George Beranger
George Beranger, was an Australian-born silent film actor, director and film writer in New York and Hollywood. He is also sometimes credited under the pseudonym George Andre de Beranger and multiple variations of the same.
Early life
Beranger was born George Augustus Beringer in Enmore, New South Wales, Australia, the youngest of five sons of Caroline Mondientz and Adam Beringer, a German engine fitter. His mother committed suicide when he was three years old and he left home at the age of 14. He studied acting at the College of Elocution and Dramatic Art founded by Scottish actor Walter Bentley.
Career
Beranger began playing Shakespearean roles at the age of sixteen with the Walter Bentley Players. He then emigrated from Australia to California, United States in 1912 and worked in the silent film industry in Hollywood. According to a researcher, he "reinvented himself in Hollywood, claiming French parentage, birth on a French ocean liner off the coast of Australia and a Paris education." Beranger worked under the name George Andre de Beranger and multiple variations of the same pseudonym.
By the 1920s, Beranger had become a star, appearing in the movies of Ernst Lubitsch and D. W. Griffith. He also directed sixteen films between 1914 and 1924. Beranger owned a large Spanish-style home in Laguna Beach, rented a room at the Hollywood Athletic Club and owned an apartment in Paris, France.
Beranger eventually appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1950. Beranger's career declined following the 1930s Great Depression and the advent of sound film. He supplemented his income as a draftsman for the Los Angeles City Council. He sold his large properties and moved into a modest cottage beside his house in Laguna Beach.
Beranger's silent roles had often been sophisticates or dandy types, and in early sound films he was often relegated to non-speaking walk-ons or bit parts as hairdressers, concierges, florists and the like. However, in the mid and late 1940s, he played interesting speaking bit parts in three 20th Century-Fox film noirs: The Spider, Nightmare Alley and Road House.
Beranger entered into a "lavender marriage" with a neighbouring woman who was a widow, but they never shared the same house and he continued to have sexual relationships with men unabated.
Beranger retired in 1952 and lived his later years in seclusion. He was found dead of natural causes in his home on 8 March 1973.
Selected filmography
The Well as The AccompliceThe Switch Tower as A TrampWhen Love Forgives as The BartenderAlmost a Wild Man as In Audience Home, Sweet Home as The Accordion PlayerThe Birth of a Nation as Wade Cameron – Second SonThe Absentee as Tom Burke / AmbitionLet Katie Do It as Witness to Accident The Good Bad-Man as Thomas StuartFlirting with Fate as Automatic JoeThe Half-Breed as Jack BracePillars of Society as Johan TonnesenIntolerance as High Priest of BelManhattan Madness as The ButlerMixed Blood as CarlosThose Without Sin as Chester WallaceA Love Sublime as Her HusbandA Daughter of the Poor as Rudolph CreigTime Locks and Diamonds as Ramon MendozaThe Spotted Lily as Captain FranzSandy as Carter NelsonBroken Blossoms as The Spying OneA Manhattan Knight Burn 'Em Up Barnes Sinister Street Was She Guilty? The Leopardess as PepeThe Bright Shawl as Andre EscobarAshes of Vengeance as Charles IXDulcy as Vincent LeachThe Extra Girl as Actor in Wardrobe LineTiger Rose as PierreThe Man Life Passed By as Leo FriendPoisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo as KrantzBeau Brummel as Lord ByronHis Hour as English NoblemanBeauty and the Bad Man as L.I.B. BellConfessions of a Queen as LewinAre Parents People? as Maurice MansfieldThe Man in Blue as Carlo GuidoGrounds for Divorce as GuidoA Woman's Faith as Leandre TurcottThe Big Parade as Patriotic Letter Reader The Grand Duchess and the Waiter as The Grand Duke PaulMiss Brewster's Millions as Mr. BrentThe Bat as Gideon BellSo This Is Paris as Maurice LalleFig Leaves as Josef AndréThe Eagle of the Sea as John JarvisThe Lady of the Harem as SelimThe Popular Sin as Alphonse MartinParadise for Two as MauriceAltars of Desire as Count André D'OrvilleThe Small Bachelor as FinchIf I Were Single as ClaudePowder My Back as ClaudeFive and Ten Cent Annie as Orchestra LeaderBeware of Bachelors as Claude de BrieStark Mad as Simpson – GuideStrange Cargo as First StrangerGlad Rag Doll as Barry Darkened Rooms as Madame Silvara's Customer Lilies of the Field as BarberThe Boudoir Diplomat as PotzThree Girls Lost as Andre Annabelle's Affairs as ArchieThe Age for Love as The PoetSurrender as FichetLadies of the Jury as Alonzo Beal Love Is a Racket as Manager of Elizabeth Morgan's Ex-Lady as Dinner Guest / Pianist Mama Loves Papa as Basil PewComing Out Party as Waiter at Aladdin's Lamp Jimmy the Gent as Steamship Ticket Clerk Hollywood Party as Durante's Barber Kiss and Make-Up as Jean - Dr Lamar's ButlerYoung and Beautiful as Henry BriandThe Captain Hates the Sea as Jeweler Clive of India as Mr. St. Aubin One New York Night as Matthews Gold Diggers of 1935 as Head Waiter Once in a Blue Moon as Prince KoliaThe Flame Within as Prince Hassan Don't Bet on Blondes as Wedding Dress Fitter The Payoff as Reporter Ship Cafe as Tailor The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo as Casino Assistant Stars Over Broadway as Man Wanting Testimonial Dangerous as First Waiter Anything Goes as Man with Silly Walk The Story of Louis Pasteur as Louis Pasteur's Assistant The Walking Dead as Nolan's Butler Love Before Breakfast as Charles Colleen as Jeweler Snowed Under as Costume Designer Maza The Singing Kid as Designer Times Square Playboy as Jewelry Store Clerk Bullets or Ballots as Waiter Hearts Divided as Jefferson's Secretary The Big Noise as Mr. RosewaterHot Money as Ed BiddleChina Clipper as Waiter Love Begins at 20 as Eddie as Office Worker Walking on Air as Albert, the Valet Down the Stretch as William J. CooperCain and Mabel as Headwaiter Love on the Run as Comedy Reactionary King of Hockey as Evans, Kathleen's ChauffeurStolen Holiday as Swiss Waiter Ready, Willing, and Able as Tenant Café Metropole as Hat ClerkSan Quentin as Lorenz Review Headwaiter Dangerous Holiday as Violin Teacher Wake Up and Live as PianistFight for Your Lady as Florist Hollywood Round-Up as Hotel ClerkI'll Take Romance as Male Dressmaker The Lone Wolf in Paris as Hotel Desk Manager Beauty for the Asking as CyrilHe Stayed for Breakfast as maître d'hôtel She Knew All the Answers as Head WaiterTwo in a Taxi as Receptionist Our Wife as Waiter Over My Dead Body as SalesmanSaratoga Trunk as Leon The Spider as Apartment ManagerThe Shocking Miss Pilgrim as Office Clerk Nightmare Alley as The Geek Cry of the City as Barber The Snake Pit as Patient Road House as LeftyUnfaithfully Yours as maître d'hôtel Chicken Every Sunday as Jake Barker The Fan as Alphonse - Philippe's Assistant You're My Everything as Waiter Dancing in the Dark as Waiter Wabash Avenue as Wax Museum Attendant