Wilfred Lucas

Acting

Wilfred Lucas

Born 1871-01-29 · Norfolk, Ontario, Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wilfred Lucas (January 30, 1871 – December 13, 1940) was a Canadian-born American stage actor who found success in film as an actor, director, and screenwriter. Wilfred Lucas made his Broadway debut in 1904, playing in both the The Blue Grass Handicap and The Superstition of Sue. Following his 1906 role in the highly successful play The Chorus Lady, he was recruited to the fledgling Biograph Studios by D. W. Griffith. At the time, the film business was still looked down upon by many members of the theatrical community. In her 1925 book titled When the Movies Were Young, Griffith's wife, actress Linda Arvidson, told the story of the early days at Biograph Studios. In it, she referred to Lucas as the "first real grand actor, democratic enough to work in Biograph movies." In 1908 Lucas made his motion picture debut in Griffith's The Greaser's Gauntlet, appearing in more than 50 of these short (usually 17 minutes) films over the next two years. In 1910 while still acting, he wrote the script for Griffith's film Sunshine Sue, which was followed by many more scripts by 1924. Lucas also began directing in 1912 with Griffith on An Outcast Among Outcasts, and directed another 44 films over the next 20 years. In early 1916 he starred as John Carter in Acquitted, about which Photoplay wrote, "No single performance in the records of active photography has surpassed his visualization of the humble book-keeper in Acquitted." Later in 1916 he appeared in D.W. Griffith's film Intolerance. Part of the group of Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, Lucas became friends and sometimes starred with Mary Pickford, Sam De Grasse, and Marie Dressler. Canadian-born director Mack Sennett hired him to both direct and act in a large number of films at his Keystone Studios. Lucas made the successful transition from silent film to sound. While working in Hollywood, in 1926 he returned to the stage, performing in several Broadway plays. He later appeared as a foil for Laurel and Hardy in their feature films Pardon Us and A Chump at Oxford. During his long career, Wilfred Lucas appeared in more than 375 films. Although for a time he was cast in leading roles, he became very successful as secondary and minor characters, making a good living in the film industry for more than three decades.

Acting credits

Modern Times poster
8.3

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Modern Times

1936

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington poster
7.8

After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

1939

Frisco Kid poster
7.0

After a roustabout sailor avoids being shanghaied in 1850s San Francisco, his audacity helps him rise to a position of power in the vice industry of the infamous Barbary Coast.

Frisco Kid

1935

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages poster
7.1

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1916

Midnight Mary poster
6.8

While on trial for her life, a young woman recalls her tough upbringing and her involvement with the men who brought her to this current state of affairs.

Midnight Mary

1933

Cleopatra poster
6.1

The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

Cleopatra

1934

The Sea Wolf poster
7.2

Shipwrecked fugitives try to escape a brutal sea captain who's losing his mind.

The Sea Wolf

1941

Waterloo Bridge poster
7.5

On the eve of World War II, a British officer revisits Waterloo Bridge and recalls the young man he was at the beginning of World War I and the young ballerina he met just before he left for the front.

Waterloo Bridge

1940

Pardon Us poster
6.5

It's Prohibition, and the boys wind up behind bars after Stan sells some of their home-brew beer to a policeman.

Pardon Us

1931

Madam Satan poster
5.9

A socialite masquerades as a notorious femme fatale to win back her straying husband during a costume party aboard a doomed dirigible.

Madam Satan

1930

Les Misérables poster
7.1

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Les Misérables

1935

Santa Fe Trail poster
5.8

As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.

Santa Fe Trail

1940

A Woman Scorned poster
NR

Thieves follow a doctor as he takes home a large sum of money. Later, when they break into his house, the doctor's wife and daughter are trapped. One of the thieves has jilted his sweetheart, who tells the doctor of the robbery, and helps him save his family.

A Woman Scorned

1911

Zenobia poster
5.0

A modest country doctor in the antebellum South has to contend with his daughter's upcoming marriage and an affectionate medicine show elephant.

Zenobia

1939

The Devil's Brother poster
6.8

Two wannabe bandits join the service of a dashing nobleman, who secretly masquerades as Fra Diavolo, a notorious outlaw.

The Devil's Brother

1933

Naughty Marietta poster
5.5

In order to avoid a prearranged marriage, a rebellious French princess sheds her identity and escapes to colonial New Orleans, where she finds an unlikely true love.

