HAROLD LLOYD BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Harold Lloyd was born in Burchard, Nebraska on April 20th, 1893.  Due to his father not in a stable career, his family was constantly relocating.  In High School, Lloyd was very physically fit and demonstrated so by being involved in boxing.  He was also quite intelligent and was a member of the debate team.  Despite his family constantly moving, Lloyd did finish high school in San Diego, California.  During High School he was exposed to the drama department and was always involved in school plays and even in local theater productions. 

He had worked back stage as well on quite a few productions and was familiar with how to be a stage hand and make up artist.  He had an interest in the film industry but decided to start with pursuing what he knew best, working on stage.  He got a job at the New Grand Theatre company portraying old men characters and disguising his youth.  He also worked as a make up artist on the cast of various productions.

An opportunity came up in San Diego for a small role in a film by the Edison Company in 1913 and from this pint on, Lloyd decided he really was more interested in film and wanted to see if he could succeed.

Lloyd traveled to Los Angeles and got a job working on films sets doing make up and mingling with the other actors.  This also lead to more small roles with the Edison Company and soon Hollywood's Universal Studios was interested in him.  He awaited job openings with Universal, and in the meantime he happened to befriend Hal Roach, who at the time was a film extra and aspiring director.

In 1914, Roach was able to open his own studio due to a large inheritance he received that made it possible.  Lloyd was hired to act as a comedian in several of his films.  The character, Willie Work was created, however he was not nearly as successful of a character as the next character, Lonesome Luke whom the two men created together.  Lloyd was beginning to get noticed by the public and Pathe studio's approached Roach to try and gain access to use Lloyd in their films.  Due to a higher compensation, Lloyd agreed to work for the other studio.

It was the film, "Over the Fence" (1917) that became familiar to audiences.  Roach and Pathe Studio's together had Lloyd work on a film a week for the next five years.  Pathe produced more than 100 one-reel films featuring the 'Glass' character between 1918 and 1919. They switched to two-reel films following the success of, "Bumping into Broadway" (1919).

Lloyd continued to work on a variety of films and performed all his own stunts.  Films such as, "High and Dizzy" (1920) and "Safety Last" (1923) were some films famous for Lloyd's stunt scenes.  His first feature film was in 1922 in, "Grandma's Boy" where his character grew in strength and integrity as the film progressed. 

Audiences were wanting to see more of Lloyd in longer length films.  Lloyd founded the Harold Lloyd Corporation and it produced many films between 1924 and 1930.  He did not leave the other studio's though, as he continued to work with Pathe, Fox and Paramount as well.  In 1924 Lloyd was also a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

While Lloyd was shooting the film, "Why Worry" (1923) he met Mildred Davis on set and the two were married while the film was being shot.  One film considered to be one of Lloyd's best efforts was, "The Freshman" (1925) which was one of the most profitable silent films ever made grossing 2.5 million at US Box offices. 

As the silent era came to a close so did many actors careers due to their strong accents now being heard, but this was not the case for Lloyd.  However, audiences were no longer interested so much in the level of stunts performed by actors on film, but more intrigued to see in depth characters and more dialogue.  Lloyd made a successful transition to sound with 1929's, "Welcome Danger", but each of Lloyd's talking features there after were continuing to gross less than the previous one at the box office.

Some of the films released during this time period were, "Feet First" (1930), "Movie Crazy" (1932), "The Cat's Paw" (1934) and "The Milky Way" (1936) all of which were produced by Lloyd's company.  Sadly, this was all being released during the Great Depression and movie goers were losing interest in Lloyd.

By the mid-1930s Lloyd began to consider retiring from the film business as he was so discouraged by his movies declining interest from the public and it was his role in, "Professor Beware" (1938) that made up his mind.  He did retire from acting for several years and instead devoted his talents to producing several films for RKO.  He did sell the land of his studio to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints.

In October 1944, Lloyd emerged as the director and host of The Old Gold Comedy Theater, a radio anthology series, which presented half-hour radio adaptations of recently successful film comedies. 

Returning back to working in film in 1945, Lloyd worked on one more film, "The Sins of Harold Diddleback" (1947), however this film lacked success and neither audiences were interested nor was Lloyd interested in continuing to pursue his career as an actor. However, in 1953, Lloyd did received a special Academy Award for being a 'master comedian and good citizen.' 

