Antonio Moreno
Antonio Garrido Monteagudo, better known as Antonio Moreno or Tony Moreno, was a Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s.
Early life and silent films
Born in Madrid, Spain, Moreno emigrated to New York in 1901 and settled in Massachusetts, where he completed his education. Although he claimed to have attended Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts, the Archives of the school, now the Williston Northampton School, have no record of his having done so. He became a stage actor in regional theater productions. In 1912, he moved to Hollywood, California, where he was signed to Biograph Studios, and began his career in bit parts. His film debut was in Iola's Promise.In 1914, Moreno began co-starring in a series of highly successful serials at Vitagraph opposite popular silent film actress Norma Talmadge. These appearances increased Moreno's popularity with nascent filmgoers, and by 1915, he was a highly regarded matinee idol, appearing with successful actors such as Tyrone Power, Sr., Gloria Swanson, Blanche Sweet, Pola Negri, and Dorothy Gish. Moreno often was typecast in his early films as the "Latin Lover". These roles predate Rudolph Valentino's breakthrough as a "Latin Lover" in the 1921 film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
By the early 1920s, Moreno joined film mogul Jesse Lasky's Famous Players and became one of the company's highly paid performers. In 1926, Moreno starred opposite Swedish acting legend Greta Garbo in The Temptress, and the following year, he had a starring role in the enormous box-office hit It with Clara Bow.
Sound films
With the advent of sound films in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Moreno's career began to falter, in part because of his heavy Spanish accent. While still acting in English language films, Moreno began taking parts in Mexican films. During the early 1930s, Moreno directed several well-received Mexican films, including the 1932 drama Santa, which has been hailed by film critics as one of the best Mexican films of the era.By the mid-1930s, he began rebuilding his faltering Hollywood career by taking notable roles as a character actor. By the mid-1940s and throughout the 1950s, Moreno appeared in a number of well-received roles, most notably, his 1954 role in the classic horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon and his 1955 role as Emilio Figueroa in film director John Ford's epic The Searchers.
Personal life
On January 27, 1923, Moreno married American heiress Daisy Emma Canfield in Los Angeles, California. They moved to an estate known as Crestmount. The union lasted 10 years and ended shortly before she was killed in an automobile accident on February 23, 1933.Death and legacy
Moreno died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on February 15, 1967, aged 79. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in Glendale, California. His film career spanned more than four decades. In 1994, the Mexican magazine Somos published its list of "The 100 best movies of the cinema of Mexico" in its 100th edition and named the 1931 Moreno directed Santa its 67th choice.For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Antonio Moreno was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6651 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California.
Selected filmography
Iola's Promise as An Indian The Voice of the Millions as One of the Strike LeadersHis Own Fault as In Gambling Hall An Unseen Enemy as On Bridge Two Daughters of Eve as An Actor / At Stage DoorSo Near, Yet So Far as In ClubThe Musketeers of Pig Alley as Musketeers Gang Member / At Dance Oil and Water as Actor in Play A Misunderstood Boy as Vigilante No Place for Father as The SonA Cure for Suffragettes By Man's Law as Procurer / SlaverThe House of Discord as The Sister-in-Law's SweetheartJudith of Bethulia as ExtraStrongheart as Frank NelsonToo Many Husbands as Harry BrownThe Accomplished Mrs. Thompson as Dick OsborneThe Ladies' War as Mr. BlenkinsopThe Persistent Mr. Prince as Prunella's BrotherFogg's Millions The Song of the Ghetto as Mario Amato - the ComposerJohn Rance, Gentleman as Dr. John RanceMen and Women as Man in Kirke's Office Memories in Men's Souls as Graham's SonThe Hidden Letters as John ReynoldsPolitics