash'' (1915, Short) as Harold - the Groom * '' Her Painted Hero'' (1915, Short) as A Bill Poster * '' Fatty and the Broadway Stars'' (1915, Short) as Striking Carpenter * '' Hearts and Sparks'' (1916, Short) as The Moneylender's Pit Crewman * '' Are Waitresses Safe?'' (1917) * ''

Skirts A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards. At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts are fit ...

'' (1921) * '' Hello, 'Frisco'' (1924, also directed, Short) as Slim * '' The Texas Streak'' (1926) as Swede * '' The Denver Dude'' (1927) as Slim Jones * '' The Beloved Rogue'' (1927) as Jehan * ''

Hey! Hey! Cowboy ''Hey! Hey! Cowboy'' is a lost film, lost 1927 American silent film, silent Western (genre), Western film directed by Lynn Reynolds and Edward Laemmle and starring Hoot Gibson. It was produced and released by Universal Pictures. Cast * Hoot Gi ...

'' (1927) as Spike Doolin * '' Painted Ponies'' (1927) as Beanpole * '' The Chinese Parrot'' (1927) as Prospector * '' The Wreck of the Hesperus'' (1927) * '' Riding for Fame'' (1928) as High-Pockets * '' The Last Warning'' (1928) as Tommy Wall * '' King of the Rodeo'' (1929) as Slim * ''

Strong Boy ''Strong Boy'' is a 1929 American Synchronized sound comedy film directed by John Ford. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film Movietone process. The fi ...

'' (1929) as Slim * '' Sailor's Holiday'' (1929) as Midway Photographer (uncredited) * '' One Hysterical Night'' (1929) as Robin Hood * ''

The Shannons of Broadway ''The Shannons of Broadway'' is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring James Gleason, Lucile Gleason and Mary Philbin. It was based on James Gleason's 1927 play of the same title, which was later remade as ''Goodbye ...

'' (1929) as Newt * '' Tiger Rose'' (1929) as Heine * '' Troopers Three'' (1930) as 'Sunny' * '' The King of Jazz'' (1930) as Automobile Owner ('Springtime') / Rear End of Horse / Charles * '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930) as Tjaden * '' The Little Accident'' (1930) as Hicks * ''

Under Montana Skies ''Under Montana Skies'' is a 1930 American pre-Code western film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Kenneth Harlan, Slim Summerville and Dorothy Gulliver.Pitts p. 375 It was produced and distributed by Tiffany Pictures, one of the leading in ...

'' (1930) as Sunshine * '' The Spoilers'' (1930) as Slapjack Simms * '' Her Man'' (1930) as The Swede * '' See America Thirst'' (1930) as Slim * ''

Free Love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the State (polity), state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues we ...

'' (1930) as Gas Inspector * '' Many a Slip'' (1931) as Hopkins * '' The Front Page'' (1931) as Irving Pincus * ''El Tenorio del harem'' (1931) as El corneta * '' Bad Sister'' (1931) as Sam * '' Lasca of the Rio Grande'' (1931) as 'Crabapple' Thompson * '' Reckless Living'' (1931) as The Drunk * '' Heaven on Earth'' (1931) as The Jeweler * '' The Unexpected Father'' (1932) as Jasper Jones * '' Racing Youth'' (1932) as Slim * '' Tom Brown of Culver'' (1932) as Elmer (Slim) Whitman * ''

Air Mail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...

'' (1932) as 'Slim' McCune * '' They Just Had to Get Married'' (1932) as Sam Sutton * '' Out All Night'' (1933) as Ronald Colgate * '' Horse Play'' (1933) as Slim Perkins * '' Her First Mate'' (1933) as John Homer * ''

Love, Honor, and Oh Baby! ''Love, Honor, and Oh Baby!'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film, starring Slim Summerville, ZaSu Pitts, and George Barbier. A group of stars rounds out the rest of the cast that includes Donald Meek, Lucille Gleason and Varree Teasdal ...

