Talk:Lon Chaney

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Old Vandalism/St. Francis Xavier Secondary School?[edit]

I don't want to jump in and delete a section that has apparently been in place in this article for a while. But isn't the St. Francis Xavier Secondary School reference a hoax? A Google search on 'lon chaney "St. Francis Xavier Secondary School"' pulls up only this article. Rizzleboffin 18:47, 21 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

OK. No one's provided justification or a source for this sentence:

"Currently, Chaney's influence on pop culture is continually evident as his ghost is said to haunt the bulding of St. Francis Xavier Secondary School."

So I'm assuming it's old vandalism, and taking it out of the article. My apologies if I'm in error. Rizzleboffin 06:14, 26 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I was Lon Chaney's lover.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.149.181.145 (talk) 06:00, 30 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Leg damage?[edit]

Today's "Did You Know" section on the WP main page says: The apparatus Lon Chaney, Sr. insisted on wearing when he starred in the 1920 movie The Penalty, so that he could better simulate an amputee crimelord, led to his sustaining permanent leg damage. There is no mention of this in the article. If it's true, could someone please add it, properly cited? - Brian Kendig 06:11, 2 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've never heard he had permanent leg damage... it was uncomfortable, yes, and he could only wear the apparatus for 5-10 minutes at a time, but I've never heard it did him sustaining bodily harm... -The Photoplayer 06:41, 2 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that info. Since the factoid is in dispute, I'm removing it from the "Did You Know" section on the main page. - Brian Kendig 17:48, 2 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Page name[edit]

I believe I know why this page is named the way it is but it needs to be stated that this man was never called Lon Chaney, Sr. You will find no film credit, newspaper or magazine article, or any other reference during the time that he was alive calling him Sr. Now I know that this is trying to differentiate him from his son Creighton. But his name change to LC Jr. did not occur until 1935 which was several years after his fathers death. I am not necessarily propsing that this articles name be changed, but if there ever is a consensus to do so I would be glad to help fix all of the redirects. I am proud to be a part of what wikipedia is trying to acheive and I feel that calling this fine actor by a name that neither he, or anyone else from his time, ever used is a bit of an embarrassment. MarnetteD | Talk 18:31, 7 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Recent deletion in intro paragraph[edit]

Not sure what to do here or exactly what's in dispute. The removed sentences read:

"He is best remembered for his indelible characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. He was also one of the most versatile and powerful character actors of the early cinema."

The first sentence could find numerous sources. It's referencing his characterizations of the Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The intro to Micheal Blake's second bio on Chaney(ISBN 1-879511-20-7) echos this intro that the public's rememberence of Chaney is distorted. He notes on page 3:

"Because Lon's most often-viewed pictures, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Phantom of the Opera, have been seen so many times on television, while his work at M-G-M has been limited to screenings at universitites and museums, his persona as a horror actor has been embedded in the mind of the public."

On-line, it's pretty easy to source most of this as well. I'm not sure what qualifies as valid source for Wikipedia (yet) but PBS American Masters sitesupports the viewpoint that he had tremendous range as a "character actor" if you define that as "not conventionally 'leading man' material.

I'm a little too new to know if this qualifies as sourcing. Anyone who feels they know if it does, or how to incorporate it into the article, please do so. Joe JJC 15:19, 22 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Years of Marriage[edit]

I did some further research into the dates on Chaney's marriages. In the book The Man of a Thousand Faces (ISBN 1-879511-09-6) page 41 explains the Judge's decision was issued on April 2, 1914 and stated the marriage would be dissolved in one year, making the year 1915. However, contrary to some earlier published bios, the date of their marriage appears to be May 31, 1906, as noted both in the Oklahoma City court records and the local newspaper. (pgs 21-22)—Preceding unsigned comment added by Joejjc (talk • contribs) 00:16, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

what was his sisters name. I was told that lon's sister is his great grandma. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2D80:4007:803B:594A:C111:FB33:CB98 (talk) 22:42, 28 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Voice Recording?[edit]

I know that The Unholy Three remake was the only talkie that Chaney made, but is this the only extant recording of his voice? Are there any newsreels or maybe interviews with him speaking? CFLeon 22:11, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Years of Marriage Take 2[edit]

Year of Death: 1930 Married to Hazel Hastings 1915-1933 I don't know if I'm the only one who has a problem with that or not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moonvsgoku (talk • contribs) 15:31, 23 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Lon Chaney & Horror[edit]

Have any of you actually seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame? It isn't a horror film, it was Universal's big budget prestige film for 1923. It's grand, romantic drama. Lon Chaney in grotesque makeup doesn't equal "Horror Film". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonas.E.B. (talk • contribs) 07:05, 19 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Birthplace[edit]

According to http://www.ci.carroll.oh.us/LonChaney.html Lon Chaney was born on a farm two miles west of Carroll, Ohio at the corner of Winchester and Lockville Road on April 1, 1883. The family moved to California soon after his birth. Unibond (talk) 20:26, 16 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes I have seen this. All of the biographies written about Chaney state that he was born in Colorado Springs. The website maintained by his descendants states the same [1]. His parents met at the Colorado School for the Education of Mutes this later became The Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind and it exists to this day.

The spurious claim (sorry for the rude wording but that is the nicest thing that I can say about it) from Carroll states that his family moved from there directly to LA. Yet the theater in Colorado Springs is named for Chaney [2]. Indeed Chaney began his acting career in vaudeville at that theater. To the best of my knowledge Chaney's parents never moved to LA.

As I have been researching this tonight I found quotations from Michael F. Blake's book Lon Chaney: The Man Behind the Thousand Faces here [3] It turns out that it was Lon's father Frank Chaney that was born in Carroll in 1852. He moved to Colorado Springs in 1877. Whoever made the post at the Carroll website was very sloppy (I'm sorry but, again, this is the kindest word that I can use) in their research. How they could ignore all of the biographies is beyond me. Who knows what it would take to get them to correct their info in regards to Ohio's connection to the Chaney family. Mistakes like this occurred before "the web" but they seem to happen faster because of it. That is why one should never stop their research with just one article/book/biography or website. MarnetteD | Talk 04:30, 27 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]