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Melbourne MacDowell


1856 - 1941

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The actor Melbourne MacDowell was born as William Melbourne McDowell.
He first was busy for the merchant marine before he dedicated to the show business.
 
He got in touch with this business for the first time as a ticket seller for a theater in Montreal where he was also able to impersonate smaller roles.
 
His professional career as an actor started in 1877 at the theater where he acted in the play "Road to Ruin" at the Boston Museum Theater touring company. 
 
It soon followed bigger engagements and he acted together with famous actresses like Sarah Bernhardt in the play "Tosca" for example.
 
He made his film debut at the age of 61 with the movie "Hell Hath No Fury" (17) and in the next years he became a demanded support actor, often in roles of the father or uncle of the leading actresses. 
 
Many of his movies were dedicated to the western genre which were very popular at that time. 
 
To Melbourne MacDowell's first movies belong "Bond of Fear" (17), "The Vamp" (18), "Coals of Fire" (18), "The Lamb and the Lion" (19), "Modern Husbands" (19), "Soldiers of Fortune" (19) and "Eve in Exile" (19).
 
He continued his film career in the 20s and he impersonated support roles in "Miss Nobody" (20), "The March Hare" (21), "Confidence" (22), "Richard the Lion-Hearted" (23), "Virtue's Revolt" (24), "Savages of the Sea" (25), "Sky's the Limit" (25), "The Rainmaker" (26), "Driven from Home" (27) and "The Old Code" (28).
 
With the rise of the talkies he retired from the film business, only in "A Fool About Women" (32) he appeared a last time in front of the camera.
 
Melbourne MacDowell was married five times, among others with the stage actress Fanny Davenport.
 

Other movies with Melbourne MacDowell:
The Flame of the Yukon (17) Those Who Pay (17) Wolves of the Rail (18) Go West, Young Man (18) Keys of the Righteous (18) Love Me (18) The Biggest Show on Earth (18) Tyrant Fear (18) Playing the Game (18) The Claws of the Hun (18) A Nine O'Clock town (18) They're Off (18) All of a Sudden Norma (19) The Long Lane's Turning (19) The Boomerang (19) A Girl in Bohemia (19) The Gift Supreme (20) King Spruce (20) The Iron Heart (20) Nomads of the North (20) Outside the Law (20) Diamonds Adrift (21) The Golden Snare (21) Beyond the Crossroads (22) The Greater Duty (22) The Infidel (22) The Bootlegger's Daughter (22) Forsaking All Others (22) The Flaming Hour (22) The Ghost Patrol (23) A Million to Burn (23) The Love Pirate (23) Geared to Go (24) The Cloud Rider (25) Bandits of the Air (25) Speed Mad (25) Fighting Courage (25) What Happened to Jones (26) Behind the Front (26) Call of the Night (26) The Jelly Fish (26) The Winning Wallop (26) The Outlaw Express (26) The City (26) Stick to Your Story (26) Code of the Cow Country (27) There It Is (28) Feel My Pulse (28)


 
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