'' (1933) as Mark Reed * '' Love Birds'' (1934) as Henry Whipple * '' Their Big Moment'' (1934) as Bill Ambrose * '' Life Begins at 40'' (1935) as T. Watterson Meriwether * '' The Farmer Takes a Wife'' (1935) as Fortune Friendly * ''

Way Down East ''Way Down East'' is a 1920 American silent film, silent melodrama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. It is one of four film adaptations of the 19th century play of the same name by Charlotte Blair Parker, Lottie Blair ...

'' (1935) as Constable Seth Holcomb * '' The Country Doctor'' (1936) as Constable Jim Ogden * '' Captain January'' (1936) as Captain Nazro * '' White Fang'' (1936) as Slats Magee * '' Pepper'' (1936) as Uncle Ben Jolly * '' Can This Be Dixie?'' (1936) as Robert E. Lee Gurgle * '' Reunion'' (1936) as Jim Ogden * '' Off to the Races'' (1937) as Uncle George * '' Love Is News'' (1937) as Judge Hart * '' The Road Back'' (1937) as Tjaden * '' Fifty Roads to Town'' (1937) as Ed Henry * '' Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' (1938) as Homer Busby * '' Kentucky Moonshine'' (1938) as Hank Hatfield * '' Five of a Kind'' (1938) as Jim Ogden * ''

Submarine Patrol ''Submarine Patrol'' is a 1938 film directed by John Ford. The screenplay was by Rian James, Darrell Ware, and Jack Yellen. The film starred Richard Greene, Nancy Kelly and Preston Foster. The supporting cast features George Bancroft, Eli ...

'' (1938) as Ellsworth 'Spuds' Fickett - Cook * ''

Up the River ''Up the River'' is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by John Ford, and starring Claire Luce, Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart. The plot concerns escaped convicts, as well as a female convict. It was the feature film debut role o ...

'' (1938) as Slim Nelson * ''

'' (1939) as Jailer * '' Winner Take All'' (1939) as Mike Muldoon * '' Charlie Chan in Reno'' (1939) as Sheriff Fletcher * '' Henry Goes Arizona'' (1939) as Sheriff Parton * '' Anne of Windy Poplars'' (1940) as Jabez Monkman * '' Gold Rush Maisie'' (1940) as Fred Gubbins * ''

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...

'' (1941) as Herman * '' Tobacco Road'' (1941) as Peabody * '' Puddin' Head'' (1941) as Uncle Lem * ''

Highway West ''Highway West'' is a 1941 American crime film directed by William C. McGann and starring Brenda Marshall, Arthur Kennedy and William Lundigan. It is a remake of the 1934 film ''Heat Lightning''.Goble p.1 It was produced and distributed by War ...

'' (1941) as Gramps Abbott * ''

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

'' (1941) as Sam Sawyer * ''

Miss Polly ''Miss Polly'' is a 1941 American comedy film produced as part of Hal Roach's Hal Roach's Streamliners, Streamliners series. It was directed by Fred Guiol, written by Eugene Conrad and Edward E. Seabrook and stars ZaSu Pitts, Slim Summerville, Ka ...

'' (1941) as Slim Wilkins * '' Uncle Joe'' (1941) as Joe Butterworth * '' The Valley of Vanishing Men'' (1942, Serial) as Missouri Benson * ''Garden of Eatin (1943, Short) as Slim * ''Bachelor Daze'' (1944, Short)The Columbia Shorts Department: Slim Summerville (1943-1944)
/ref> as Slim Winters * '' Bride by Mistake'' (1944) as Samuel * '' Swing in the Saddle'' (1944) as Northup 'Slim' Bayliss * '' I'm from Arkansas'' (1944) as Juniper Jenkins aka Pa * '' Sing Me a Song of Texas'' (1945) as Happy * '' The Hoodlum Saint'' (1946) as Eel (final film role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Summerville, Slim 1892 births 1946 deaths 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico American male film actors American male silent film actors Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Male Western (genre) film actors Slapstick comedians Film directors from New Mexico American comedy film directors