Volume III: Biographies

LE VINESS, Carl *

Assistant director; actor (1912-1915)

Postcard image courtesy Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc.

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Carl LeViness was an actor and assistant director at Thanhouser intermittently during the 1912-1915 years. He was a very active member of the Thanhouser organization, and his name appeared frequently in news articles.

Biographical Notes: Carl LeViness was born in in New York on July 6, 1885 and, like many Thanhouser players, got his start on the stage, spending 14 years on the boards. A notice in the February 17, 1912 issue of The Moving Picture News stated that he had just been appointed assistant to Director Lucius J. Henderson. Prior to coming to Thanhouser, he was a stage manager with the Keith & Proctor vaudeville circuit. Carl LeViness appeared in various Thanhouser releases during the 1912-1915 period, including the 1914-1915 Zudora serial. Supporting and minor roles were his forte, and he was mentioned in publicity for only a few films in which he appeared.

During the same years, he also worked with other companies. He was with Reliance (which was part of the Mutual Film Corporation, as was Thanhouser) for much of the summer, autumn, and winter of 1913, and early 1914, working under D.W. Griffith for part of that time. By autumn 1914 he was with Eclair in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In June 1915 he left Eclair to go to Universal to direct Sidney Ayres in Around the Corner. The New Rochelle Pioneer, December 16, 1916, noted: "Carl M. LeViness, formerly associated with the Thanhouser forces, but for the past two years a director for a large motion picture corporation on the Pacific Coast, has returned to this part of the country and is residing in Pelham Manor. Carl has a host of friends here who were glad to welcome him back on Tuesday." Carl LeViness remained in films through the late 1950s. He died of pneumonia on October 15, 1964 in Hollywood, California.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1912: Nicholas Nickleby (3-19-1912), The Star of the Side Show (4-2-1912), Jess, Part 1 - A Sister's Sacrifice (5-21-1912), Jess, Part 2 - Through the Boer Lines (5-28-1912), Jess, Part 3 - Jess, the Avenger (5-28-1912), The Portrait of Lady Anne (7-23-1912), Through the Flames (11-8-1912), The Forest Rose (11-29-1912), The Star of Bethlehem (12-24-1912)

1913: The Wax Lady (3-30-1913), A Business Woman (5-20-1913), His Sacrifice (6-13-1913)

1914-1915 Serial: Zudora

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