Volume III: Biographies

KELLETTE, John William *

Scenario writer, actor (1913-1915)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: John William Kellette wrote numerous scenarios for Thanhouser during the 1913-1915 period. In the spring of 1915 he was manager of the Thanhouser Players' Theatre in New Rochelle.

Biographical Notes: John William Kellette was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in June 1873 and was educated there and in Boston. At the age of nine he was a newsboy and bootblack in Boston. Early in his career he was a typesetter and writer for the Boston Globe. Soon thereafter he became a reporter for The Worcester Telegram, for whom he was a special correspondent in Puerto Rico in 1898 during the Spanish-American War, while he was with the Sixth Massachusetts Infantry. After the conflict ended, he went to Rutland, Vermont, where he took charge of the typesetting and layout department of a local paper.

He was a man of many talents, and at the same time he was a newspaperman, he wrote scenarios. He produced numerous scripts for Thanhouser, including many for the Princess Department. He also played bit parts in films, including that of a sheriff's posse member in the 1915 release of Mercy on a Crutch. Although he was holding down a full-time job as a linotype operator at the local paper, the New Rochelle Evening Standard, Kellette also helped with certain management duties at Thanhouser, while at the same time working on projects elsewhere in the film industry. From at least 1913 through 1918 he lived at 67 Morris Street in New Rochelle. For The New Rochelle Pioneer newspaper in 1914 he wrote many news items about the Thanhouser Film Corporation and many biographical sketches of Thanhouserites. Many articles in motion picture trade magazines also bore his byline.

In the summer of 1914 he was a director for the Whitman Features Company. By September 1914 he was free-lancing for the Smallwood Film Company, which produced industrial films. An article concerning John William Kellette's use of various film terms, such as 'leader,' 'sub-title' and 'caption,' appeared in a column written by William Lord Wright in the August 5, 1914 issue of The New York Dramatic Mirror. Kellette noted that terminology was hardly standardized, but that it didn't make a great deal of difference, for the most important things were the plot and story.

The New Rochelle Pioneer, August 29, 1914, told of a new endeavor: "John William Kellette, 67 Morris Street, has been appointed Deputy Coroner of the Inquest Club [founded March 10, 1913, by Kellette and others], New York, composed of New York State photo playwrights, who resume their fall sessions Monday night, September 21, at Keen's Chop House, 36th Street, New York City. Local playwrights, interested in advancing the profession, would find it to their advantage to correspond with Mr. Kellette and arrange for membership. There are no dues or assessments and membership is selective. Mr. Kellette is to have charge of the meetings while Epes Winthrop Sargent, the founder, is away to Jacksonville, Fla., for the winter."

In October 1914 he served as manager for Thanhouser actors Sidney Bracy and Frank Farrington in their vaudeville act performed evenings in New York area theatres on Loew's circuit. On June 19, 1915 The New Rochelle Pioneer reported that Kellette had left Thanhouser that day and had gone with John ("Jack") Harvey to Universal in Coytesville, New Jersey, where he was to be a co-worker with Harvey. Over a period of years he wrote for many studios. For Majestic he created The Winner Loses, for Universal he wrote A Bad Tangle (IMP, 1912) and A Justified Holdup, and for Fox he wrote Alicia of the Orphanage. In collaboration with John Adolfi [also spelled Adolphi], he wrote additional scenarios for Fox, including A Modern Thelma, The Ragged Princess, Merely Mary Ann, and Caprice of the Mountains. Numerous other credits could be cited. The January 29, 1916 edition of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory noted that he had written over 200 scripts which had been produced for the screen.

In 1915 Kellette was manager of the Thanhouser Players' Theatre, the new name for the North Avenue Theatre, in New Rochelle, which had been purchased by individuals associated with the Thanhouser Film Corporation. During the same year he was a frequent visitor to the Thanhouser studio and played bit parts in films. John William Kellette was the subject of an article in The Moving Picture World, February 12, 1916. It was noted that he was then with Pathé in Jersey City. The narrative continued: "Last year Mr. Kellette joined the Universal Company as an assistant to John G. Adolfi, leaving Universal with Mr. Adolfi to assist in the production of Fox pictures. He collaborated with his chief in adapting Merely Mary Ann from the Israel Zangwill comedy, with Vivian Martin as the star, which is soon to be released." At the time, he was working for Fox at 126 West 46th Street, New York City.

In 1919 he was a director for Briggs (which released through Paramount) and directed such films as Burglars, Those Distant Cousins, and Housecleaning. Among his diversions were jiu-jitsu, bowling, piano playing, and music composition. John William Kellette died in Worcester, Massachusetts on August 7, 1922.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1913: The Law of Humanity (Princess 12-19-1913), Cupid's Lieutenant (Princess 12-26-1913)

1914: A Circumstantial Nurse (Princess 1-9-1914), When the Cat Came Back (Princess 1-16-1914), The Purse and the Girl (Princess 1-30-1914), Where Paths Diverge (Princess 2-6-1914), The Tangled Cat (Princess 2-10-1914), Her Way (Princess 3-6-1914), Billy's Ruse (Princess 3-13-1914), The Grand Passion (Princess 3-20-1914), When Sorrow Fades (3-29-1914), Getting Rid of Algy (5-3-1914), Lost - A Union Suit (5-10-1914), The Somnambulist (5-17-1914), Algy's Alibi (5-24-1914), When the Wheels of Justice Clogged (5-31-1914), The Scrub Lady (6-7-1914), His Winning Way (Princess 9-4-1914), The Trail of the Love-Lorn (9-29-1914), A Madonna of the Poor (10-27-1914), The Dead Line (Princess 10-30-1914), Sid Nee's Finish (12-20-1914)

1915: Shep the Sentinel (1-1-1915), When Fate Rebelled (Princess 1-1-1915), An Inside Tip (1-10-1915), The $1,000 Reward (2-26-1915), The Spirit of Uplift (3-28-1915), Mercy on a Crutch (7-13-1915)

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