Lou Tellegen

Acting

Lou Tellegen

Born 1881-11-26 · Sint-Oedenrode, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lou Tellegen (born Isidor Louis Bernard Edmon van Dommelen, November 26, 1881 – October 29, 1934) was a Dutch-born silent film and stage actor, film director and screenwriter. Tellegen made his stage debut in Amsterdam in 1903, and over the next few years built a reputation to the point where he was invited to perform in Paris, eventually co-starring in several roles with Sarah Bernhardt, with whom he was involved romantically. In 1910, he made his motion picture debut alongside Bernhardt in La dame aux camélias, a silent film made in France. In the summer of 1913, Tellegen went to London where he produced and starred in Oscar Wilde's play The Picture of Dorian Gray. Invited back to the United States, Tellegen worked in theatre and made his first American film in 1915, titled The Explorer, followed by The Unknown. Considered one of the best-looking actors on screen, he followed up with three straight films starring with Geraldine Farrar (his wife 1916-1923). Tellegen married a total of four times. He became an American citizen in 1918. Tellegen appeared in numerous films before his face was damaged in a fire on Christmas Day 1929, when he fell asleep while smoking. He had extensive plastic surgery in 1931. Fame fading, employment not forthcoming, and ridden with debt, he filed for bankruptcy. He was diagnosed with cancer, though this information was kept from him, and he became despondent. In 1931, he wrote his autobiography Women Have Been Kind. On October 29, 1934, while a guest in the Cudahy Mansion at 1844 North Vine Street in Hollywood (now the site of the Vine-Franklin underpass of the Hollywood Freeway), Tellegen locked himself in the bathroom, then shaved and powdered his face. Then, while standing in front of a full-length mirror, he committed suicide by stabbing himself with a pair of sewing scissors seven times. Tellegen was cremated and his remains scattered at sea.

Acting credits

The Verdict poster
8.0

Carol Kingsley and Jimmy Mason, who are both employed in a fashion emporium run by Pierre Ronsard, fall in love and are married. Victor Ronsard, the son of the owner, falls in love with Carol and designs to break up the Mason marriage. He falsely informs Carol that Jimmy, who is the Ronsard bookkeeper, is short in his accounts and that, if she will have dinner with him, he will give her the incriminating papers.

The Verdict

1925

Camille poster
1.0

Marguerite is a courtesan in Paris. She falls deeply in love with a young man of promise, Armand Duval. When Armand's father begs her not to ruin his hope of a career and position by marrying Armand, she acquiesces and leaves her lover. However, when poverty and terminal illness overwhelm her, Marguerite discovers that Armand has not lost his love for her.

Camille

1912

3 Bad Men poster
6.9

Three outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed.

3 Bad Men

1926

Single Wives poster
8.0

As her first wedding anniversary approaches, a young wife begins to believe that her husband doesn't love her anymore, and she turns to a former suitor for comfort. Soon she makes up her mind to leave her husband, but when he is seriously injured she must decide if she really wants to end her marriage.

Single Wives

1924

The Breath of Scandal poster
9.0

When Charles Hale is visiting his mistress, Sybil Russell, he is shot in the arm by Sybil's estranged and outraged husband. Hale's daughter, Marjorie, is so shocked to discover in this abrupt fashion her father's philandering that she leaves her wealthy home and goes to the slums to do settlement work. Marjorie, who is engaged to the district attorney, is there placed in a compromising position by her father's assailant, who intends to revenge himself upon the entire Hale family.

The Breath of Scandal

1924

Fair Play poster
7.0

Norma Keith, an industrious secretary, helps Bruce Elliot rise from obscurity to a position of increasing prominence as a criminal lawyer. Norma's devotion goes unnoticed, however, and Bruce marries a mercenary blonde schemer named Rita Thane. When Rita is accidentally killed, Bruce is convicted of murdering her on damaging circumstantial evidence. Norma then scouts around in the underworld to find evidence to set Bruce free.

Fair Play

1925

East Lynne poster
7.0

This most famous of Victorian melodramas was more than half a century old, and had already been filmed several times when it came to the screen once again in 1925. Director Emmett J. Flynn had an all-star cast and kept close to the original story.

East Lynne

1925

The Princess from Hoboken poster
8.0

To enliven their business, the O'Tooles, restaurant owners in Hoboken, New Jersey, transform their restaurant into the Russian Inn when they hear that a famous Russian princess is stranded in Chicago. Sheila, the daughter, is persuaded to impersonate the princess, who unfortunately arrives at the restaurant on opening night.

The Princess from Hoboken

1927

Death Scenes poster
4.2

Vintage Hollywood themed shockumentary.

Death Scenes

1989

The Woman and the Puppet poster
9.0

Don Mateo, a swaggering Spaniard, tosses women aside without a care. But when he falls under the spell of the tempestuous Concha Perez, it is Don Mateo who finds himself tossed about.

The Woman and the Puppet

1920

Let Not Man Put Asunder poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Let Not Man Put Asunder

1924

The Silver Treasure poster
10.0

Nostromo is the foreman of longshoremen in a South American Republic, and they are to load the cargo of silver that is to come from the San Tome mine. Sotillo and his band gang are plotting to steal the silver, but the fore-warned Nostromo has a plan to outwit them. He meets the silver train far up the road and has the shipment transferred to a big wagon, sending it via side-streets to the wharf. He and his men stay with the train and fight of the bandits. Back at the wharf, Nostromo thinks about claiming the silver was lost in the battle and taking it for himself. He and his conscience struggles mightily.

