Volume III: Biographies

LESSEY, George **

Actor (1911)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: George Lessey played many important roles in Thanhouser films in 1911.

Biographical Notes: Born in Amherst, Massachusetts on June 8, 1875, George A. Lessey was educated at Dean Academy, Williston Seminary, and Amherst College, with the intention of becoming a lawyer. While at each school he participated in football and was seen on the stage in dramatic productions. He began his interest in acting as a youth and appeared in amateur theatricals in Amherst, later gaining a role in a road company production of Hamlet. In 1898 Lessey served in the Spanish American War with a company of Massachusetts volunteers and earned the stripes of a sergeant. When he and his fellow soldiers returned from the conflict, the town of Amherst mounted a special celebration for its heroes. As part of the festivities, Held by the Enemy was to be staged. At the last minute an actor in an important supporting role developed "cold feet." With a notice of only a few hours, George Lessey stepped into the part. At that time he realized that he did not want to be a lawyer at all, and his earlier love of acting determined his career choice. George Lessey played on the road and in stock companies for many years, after a beginning with Chauncey Olcott and a stint with the Castle Square Theatre stock company in Boston.

On the Screen: By early 1911 George Lessey had begun his screen career with Thanhouser, appearing as John Hancock in The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1911) and as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (released in two reels, September 1 and 8, 1911). He remained only a short time with the New Rochelle studio.

His next move was to Edison, where he spent three years as an actor and director (directing The Birth of the Star Spangled Banner, August 1914, for example). While there he was extensively publicized. An undated pamphlet, An Appreciation: The Story of the Edison Studio, noted: "George Lessey is another dramatic man. The virile, the powerful, the sinister, all appeal to him. He knows instinctively the crux of a dramatic situation, and he can realize it. If there's a 'thrill' in it, he'll bring it to the surface. His handling of large numbers of people is admirable, yet he is often at his best in the development of a simple scene, with one or two people, in which there is an element of big drama, which would be unnoticed by a less practiced eye."

By the end of 1914 he was with Universal and was directing King Baggot, one of their foremost stars. From there he went to Eastern Film Corporation, of Providence, Rhode Island, for whom he directed dramatic productions. An article in The Moving Picture World, October 23, 1915, stated that his salary at Eastern was "almost prohibitive." For Metro he directed The Purple Lady, and for Wharton he directed Mrs. Vernon Castle in Patria and The Eagle's Eye.

The 1917 edition of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory noted that he was 6' tall, weighed 180 pounds, and had a fair complexion, light hair, and blue eyes. At the time his home address was 34 West 75th Street, New York City, and his mailing address was care of the Screen Club. Although he was primarily a director at the time, the same listing noted that he had appeared in Western, society, and Shakespearean roles. He appeared in the 1920 release of Wits vs. Wits (British-American Finance Corporation for Hallmark). He was in many other films through the 1940s. He married May Abbey (who appeared in films for Edison, Colonial, and Eastern; who was born in 1872 in Hartford, Connecticut, and who died in New York City on August 20, 1952 in a fall from a building). George A. Lessey died in Westbrook, Connecticut on June 3, 1947.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1911: The Declaration of Independence (7-4-1911), Romeo and Juliet, Part I (9-1-1911), Romeo and Juliet, Part II (9-8-1911)

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