Volume III: Biographies

BOOKER, John I. *

Studio employee, actor (1911-1913)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: John I. Booker was a Thanhouser employee in 1912.

Biographical Notes: James I. Booker, a black man, attended the Thanhouser outing held for employees and friends on September 7, 1912. He was a chauffeur and performed other duties as well. During this time he lived at 35 Clinton Avenue in New Rochelle. A photograph published in the January 20, 1912 issue of The Moving Picture News shows Irving Booker in the Thanhouser studio watching the filming of The Poacher. It is presumed that this is the same person as James I. Booker.

James I. Booker was born on April 22, 1887, the son of the Reverend James Marshall Booker, a Baptist minister, and Elizabeth Snead Booker. He moved with his family to Mamaroneck shortly after his birth, and by the age of four moved again, to New Rochelle, where he spent the balance of his life.

An obituary article, by June Schetterer, appeared in The Standard-Star, New Rochelle, January 19, 1982, and noted that John I. Booker had died the day before at the New Rochelle Hospital. He was 94 years old and was survived by a brother, Joseph V. Booker, of New Rochelle, and nieces and nephews. A sister had died at the age of 99. Booker's first important job was driving a four-cylinder Cadillac for George Code, a wealthy local resident, in 1909. The article further noted: "Later he drove for the Thanhouser Motion Picture Company on Grove Avenue in New Rochelle. In those days of the silent movies, Mr. Booker transported Charles J. Hite, Thanhouser president, about town. He even got to act in a few of the films, playing - what else - a chauffeur. But he also remembered playing a cleaner in Back to Nature, which starred James Cruze, later to become one of Hollywood's highest paid directors.

"In an interview in 1977, Mr. Booker recalled the fire of January 14 [January 13 was intended], 1913, which destroyed the Thanhouser studios, later rebuilt on Main Street. That year Mr. Booker left Thanhouser and went to work for City Hall, then located on Main Street."

Booker worked for the city until 1959. Along the way he encountered some problems as a Democrat in a city which was usually under a Republican administration. On two occasions he was ousted from his job, but under his Civil Service rights a judge restored his position both times. Following his retirement from his job with the city, he was maintenance supervisor at an apartment house and two office buildings in New Rochelle. "I can't stand to sit around," he told a reporter for The Standard-Star in an earlier interview.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1911: Back to Nature (8-9-1911)

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