Volume III: Biographies

LEHNBERG, John **

Actor (1913-1917)

John Lehnberg, Thanhouser character actor, in a photograph taken by Billy Noel. (Courtesy of Dominick Bruzzese (P-265)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: John Lehnberg was an actor with Thanhouser during the 1913-1917 period.

Biographical Notes: John Henry Lehnberg was born in Philadelphia in 1883 and was educated there, after which he studied at Harvard. He followed a stage career for 10 years and appeared in such productions as Officer 666, Arizona, Paid in Full, and The Girl of the Golden West. His screen career began with Lubin, after which he went to Thanhouser, where he was situated by autumn 1913. For Thanhouser he acted in many films over a period of several years. In early 1914 he lived in New Rochelle at 35 Banks Street. In the autumn of the same year he moved his family to 48 North Avenue. From 1915 through 1918 his residence was listed in city directories as 21 Lincoln Street. His wife, Jean, played minor parts in Thanhouser films. The 1916 edition of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory noted that he was with Thanhouser and was 6' tall, weighed 178 pounds, and had a light complexion, fair hair and blue eyes. The 1917 and 1918 editions of the same publication gave his weight as 165 pounds.

A 1914 Sketch: This article by John William Kellette appeared in The New Rochelle Pioneer, November 28, 1914: "John Lehnberg, who generally answers to the nickname 'Whitey' or 'Limburger,' has been doing character work with Thanhouser for a long time; was Carl Gregory's assistant director in the Yellowstone Park 'Our Own Country' series, and is doing a nice part in Zudora, but through it all he's the same old Jack. Lehnberg was christened with 'H' in his moniker, but nobody has stopped long enough to find out what it stands for, and they've tabbed 'Hank' to the rest of it. He was born in Philly on April 16, 1883, is married, and was graduated from Harvard College, and didn't root for Yale in the late unpleasantness at New Haven's bowl. He stands six feet in the atmosphere and is a blondy; his eyes are 'soulful blue' and he weighs 170 pounds in his Sunday clothing.

"Four years ago his angular features hit the screen, and Lubin's was his first attempt. Then he came to Thanhouser. Before that Jack was on the stage and was with the All-Star cast in Arizona. He played in Officer 666, and many others, but his stellar roles were at the Lyric in New York. He's been in more than 300 screen plays and he likes to do sheriff parts better than a kid likes to play hooky from school. That isn't all. He has ideas about the betterment of screen dramas that are worth listening to, chief among them, to fill casts with competent actors and a story worthwhile to work on.

"He is always studying to make his own work better, and his greatest ambition is to please the people who see him on the screen. He likes to watch others work in photoplays, and attempts to see every one produced. He writes poetry, works nine hours a day and six days a week; sings occasionally, but is otherwise all right. He likes New Rochelle, lives at 48 North Avenue with his charming wife, and has been seen taking carpenters' tools home with him, which would lead one to believe that he's fixing up some den to entertain his friends in. He loves his friends so much that he has photos of them all, framed and hung, in both in his dressing room at the studio and through several rooms at his house. 'Hank' is just one general all-around good fellow; friendly and sincere, and has a future in the game from his excellent past, and is thoroughly in accord with whatever director or cast he may work with."

Note: His surname was occasionally misspelled as "Lehmberg," and circa 1916 it appeared in many notices as "Lemberg."

Thanhouser Filmography:

1914: Joseph in the Land of Egypt (2-1-1914), The Golden Cross (2-24-1914), The Miner's Reversion (3-24-1914), Algy's Alibi (5-24-1914), When the Wheels of Justice Clogged (5-31-1914), The Girl Across the Hall (6-14-1914), The Substitute (7-14-1914), The Messenger of Death (7-28-1914), The Tell-Tale Scar (8-9-1914), A Dog's Good Deed (8-23-1914), Jean of the Wilderness (9-8-1914), The Emperor's Spy (9-13-1914), The Dead Line (Princess 10-30-1914), The Wild, Wooly West (Princess 11-27-1914), A Denver Romance (11-29-1914)

1915: A Yellowstone Romance (1-17-1915), The Gratitude of Conductor 786 (2-14-1915), A Newspaper Nemesis (2-28-1915), Fairy Fern Seed (5-25-1915), A Freight Car Honeymoon (6-6-1915), Tracked Through the Snow (7-11-1915), Mercy on a Crutch (7-13-1915), The Revenge of the Steeple-Jack (8-8-1915), Snapshots (8-24-1915), Bing-Bang Brothers (Falstaff 10-14-1915), When William's Whiskers Worked (Falstaff 12-20-1915)

1916: In the Name of the Law (1-11-1916), The Burglar's Picnic (1-26-1916), A Bird of Prey (3-16-1916), For Uncle Sam's Navy (5-23-1916)

1917: Hinton's Double (5-6-1917)

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