Rhody Hathaway
Henry Rudolph Marquis de Fiennes, known by the stage name Rhody Hathaway, was an American actor, publicist, and stage manager. He worked both in silent films and talkies. He was the husband of actress Jean Hathaway and the father of Oscar-nominated director Henry Hathaway.
Early life
Hathaway was born Henry Rudolph de Fiennes on October 5, 1868, in San Francisco, California. His father Henry J. de Fiennes was born in Belgium, and his mother Mary Hanson was from the East Coast.His title of Marquis was inherited from his grandfather Jean-Baptiste de Fiennes, a Belgian nobleman and barrister in service to King Leopold I of Belgium. When his grandfather failed in his commission to establish commercial relations between the Sandwich Islands with Belgium, the disgraced Marquis self-exiled to San Francisco in 1850 where he worked as a lawyer.
Career
In his early career, Hathaway worked as an advance man, and as a stage manager. By 1909, he was part of the Allan Dwan's American Film Manufacturing Company, starring in films alongside his wife Jean and sometimes with their young son Henry. From 1911 until 1914, the Hathaway family worked for Thomas Ince's Inceville Studios.In the 1920s, Rhody abandoned his family and started to act in film.