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John Gilbert
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In the late 1920s, John Gilbert was the screen's greatest idol, appearing in one hit after another. Following the death of the legendary Rudolph Valentino, Gilbert was being groomed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to replace him in macho adventures and bedroom dramas. An article of the day in Cinema Art magazine proclaimed that "John Gilbert stands alone at the top-most pinnacle of film fame. There is no one who can approach him." He was receiving gushing praise, collecting $10,000 a week, and romancing a modern-day goddess [Marlene Dietrich and/or Greta Garbo, two of his most famous lovers at the time of his death]. Then, after a row with MGM boss Louis B. Mayer during a cocktail party, Gilbert was cast out of the picture business forever.
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A major talent of the silent era, "John Gilbert" is best remembered today as a textbook victim of the Hollywood machinery, a classic example of the motion picture industry's ability not only to manufacture stars but ... destroy them. Born "John Pringle" in Logan, Utah on July 10, 1899, he broke into movies in 1915 as a bit player in Matrimony. His big break came four years later, when he appeared opposite "Mary Pickford" in "Heart O' the Hills." Soon Gilbert was a star, moving to Fox during the 1920s and cementing his reputation as a leading adventure and western hero thanks to such swashbuckling fare as the 1922 hit "Monte Cristo."
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Born in Blackheath, South London, and apprenticed to a firm of estate agents, John Gilbert taught himself sketching from nature and by copying prints. He failed to enter the Royal Academy Schools, but ... was able to master watercolour, oil, etching, modelling and sculpture. He became a painter, exhibiting at the Society of British Artists from 1836, and at the RA from 1838. However, after some of his pen and ink sketches were seen by Sheepshanks and William Mulready, it was suggested that he become a black and white artist on wood. Gilbert started with
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John Gilbert is arguably one of the biggest and most memorable names from the silent era, especially on the male front – the silent era was really a time for the leading lady divas to shine. But for every femme fatale, girl next door or vamp there was ... a cowboy, a swashbuckler, and a gentlemen to make the ladies swoon. John Gilbert did a phenomenal job of standing alongside the likes of Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino as a heartthrob of a generation and a maverick of the new medium of film.
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John Gilbert was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, in 1837. The family moved to Columbia County, Wisconsin, where they lived until 1857, when they moved to Knox County, Missouri. In 1859 Gilbert prospected for gold at Pike's Peak. He was unsuccessful and came back as far as Nuckolls County, Nebraska, where he was employed at the Oak Grove Ranch as a stage driver. In March of 1864, he took part in a classic stagecoach escape from an attack of hostile Indians who were raiding the area. He was elected lieutenant of the Stoner Expedition along the Little Blue River after the killings of the Eubanks family at "the Narrows."
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John Gilbert was killed in the British attack on New Haven, July 5, 1779. He left the field he was cultivating and rallied his company for the defense of the town. On his tomb is inscribed that he was slain by the British troops when they plundered New Haven on July 5, 1779, in the 48th year of his age. When overpowered and ordered to surrender he refused, but a shot felled him from his horse and his wounded body was pierced with bayonets.
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John Gilbert