The Silver Treasure

1926

Parisian Nights poster
4.0

American sculptress Adele La Rue, working in Paris, lacks the inspiration to create a masterpiece, until Jean Ballard, a wild apache leader, takes refuge from the police in her apartment.

Parisian Nights

1925

Married Alive poster
10.0

James Duxbury (Lou Tellegen) is an exponent of polygamy, which may not be legal but certainly provides him with several evenings of entertainment. Professor Charles Orme (Matt Moore) falls in love with Duxbury's fourth wife Amy (Margaret Livingston). Things get dicey indeed as Orme tries to figure out whether Amy is still married to Duxbury or not -- in fact, Duxbury isn't sure either.

Married Alive

1927

Parisian Love poster
5.0

Armand and Marie survive in the streets until charitable (and wealthy) scientist Pierre Marcel takes Armand in after a botched robbery. Marie, a fiery Apache, swears revenge on Marcel for taking her lover away from her.

Parisian Love

1925

The Outsider poster
8.0

Leontine Sturdee and her dancing partner Basil Owen tour Hungry. They meet Anton Ragatzy, a mystic faith healer who falls in love with the young woman. When she is injured during an acrobatic dance move, she is taken to London where the doctors pronounce her an incurable cripple. Anton follows her to London where he offers her aid but is denounced by the doctors. Finally he obtains admission to see Leontine. After several failures she is able to rise and walk at his command. Leontine realizes that it was not his healing abilities but their mutual love that wrought the cure. A lost film.

The Outsider

1926

The Sporting Chance poster
8.0

Pat Winthrop becomes engaged to Bob Shelby, a southerner who owns Kentucky Boy, a horse entered in the Nassau Handicap. To save her father from going to jail, Pat later breaks her engagement to Bob and accepts the proposal of Darrell Thornton, a smooth bounder insincere in racing as in love. Bob owes Thornton money, and, the night before the handicap, Thornton attaches Kentucky Boy. Bob steals the horse from his stall, and Bob's jockey rides him to victory. The purse saves Pat's father from jail and allows Bob to repay Thornton. Pat and Bob are married.

The Sporting Chance

1925

Womanpower poster
10.0

Spoiled rich boy Johnny Bromley, goaded by the sneering laughter of the cheap Dot and by his father's open contempt, retires to a prizefighters' training camp for rehabilitation. There he meets Jenny Killian, daughter of the camp owner whose encouragement and love help him overcome the unpleasant memories of Dot's accusations of cowardice. When at last he is a success, he wins the hand of Jenny in marriage and his parent's forgiveness; upon meeting his former rival (The Broker) with Dot, he surprises him with a swift punch in the jaw.

Womanpower

1926

The World and Its Woman poster
6.7

A Russian peasant girl rises to fame as an operatic diva. She becomes beloved of a Russian prince. When the 1917 revolution overthrows the czar's government, the pair attempts to cross the icy steppes and find their way to America.

The World and Its Woman

1919

Together We Live poster
7.0

A ham-handed cautionary fable against communism, the film concerns a group of Civil War veterans who are appalled by the burgeoning radical movement in America.

Together We Live

1935

The Redeeming Sin poster
8.0

Lupin is the lover of Joan of the Apaches. She is attracted by Paul de Gafilet, nobleman and sculptor. She visits him in his studio and resolves to abandon her underworld career for his sake. Lupin vows revenge but is frustrated by Joan. The latter's affection for Paul turns to rage when she sees him embracing another woman. Joan joins with her confederates to steal some jewels from a statue of the Madonna in a church. She learns that the woman she is jealous of is Paul's sister, attempts to halt the robbery but fails. Paul is injured by the thieves and Joan held captive.

The Redeeming Sin

1925

No artwork available
NR

Dress model Sheila Conroy loses her job after ruining a gown she borrowed from her employer. Harlan, a criminal posing as a government agent, offers Sheila work as his assistant. She accepts for the sake of her brother-in-law, Billy, who embezzled money from his firm and is in danger of discovery. Her assignment is to obtain the necessary "evidence" on Mrs. Bordon, a wealthy widow who smuggled a valuable jewel into the country. Channing Maynard, a real government agent, reveals the truth to Sheila, and after they bring Harlan to justice, Channing takes Sheila for his bride.

Borrowed Finery

1925

Those Who Judge poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Those Who Judge

1924

Siberia poster
NR

Officer in the Imperial Russian Army, Petroff, is in love with Sonia, a schoolteacher who casts her lot with revolutionaries. During a time of suppression, she is exiled with her brother to Siberia. There Petroff is sent in the discharge of his official duties and secretly renews their romance. When the Bolsheviki overthrow the government, Sonia is freed and aids in the escape of Petroff, who incurs the enmity of Egor, the revolutionary leader, because he is a royalist. Together they escape across the frozen wastes in a sledge, pursued by wolves and Egor, who has used patriotism as a cloak to conceal personal ambitions.

Siberia

1926

Behind the camera