Volume III: Biographies

BROOKE, Van Dyke

Director (1917)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Van Dyke Brooke directed films for Thanhouser in 1917.

Biographical Notes: Van Dyke Brooke was born in in 1859 in Detroit. Early in his career he was on the stage, where he became a familiar figure during the next several decades. Brooke entered films with Vitagraph in 1909 and played in many Vitagraph films, including the 1911 releases of Captain Barnacle's Courtship; Captain Barnacle, Diplomat, and My Old Dutch; the 1912 releases of Captain Barnacle, The Reformer; The First Violin; and For the Honor of His Family; the 1913 releases of A Modern Psyche, O'Hara and the Youthful Prodigal, and O'Hara Helps Cupid; the 1914 releases of His Little Page and The Memories in Men's Souls; and others released through 1917. Changing business conditions at this old-line company necessitated his dismissal from the stock company in August 1916, along with a number of other long-term Vitagraph employees. Apparently, he later rejoined the studio for work in several other Vitagraph films.

Brooke then went to New Rochelle, where he directed the 1917 Thanhouser releases of An Amateur Orphan and It Happened to Adele. The New Rochelle Pioneer, June 16, 1917, carried this item: "The dullness in the moving picture game due to the war spirit has made it necessary for the Thanhouser Company to cut down its working force to two directors for the present. Director Brooke, Assistant Director George Grimmer, Cameraman Zollinger and Miss Gladys Leslie are among those who have been let out...." Brooke remained in films until his death on September 17, 1921, in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1917: An Amateur Orphan (6-3-1917), It Happened to Adele (7-15-1917)

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