and the Press as John Marsden - the Newspaper EditorThe Loan Shark King as Harry GrahamThe Peacemaker as Jack StrongUnder False Colors as Pvt. Jack WarringGoodbye Summer as Hugo St. Clair - the ArtistThe Old Flute Player as John VanderlynSunshine and Shadows His Father's House In the Latin Quarter as Andrew LeniqueThe Island of Regeneration as John Charnock JrThe Quality of Mercy as Bratton Powers - Van Cortland's Personal SecretaryThe Park Honeymooners as Billy - the Young HusbandLove's Way as Rand CornwallThe Dust of Egypt as Geoffrey LascellesYouth as Harold Harcourt - SculptorAnselo Lee as Anselo LeeThe Gypsy Trail as Willie Buckland - a GypsyA 'Model' Wife as Robert BlakeA Price for Folly as M. Jean de SegniOn Her Wedding Night as Henry HallamKennedy Square as Harry RutterThe Supreme Temptation as Herbert DuboisSusie, the Sleuth as Hank HandyShe Won the Prize as Charles Adams - a Young BusinessmanThe Shop Girl as Peter RollsThe Tarantula as Pedro MendozaThe Devil's Prize as Hugh RolandRose of the South as Dick RandolphHer Right to Live as John OxmoreMoney Magic as Ben FordyceAladdin from Broadway as Jack StantonCaptain of the Gray Horse Troop as Capt. George CurtisThe Magnificent Meddler as Montague EmersonA Son of the Hills as Sandy MorleyBy Right of Possession as Tom BaxterThe Angel Factory as David DarrowThe Mark of Cain as Kane LangdonSylvia of the Secret Service as Undetermined Secondary Role The Naulahka as Nicholas TarvinThe House of Hate as Harvey 'Harry' GreshamThe First Law as Hugh GodwinThe Iron Test as Albert BeresfordPerils of Thunder Mountain as John DavisThe Invisible Hand as John 'The Needle' SharpeThe Veiled Mystery as Ralph MooreThree Sevens as Daniel CraigThe Secret of the Hills as Guy FentonA Guilty Conscience as Gilbert ThurstanMy American Wife as Manuel La TessaLost and Found on a South Sea Island as Lloyd WarrenLook Your Best as Carlo BruniThe Trail of the Lonesome Pine as John HaleThe Exciters as Pierre MartelThe Spanish Dancer as Don Cesar de BazanFlaming Barriers as Sam BartonBluff as Robert FitzmauriceTiger Love as The WildcatThe Border Legion as Jim CleveThe Story Without a Name as Alan HoltHello, 'Frisco as HimselfLearning to Love as Scott WarnerHer Husband's Secret as Elliot OwenOne Year to Live as Captain Tom KendrickMare Nostrum as Ulysses FerragutBeverly of Graustark as DantanThe Temptress as Manuel RobledoLove's Blindness as Hubert Culverdale, 8th Earl of St. AustelThe Flaming Forest as Sergeant David CarriganIt as Cyrus T. WalthamVenus of Venice as Kenneth WilsonMadame Pompadour as Rene LavalCome to My House as Floyd BenningsThe Whip Woman as Count Michael FerenziNameless Men as Robert StrongThe Midnight Taxi as Tony DriscollAdoration as Prince Serge OrloffSynthetic Sin as Donald AnthonyThe Air Legion as Steve RogersCareers as Victor GromaireRomance of the Rio Grande as JuanEl cuerpo del delito as Harry GrayRough Romance as Loup La TourEl hombre malo as Pancho LopezOne Mad Kiss as Don EstradaEl precio de un beso as EstradaLa Voluntad del muerto as PabloLos que danzan as Daniel Hogan / Frank 'Cicatriz' TurnerPrimavera en otoño as EnriqueLa ciudad de cartón as Fred CollinsSeñora casada necesita marido as Tomás KarenAsegure a su mujer as Eduardo MartinStorm Over the Andes as Maj. Tovar RojasRosa de Francia as Felipe VAlas sobre El Chaco as Comandante Manuel TovarThe Bohemian Girl as DevilshoofRose of the Rio Grande as Captain LugoAmbush as Captain Mike GonzalezMaría de la O as Pedro Lucas / Mr MoreSeven Sinners as RubioThey Met in Argentina as Don Carlos, 100 Peso Donor The Kid from Kansas as Chief of Police Two Latins from Manhattan as CubanFiesta as Don Hernandez - Cholita's UncleValley of the Sun as Chief CochiseUndercover Man as Don Tomas GonzalesTampico as Justice of the Peace The Spanish Main as CommandanteSol y sombra as Manuel CamposNotorious as Senor Ortiza Captain from Castile as Don Francisco De VargasLust for Gold as Ramon Peralta Crisis as Dr. Emilio Nierra Saddle Tramp as MartinezDallas as Don Felipe RoblesThe Mark of the Renegade as Jose De VasquezThunder Bay as Dominique RigaudWings of the Hawk as Father PerezCreature from the Black Lagoon as Carl MaiaEntre barracas Saskatchewan as Chief Dark CloudThe Searchers as Emilio Gabriel Fernandez y Figueroa- ''Catch Me If You Can''