Sidney Olcott(1873-1949)
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Prolific silent film director, the son of Irish immigrants. Olcott started
as an actor on the New York stage and then appeared in films for
Mutoscope in 1904, eventually working his way up to general manager of
Biograph. Lured away to a rival company he began to direct features
for Kalem by 1907. That year, he became embroiled in a hitherto
unprecedented lawsuit (which dragged on for four years), since he had filmed
Ben Hur (1907) in blatant disregard of
copyright. Publishers and the estate of author
Lew Wallace sued Kalem to the tune of
$25,000.
In addition to shooting films in Jacksonville, Florida, and Ireland (where Kalem had their studios), Olcott also took his film crews to far-flung overseas locations -- in the process becoming the first-ever filmmaker to do so. He went to Egypt and Palestine to film the life of Christ, From the Manger to the Cross (1912) which proved a big money-spinner for Kalem. However, a dispute over Olcott's salary led to his name being removed from the credits and he consequently resigned.
Not out of work for long, he signed with Famous Players Lasky (which later became Paramount) in 1915. Until his retirement in 1927, Olcott directed some of the studio's biggest stars, from Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson to Norma Talmadge and Rudolph Valentino.
In addition to shooting films in Jacksonville, Florida, and Ireland (where Kalem had their studios), Olcott also took his film crews to far-flung overseas locations -- in the process becoming the first-ever filmmaker to do so. He went to Egypt and Palestine to film the life of Christ, From the Manger to the Cross (1912) which proved a big money-spinner for Kalem. However, a dispute over Olcott's salary led to his name being removed from the credits and he consequently resigned.
Not out of work for long, he signed with Famous Players Lasky (which later became Paramount) in 1915. Until his retirement in 1927, Olcott directed some of the studio's biggest stars, from Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson to Norma Talmadge and Rudolph Valentino.
