Biography for
Lloyd Bacon More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

4 December 1889, San Jose, California, USA

Date of Death

15 November 1955, Burbank, California, USA (cerebral hemorrhage)

Birth Name

Lloyd Francis Bacon

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography

As one of the work horses in Warner Brothers stable of 1930s directors, Lloyd Bacon's career isn't comparatively loaded with classic films as many of his more famous contemporaries. What few he had his hand in (42nd Street (1933), and Footlight Parade (1933)) are so overshadowed by the dazzling surrealistic choreography of Busby Berkeley to the extent that casual film buffs today often forget they were directed by him. While his resume lacks the drama of failed productions and tales of an unbridled ego, he consistently enriched the studio's coffers, directing a handful of their biggest hits of the late 1920s and 30s. Lloyd Bacon's career amounts to that of a competent -- at times brilliant -- director who did the best with the material handed to him in assembly line fashion. Lloyd Bacon was born in San Jose, California on January 16, 1890 into a theatrical family (his father was Frank Bacon, a playwright and legitimate actor). His parents enlisted all the Bacon children onto the stage. Despite having a strong interest in law as a student at Santa Clara College, Lloyd opted for an acting career after appearing in a student production of "The Passion Play." In 1911 he joined David Belasco's Los Angeles Stock Company (with fellow actor Lewis Stone), touring the country and gaining good notices in a Broadway run of the hit, "Cinderella Man" and gaining further experience during a season of vaudeville. Lloyd switched gears in 1915 and took a stab at silent Hollywood, playing the heavy in 'Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson' shorts and pulling duty as a stunt double. With America's entry into WWI in 1917, Lloyd enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to the Photo Department. This began a lifelong admiration for the service and might explain the Navy being a favorite reoccurring theme in many of his films.

After the Armistice, Lloyd moved from Mutual (Charles Chaplin's studio at the time) to Triangle as a comedy actor. It was at this point that he got his first taste of directing -- Bacon had let everyone at the studio know he had an interest in helming a picture and when the director of a now forgotten Lloyd Hamilton comedy short fell ill, he was given his chance. Constantly moving, Bacon joined tightwad producer Mack Sennett as a gag writer, who, sensing a bargain, happily accommodated Lloyd's desire to become a full time director by early 1921. The Sennett studio was already in an irreversible decline during Bacon's tenure there but it allowed the novice director to gain a wealth of experience. He apprenticed for Sennett until joining Warner Brothers in 1925, an association that would last a remarkable 18 years and begin when the working man's studio was building a strong stable of contract directors that included Michael Curtiz, Alan Crosland, John G. Adolfi and Mervyn LeRoy.

Although Lloyd never became known for a particular style other than a well-placed close up, his ability to bring an entertaining film in on time and within budget earned him such enormous respect from five Warner Brothers that he was soon handed control over important projects, including The Singing Fool (1928), an Al Jolson follow up to The Jazz Singer (1927) which grossed an unheard of (for Warner's at least) $4,000,000 in domestic receipts alone -- the studio's #1 hit for 1928. Bacon was rewarded as becoming the highest paid director on the studio's payroll, earning over $200,000.00 a year throughout the Depression. He was called upon to direct their big budget production of Moby Dick (1930) which gained good notices, but it's a version that's barely remembered today.

The 1930s saw Bacon assigned to the assembly line; aside from the 'Busby Berkeley' choreographed films, he directed many of James Cagney's crowd pleasing 2-week wonders, including 'Picture Snatcher (1933)', and The Irish in Us (1935), occasionally being afforded more time and money on productions such as, Here Comes the Navy (1934), and Devil Dogs of the Air (1935). He also directed Cagney's return effort, miscast in the frenetic Boy Meets Girl (1938) after the actor's ill-advised move to Grand National while engaging in a legal war with Jack L. Warner. This was one of Cagney's least critically popular Warner Brothers films of 1930s, but a smash hit for the studio.

During his years at Warner's, Bacon gained a reputation as a clothes horse, the dapper director, arriving on the set dressed to the nines, wearing expensive hats, that he would toss around the set when expressing his dissatisfaction (he ruined a lot of hats) at an actor's performance or missed cue. Bacon continued to grind out profitable films for the studio until moving to 20th Century Fox from 1944-49 (a logical move, since the recently discharged Darryl F. Zanuck knew Bacon from his early days at Warner's), then bounced between Columbia, Fox, Universal and the chaotically-ran RKO in 1954. Lloyd worked virtually until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 65.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jbacks3-1

Spouse

Ruby	(1912 - ?) 1 child
Margaret Adele Lowdermilk	(? - ?)

Trivia

Screen, stage, vaudeville actor, and film director.

Entered films with Essanay Corp., under Charles Chaplin.

Son of actor/writer Frank Bacon, brother of Irving Bacon.

Uncle of Virginia O'Brien and Mary O'Brien.

Reportedly worked uncredited with producer Darryl F. Zanuck re-editing My Darling Clementine (1946) in response to preview comment cards.

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z