Monte Blue

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Monte Blue January 11 1887 February 18 1963 was a movie actor who began his career as a romantic leading man in the silent film era and later progressed to character roles Blue was born as Gerard Montgomery Bluefeather in Indianapolis Indiana His father was half French half Cherokee Indian One of five children his father died and his mother could not raise five children alone Along with another brother they both admitted to the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Childrens Home This did not stop him working his way through to Purdue University When growing up Blue built up his physique to become a football player he grew to six feet three inches tall He not only played football but he was also a fireman railroad worker coal miner cowpuncher ranch hand circus rider lumberjack and finally a day laborer at the studios of D W Griffith He had no theatrical experience when he came to the screen In his first movie The Birth of a Nation 1915 he was a stuntman and an extra in the movie In his next movie he starred in another small part in the movie Intolerance 1916 Gradually moving to supporting roles for both D W Griffith and Cecil B DeMille Blue earned his breakthrough role as Danton in Orphans of the Storm starring sisters Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish Then he rose to stardom as a rugged romantic lead along with top leading actresses such as Clara Bow Gloria Swanson and Norma Shearer His most prolific female screen partner was Marie Prevost with whom he made several films in the mid 20s at Warner Brothers Blues finest silent screen performance was as the alcoholic doctor who finds paradise in MGMs White Shadows in the South Seas 1928 Blue became one of the few silent stars to survive the talkie revolution However he lost his investments in the stock market crash of 1929 He rebuilt his career as a character actor working until his retirement in 1954 One of his more memorable roles was the sheriff in Key Largo He divorced his first wife in 1923 and married Tova Jansen in 1924 He had two children Barbara Ann and Richard Monte During the later part of his life Monte Blue was an active Mason and the advance man for the HamidMorton Shrine Circus while on business in Milwaukee Wisconsin he had a heart attack because of complications from influenza dying at age 76 Monte Blue has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6286 Hollywood Blvd Description above from the Wikipedia article Monte Blue licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia