Volume III: Biographies

CAMPBELL, Colin *

Actor (1915-1916)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Colin Campbell appeared in Falstaff comedy films in 1915 and 1916.

Biographical Notes: Colin Campbell was born on March 20, 1883 in Falkirk, Scotland. He was an actor with Lubin in 1915 and appeared with Marie Dressler in Tillie's Tomato Surprise, released in September of that year. A press release from the Publicity Department, Lubin Manufacturing Company, July 1915, noted that at the time he was a recent arrival in America, following 13 years of stage experience around the world. While walking down Broadway, on an excursion to see the tall buildings and other sights of New York City, he was struck on the head by a bucket of paint which had fallen from a high scaffold, which necessitated five or six stitches in his scalp. Around the same time, he was confronted by the New York City police who questioned him on a charge of bigamy brought by "two trusting, unsophisticated maidens." An hour was required to convince them that another Colin Campbell was intended! For Thanhouser, he appeared in several Falstaff Department comedy films in 1915 and 1916. Colin Campbell, the Thanhouser actor, died on March 25, 1966.

Note: Colin Campbell, the Thanhouser actor, is not to be confused with the better-known and extensively publicized Colin Campbell who had an illustrious stage career as a player and director and who joined Selig in September 1911, rising to prominence as a director with that firm, later going to Universal (1918-1919), Triangle (1919), Robertson-Cole (1920), and other companies. Coincidentally, this Colin Campbell was for a short time a stage director for Edwin Thanhouser at the Academy Theatre in Milwaukee, in the days before Thanhouser films. This Colin Campbell died in Woodland Hills, California on August 26, 1928.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1915: Bing-Bang Brothers (Falstaff 10-14-1915), Foiling Father's Foes (Falstaff 11-29-1915), Toodles, Tom and Trouble (Falstaff 12-23-1915)

1916: Belinda's Bridal Breakfast (Falstaff 1-10-1916)

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