Naughty Marietta

1935

A Chump at Oxford poster
6.9

The boys get jobs as a butler and maid-- Stan in drag-- for a dinner party. When that ends in disaster, they resort to sweeping streets and accidentally capture a bank robber. The grateful bank president sends them to Oxford, at their request, and higher-education hijinks ensue.

A Chump at Oxford

1940

The Fighting 69th poster
5.8

Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end.

The Fighting 69th

1940

Women in the Wind poster
6.8

A famous aviator helps an amateur enter a cross-country air race for women.

Women in the Wind

1939

Dodge City poster
6.9

In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of a railroad line.

Dodge City

1939

The Devil-Doll poster
6.8

Respected Parisian banker Paul Lavond is framed for robbery and murder by crooked associates and sent to prison. Years later, he escapes with a friend, a scientist who was working on a method to reduce humans to a height of mere inches (all for the good of humanity, of course). Lavond, however, is consumed with hatred for those who betrayed him, and takes the scientist's methods back to Paris to exact painful revenge.

The Devil-Doll

1936

Brother Orchid poster
6.6

When retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.

Brother Orchid

1940

The Prisoner of Shark Island poster
6.9

After healing the leg of the murderer John Wilkes Booth — responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln — Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, considered part of the atrocious conspiracy, is sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to the sinister Shark Island Prison.

The Prisoner of Shark Island

1936

They Drive by Night poster
6.9

Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.

They Drive by Night

1940

Behind the camera

No artwork available
10.0

A woman with a sordid past is redeemed by love in this silent melodrama from low-budget Sanford Productions.

Her Sacrifice

1926

Blind Love poster
3.0

A country girl is persuaded to elope with the minister's nephew but she discovers that he is worthless. After he is killed in a brawl, her former sweetheart takes her back to her home.

Blind Love

1912

No artwork available
NR

A short silent comedy starring Mabel Normand and Ford Sterling.

Baby Day

1913

The Shadow of Lightning Ridge poster
7.0

Vowing vengeance on Edward Marriott, whom he believes to have dishonored his mother, The Shadow is a highwayman who robs only Marriott. The Shadow attracts the interest of Dorothy Harden, Marriott's fiancee, and finally he captures her. The action includes the kidnapping, by The Shadow's rival, Ben, of Dorothy; The Shadow's capture and escape; and his rescue of Dorothy. All is happily resolved when Dorothy declares her love for The Shadow and Marriott proves to be innocent of injuring The Shadow's mother.

The Shadow of Lightning Ridge

1920

The Jackeroo of Coolabong poster
9.0

Brian O'Farrell is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing.

The Jackeroo of Coolabong

1920

The Return of Mary poster
NR

Mary, the three-year-old daughter of John Denby, a railroad president, is kidnapped, and all trace of her is lost. Fourteen years elapse. There has been a terrible wreck on Denby's road and Graham, the engineer, is made the scapegoat. In spite of the fact that he merely obeyed orders, he is sent of to prison. Mary is returned to Denby, the kidnapper explaining that he stole her when his own little daughter was killed, but that now he feels he must return her to her parents.

The Return of Mary

1918

The Girl from Nowhere poster
6.0

A girl, suffering from amnesia, shows up in a logging-camp in the northwest. There are those who know more about who she is than she does, including why she is there, and the helpless girl is soon at the mercy of the lawlessness in this far-flung frontier. Will some gentleman come to her aid?

The Girl from Nowhere

1919

No artwork available
NR

A Mabel Normand comedy short. It is considered a lost film.

A Glimpse of Los Angeles

1914

A Sailor’s Heart poster
NR

A sweetheart at every port has ever characterized the sailor, but it is believed that the sailor in this comedy carries the tradition a trifle further.

A Sailor’s Heart

1912

A Sailor’s Heart poster
NR

A sweetheart at every port has ever characterized the sailor, but it is believed that the sailor in this comedy carries the tradition a trifle further.

A Sailor’s Heart

1912

The Romance of Tarzan poster
6.0

Tarzan and Jane are to sail for England. They are attacked by natives and Tarzan is believed to have been killed. The Greystoke relatives return to England, the Porters (Jane's family) goes to their ranch near San Francisco. Tarzan shows up in a tuxedo and rescues Jane from outlaws...

The Romance of Tarzan

1918

No artwork available
7.0

The Severed Hand, a society of Italian criminals and blackmailers, swear to kill Danny Dawson, who has turned traitor.