After retirement from film, Lloyd was active in both California's Republican political arena and within his local Hollywood community.  He was also elected Imperial Potentate of the Shrine in 1949, and served in this national post as a good-will ambassador to the many children's hospitals supported by that organization.   

He remained married to his wife Mildred and together they had a total of three children, Gloria born 1923, Harold born 1931 and they adopted Gloria Freeman in 1930 and renamed her Marjorie.  They all lived rather comfortably in a beautiful home in Beverly Hills, due to his past strenuous career and intelligent business mind he made sure his family was quite financially secure.

Lloyd did return to the entertainment world during his retirement several times as himself on guest appearances for telelvison such as the Ed Sullivan vasriey show (1949 and 1958) and as a guest on, "What's My Line" (1953).  During the early 60's he produced two films which featured scenes from his old comedies, "Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy" and "The Funny Side of Life".  This release helped restore him as an actor to film historians. 

Lloyd appeared in over 500 movies and wisely kept control of the film rights to many of the motion pictures he starred in over his lifetime.

Mildred Davis his wife passed away in 1969 and Harold Lloyd passed away just two years later at the age of 77 in Hollywood on March 8, 1971 from prostate cancer.  He left an estate estimated to be one of the largest in Hollywood at that time.  His estate known as "Green Acres" was built in 1926 with 44 rooms, 26 bathrooms, 12 fountains, 12 gardens and a nine hole golf course. 

He was interred in a crypt in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale California. 
 

