Volume III: Biographies

HORTON, Marvin Perry

Actor, assistant director (1912-1917)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Marvin Perry Horton, usually referred to as Perry Horton, was with Thanhouser intermittently circa 1912-1917, during which time he was an actor and assistant director.

Biographical Notes: Marvin Perry Horton was born in Peekskill, New York on October 13, 1889 and was educated at the Peekskill Military Academy. Early in his career he was in the wholesale lace business, after which he went into motion pictures. By autumn 1916 he had been in films for seven years and had worked for Flamingo, World, and Thanhouser. He was among those who attended the Thanhouser employees' outing on September 7, 1912. For Thanhouser in 1914 he was assistant director for several Princess films.

The Evening Standard printed the following in its edition of July 12, 1913: "Perry Horton, North Avenue, a member of the New Rochelle United States Volunteer Lifesaving Corps at Echo Bay and a young actor for the Thanhouser Film Corporation, cannot hereafter claim that he has never been kissed. It happened last night when as he sat in a seat in the front row at Loew's New Rochelle Theatre the leader of the follies strolled down the aisles and sang You Made Me Love You, and at the end of the chorus she stopped, smiled upon Mr. Horton, and singing with feeling said: 'Don't get nervous dear.' 'Oh, I'm not nervous, kid,' he answered languidly. Then slipping her round white arms about his neck she kissed him! Be it said to the credit of his reputation for gallantry and courage he did not struggle as some bashful young men would have done and hurt the girl's feelings. He seemed to enjoy it and laughed with the rest when the girl, with a coquettish fling of her arms and skirts, rushed through the box to the stage. But a young woman (she may not have been with Perry) sitting beside Mr. Horton seemed greatly embarrassed."

Horton was the subject of numerous notes in The New Rochelle Pioneer. Samples: October 24, 1914 "Perry Horton has resigned as Carroll Fleming's assistant director, and has gone to New York to work. Jim McGaskill takes his place." October 31, 1914 "Perry Horton has tied up with Fred Mace in the direction of the new Flamingo Films and is slated for a trip to the Coast as assistant director."

Perry Horton was married to Lydia Mead, the Thanhouser actress. In November 1914 he left Thanhouser, and shortly thereafter went to California with Fred Mace to be assistant director of Flamingo Films, as noted. He was back with Thanhouser in 1915, and by 1916 he was an assistant director at the New Rochelle studio, a position he also had in 1917. New Rochelle city directories indicate that in 1909 Horton was a butcher and lived at 60 North Avenue. From 1911 through 1914 he was listed as a clerk and lived at the Rochelle Apartments at 126 North Avenue (Mrs. Minnie Horton, a masseuse, lived at the Rochelle Apartments from 1912 through 1916). By 1915 he moved to 10 Fountain Avenue. In 1916 he was listed as an actor and lived at 4 Rhodes Street. The January 29, 1916 edition of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory gave his home address as 8 Fountain Place.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1912: The Forest Rose (11-29-1912), The Star of Bethlehem (12-24-1912)

1914: Mrs. Pinkhurst's Proxy (1-4-1914), Turkey Trot Town (1-18-1914), Where Paths Diverge (Princess 2-6-1914), The Success of Selfishness (2-6-1914), Percy's First Holiday (2-8-1914), The Tangled Cat (Princess 2-13-1914), A Seminary Consumed by Flames (3-14-1914), Beating Back (released by Direct-From-Broadway Features 6-9-1914), For Her Child (6-23-1914), The Varsity Race (9-22-1914), The Diamond of Disaster (10-13-1914), The Turning of the Road (11-3-1914)

1915: When the Fleet Sailed (8-3-1915), Mr. Meeson's Will (11-6-1915)

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