The Severed Hand

1914

Morgan's Raiders poster
NR

"Wild Cat" Betsey Dawley, whose father, "Handsome Harry," was disowned by the proud Dawley family of Greenburgh, Kentucky, meets and thoroughly charms her snobbish cousin Virginia's fiancé, John Davidson, at a picnic. At the start of the Civil War, John becomes a Union officer, while Betsey and her father staunchly defend the South. When Confederate Colonel Morgan, the leader of the intrepid band known as "Morgan's Men," commissions a young horseman to deliver an important message to the Dawley mansion, the rider is shot and Betsey takes his place, breaking through the lines and successfully accomplishing the mission.

Morgan's Raiders

1918

Morgan's Raiders poster
NR

"Wild Cat" Betsey Dawley, whose father, "Handsome Harry," was disowned by the proud Dawley family of Greenburgh, Kentucky, meets and thoroughly charms her snobbish cousin Virginia's fiancé, John Davidson, at a picnic. At the start of the Civil War, John becomes a Union officer, while Betsey and her father staunchly defend the South. When Confederate Colonel Morgan, the leader of the intrepid band known as "Morgan's Men," commissions a young horseman to deliver an important message to the Dawley mansion, the rider is shot and Betsey takes his place, breaking through the lines and successfully accomplishing the mission.

Morgan's Raiders

1918

The Testing of Mildred Vane poster
NR

An odd belief that the dead can be tormented through their surviving loved ones prompts Dr. Miguel Hernandez to seek revenge against the woman who shunned him through her husband, Matthew Vane, and daughter Mildred.

The Testing of Mildred Vane

1918

The Unwritten Law poster
8.0

A film producer is found murdered on a ship, and among the suspects are a young woman whose mother was mistreated by him and his recently fired electrician.

The Unwritten Law

1932

No artwork available
NR

Concerned about the failing health of Rhoda Tuttle, his fiancée, John DeWitt takes her to the lavish Arizona home of his friends, Jack and Katherine Newman. Although the Newmans try to cheer Rhoda, who has lost her parents in a train wreck, she remains listless and melancholy. While walking in the desert, Rhoda is bitten by a tarantula but is saved by Kut-le, a Yale-educated Indian employed as a superintendent on Newman's irrigation project. Because of his strong belief in the curative effects of life in the desert, Kut-le kidnaps Rhoda and forces her to live in a manner far removed from the comforts and confinements of civilization.

The Red, Red Heart

1918

A Pair of Pink Pajamas poster
NR

Smilin' Billy Parsons comedy distributed by National.

A Pair of Pink Pajamas

1918

No artwork available
NR

In a provincial Spanish town, during the mid-nineteenth century, Manuela is sold as a dancing girl to a strolling musician. In their wanderings, she meets Don Bartolome, who left his poor father Don Luis to become a highwayman. Bartolome falls in love with Manuela and takes her with him after killing the musician. When they meet Osmund Manvers, an English squire, Bartolome wants to use Manuela to rob him, but Manvers rescues Manuela from a gang of drifters and carries her into the country. Later, Manuela stabs and kills Bartolome after he threatens her. Manuela flees and Manvers searches for her. When Don Luis learns about Bartolome's death, he challenges Manvers to a duel.

The Spanish Jade

1915

A Love Sublime poster
NR

A Greek man falls for an injured French woman. When he is informed of her death, he continues to sing under her hospital window every night.

A Love Sublime

1917

A Love Sublime poster
NR

A Greek man falls for an injured French woman. When he is informed of her death, he continues to sing under her hospital window every night.

A Love Sublime

1917

Igloo poster
10.0

Documentary detailing the hardships of life among Alaskan Natives.

Igloo

1932

No artwork available
NR

Elusive as is the pursuit of pirate gold it is found in this picture and brought to the ship by the very mutineers themselves. Here fate intervenes with justice and the miscreant mate after a series of exciting adventures is outwitted through his own weakness.

Pirate Gold

1913

No artwork available
NR

The scene is laid for a quiet little wedding. The guests are waiting for Fatty and an ancient maid to be made one. Fatty's rival appears and breaks up the wedding. A lemon meringue pie battle ensues, with the rival the victor. He carries the bride away. A most sensational and ludicrous finish is when he sees Fatty at the foot of a precipitous cliff. In a fit of rage he throws the bride from the top of the cliff at him, who lands unscathed in Fatty's arms.

A Quiet Little Wedding

1913