Filmography
 
1913   The Old Monk's Tale
1913   The Twelfth Juror
1913   Cupid in a Dental Parlor
1913   Hulda of Holland
1913   His Chum the Baron
1913   A Little Hero
1914   Twixt Love and Fire
1914   Sealed Orders
1914   Samson
1914   The Sandhill Lovers
1914   The Patchwork Girl of Oz
1915   Beyond His Fondest Hopes
1915   Pete, the Pedal Polisher
1915   Close-Cropped Clippings
1915   Hogan's Romance Upset
1915   Willie Runs the Park
1915   Just Nuts
1915   Love, Loot and Crash
1915   Their Social Splash 
1915   Miss Fatty's Seaside Lovers
1915   From Italy's Shores
1915   Court House Crooks, or Courthouse Crooks 
1915   The Hungry Actors
1915   The Greater Courage
1915   A Submarine Pirate
1915   Spit-Ball Sadie
1915   Terribly Stuck Up
1915   A Mixup for Mazie
1915   Some Baby 
1915   Fresh from the Farm 
1915   Giving Them Fits
1915   Bughouse Bellhops
1915   Tinkering with Trouble
1915   Great While It Lasted
1915   Ragtime Snap Shots
1915   A Foozle at the Tee Party
1915   Ruses, Rhymes and Roughnecks
1915   Peculiar Patients' Pranks
1915   Lonesome Luke, Social Gangster
1916   Lonesome Luke Leans to the Literary
1916   Luke Lugs Luggage 
1916   Lonesome Luke Lolls in Luxury
1916   Luke, the Candy Cut-Up
1916   Luke Foils the Villain 
1916   Luke and the Rural Roughnecks
1916   Luke Pipes the Pippins
1916   Lonesome Luke, Circus King
1916   Luke's Double 
1916   Them Was the Happy Days!
1916   Luke and the Bomb Throwers 
1916   Luke's Late Lunchers
1916   Luke Laughs Last
1916   Luke's Fatal Flivver
1916   Luke's Society Mixup
1916   Luke's Washful Waiting
1916   Luke Rides Roughshod 
1916   Luke, Crystal Gazer
1916   Luke's Lost Lamb
1916   Luke Does the Midway
1916   Luke Joins the Navy
1916   Luke and the Mermaids
1916   Luke's Speedy Club Life
1916   Luke and the Bang-Tails, or Luke and the Bangtails
1916   Luke, the Chauffeur
1916   Luke's Preparedness Preparations
1916   Luke, the Gladiator
1916   Luke, Patient Provider
1916   Luke's Newsie Knockout
1916   Luke's Movie Muddle, also known as The Cinema Director
1916   Luke, Rank Impersonator
1916   Luke's Fireworks Fizzle
1916   Luke Locates the Loot
1916   Luke's Shattered Sleep
1917   Lonesome Luke's Lovely Rifle
1917   Luke's Lost Liberty
1917   Luke's Busy Day
1917   Luke's Trolley Troubles
1917   Lonesome Luke, Lawyer
1917   Luke Wins Ye Ladye Faire
1917   Lonesome Luke's Lively Life
1917   Lonesome Luke on Tin Can Alley
1917   Lonesome Luke's Honeymoon
1917   Lonesome Luke, Plumber
1917   Stop! Luke! Listen!
1917   Lonesome Luke, Messenger
1917   Lonesome Luke, Mechanic
1917   Lonesome Luke's Wild Women
1917   Lonesome Luke Loses Patients
1917   Birds of a Feather
1917   From Laramie to London
1917   Love, Laughs and Lather
1917   Clubs Are Trump
1917   We Never Sleep 
1917   Over the Fence
1917   Pinched
1917   By the Sad Sea Waves
1917   Bliss
1917   Rainbow Island
1917   The Flirt
1917   All Aboard
1917   Move On
1917   Bashful
1917   Step Lively
1917   The Big Idea
1918   The Tip
1918   The Lamb
1918   Hit Him Again
1918   Beat It
1918   A Gasoline Wedding
1918   Look Pleasant, Please
1918   Here Come the Girls
1918   Let's Go
1918   On the Jump
1918   Follow the Crowd
1918   Pipe the Whiskers
1918   It's a Wild Life 
1918   Hey There!
1918   Kicked Out
1918   The Non-Stop Kid
1918   Two-Gun Gussie
1918   Fireman Save My Child
1918   The City Slicker
1918   Sic 'Em, Towser
1918   Somewhere in Turkey
1918   Are Crooks Dishonest?
1918   An Ozark Romance
1918   Kicking the Germ Out of Germany
1918   That's Him
1918   Bride and Gloom
1918   Two Scrambled
1918   Bees in His Bonnet
1918   Swing Your Partners
1918   Why Pick on Me?
1918   Nothing but Trouble
1918   Back to the Woods
1918   Hear 'Em Rave
1918   Take a Chance
1918   She Loves Me Not
1919   Wanted – $5,000
1919   Going! Going! Gone!
1919   Ask Father
1919   On the Fire, aka. The Chef
1919   I'm on My Way
1919   Look Out Below
1919   The Dutiful Dub
1919   Next Aisle Over
1919   A Sammy in Siberia
1919   Just Dropped In
1919   Young Mr. Jazz
1919   Crack Your Heels
1919   Ring Up the Curtain, aka. Back-Stage!
1919   Si, Senor
1919   Before Breakfast
1919   The Marathon
1919   Pistols for Breakfast
1919   Swat the Crook
1919   Off the Trolley
1919   Spring Fever
1919   Billy Blazes, Esq.
1919   Just Neighbors
1919   At the Old Stage Door
1919   Never Touched Me
1919   A Jazzed Honeymoon
1919   Count Your Change
1919   Chop Suey & Co.
1919   Heap Big Chief
 1919   Don't Shove
1919   Be My Wife
1919   The Rajah
1919   He Leads, Others Follow
1919   Soft Money
1919   Count the Votes
1919   Pay Your Dues
1919   His Only Father
1919   Bumping Into Broadway
1919   Captain Kidd's Kids
1919   From Hand to Mouth
1920   His Royal Slyness
1920   Haunted Spooks
1920   An Eastern Westerner
1920   High and Dizzy
1920   Get Out and Get Under
1920   Number, Please?
1921   Now or Never
1921   Among Those Present
1921   I Do
1921   Never Weaken
1921   A Sailor-Made Man
1922   Grandma's Boy
1922   Doctor Jack
1923   Dogs of War
1923   Safety Last!
1923   Why Worry?
1924   Girl Shy
1924   Hot Water
1925   The Freshman
1925   Ben-Hur
1926   For Heaven's Sake
1927   The Kid Brother
1928   Speedy 
1929   Welcome Danger
1930   Feet First
1932   Movie Crazy
1934   The Cat's-Paw
1936   The Milky Way
1938   Professor Beware
1947   The Sin of Harold Diddlebock