Slim Summerville
Slim Summerville was an American film actor and director best known for his work in comedies.
Early life
Summerville was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where his mother died when he was only five.
Moving from New Mexico to Canada and later to Oklahoma, he had a nomadic 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, 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 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 and Jesse James, but he was most successful in comedies, including several with ZaSu Pitts. He also performed with child star Shirley Temple in the musical-comedy dramas Captain January and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
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 on January 5, 1946, in Laguna Beach, California. He is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in South Los Angeles community of Inglewood, California. 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 at 6409 Hollywood Blvd.
He was inducted into the New Mexico Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2012.
Selected filmography
Hoffmeyer's Legacy as Keystone Kop Mabel's Busy Day as Policeman Fatty and the Heiress A Rowboat Romance Laughing Gas as Pedestrian / PatientThose Happy Days as Cop Lover's Luck as VillagerDough and Dynamite as Striking Baker Tillie's Punctured Romance as Policeman / Guest in Restaurant Leading Lizzie Astray as Dancing Cafe Patron Fatty's Magic Pants as Cop Fatty and Minnie He-Haw as Railroad Guard Fatty's New Role as BartenderThat Little Band of Gold as Waiter / Audience Member Their Social Splash as Harold - the GroomHer Painted Hero as A Bill PosterFatty and the Broadway Stars as Striking CarpenterHearts and Sparks as The Moneylender's Pit CrewmanHis Bread and Butter as Cafe ownerAre Waitresses Safe? Skirts Hello, 'Frisco as SlimThe Texas Streak as SwedeThe Denver Dude as Slim JonesThe Beloved Rogue as JehanHey! Hey! Cowboy as Spike DoolinPainted Ponies as BeanpoleThe Chinese Parrot as ProspectorThe Wreck of the Hesperus Riding for Fame as High-PocketsThe Last Warning as Tommy WallKing of the Rodeo as SlimStrong Boy as SlimSailor's Holiday as Midway Photographer One Hysterical Night as Robin HoodThe Shannons of Broadway as NewtTiger Rose as HeineTroopers Three as 'Sunny'The King of Jazz as Automobile Owner / Rear End of Horse / CharlesAll Quiet on the Western Front as TjadenThe Little Accident as HicksUnder Montana Skies as SunshineThe Spoilers as Slapjack SimmsHer Man as The SwedeSee America Thirst as SlimFree Love as Gas InspectorMany a Slip as HopkinsThe Front Page as Irving PincusEl Tenorio del harem as El cornetaBad Sister as SamLasca of the Rio Grande as 'Crabapple' ThompsonReckless Living as The DrunkHeaven on Earth as The Jeweler The Unexpected Father as Jasper JonesRacing Youth as SlimTom Brown of Culver as Elmer WhitmanAir Mail as 'Slim' McCuneThey Just Had to Get Married as Sam SuttonOut All Night as Ronald ColgateHorse Play as Slim PerkinsHer First Mate as John HomerLove, Honor, and Oh Baby! as Mark ReedLove Birds as Henry WhippleTheir Big Moment as Bill AmbroseLife Begins at 40 as T. Watterson MeriwetherThe Farmer Takes a Wife as Fortune FriendlyWay Down East as Constable Seth HolcombThe Country Doctor as Constable Jim OgdenCaptain January as Captain NazroWhite Fang as Slats MageePepper as Uncle Ben JollyCan This Be Dixie? as Robert E. Lee GurgleReunion as Jim OgdenOff to the Races as Uncle GeorgeLove Is News as Judge HartThe Road Back as TjadenFifty Roads to Town as Ed HenryRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm as Homer BusbyKentucky Moonshine as Hank HatfieldFive of a Kind as Jim OgdenSubmarine Patrol as Ellsworth 'Spuds' Fickett - CookUp the River as Slim NelsonJesse James as JailerWinner Take All as Mike MuldoonCharlie Chan in Reno as Sheriff FletcherHenry Goes Arizona as Sheriff PartonAnne of Windy Poplars as Jabez MonkmanGold Rush Maisie as Fred GubbinsWestern Union as HermanTobacco Road as PeabodyPuddin' Head as Uncle LemHighway West as Gramps AbbottNiagara Falls as Sam SawyerMiss Polly as Slim WilkinsUncle Joe as Joe ButterworthThe Valley of Vanishing Men as Missouri BensonGarden of Eatin' as SlimBachelor Daze as Slim WintersBride by Mistake as SamuelSwing in the Saddle as Northup 'Slim' BaylissI'm from Arkansas as Juniper Jenkins aka PaSing Me a Song of Texas as HappyThe Hoodlum Saint as Eel