Oscar Apfel

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Oscar Apfel
Born	17 January 1878 Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Died	21 March 1938 Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Other name(s)	Oscar C. Apfel
Occupation	Actor, film director
Years active	1913 - 1939

Oscar C. Apfel (January 17 1878 – March 21 1938) was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in 167 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927.

Biography

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Apfel first directed for the Edison Company (Thomas A. Edison, Inc.) in 1911-12, where he made the innovative short film The Passer-By (1912). In 1913, he became one of two main directors for the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, the other being Cecil B. DeMille. Apfel's directorial collaboration with DeMille was a crucial element in the development of DeMille's filmmaking technique. Apfel is often creditied as being one of the first men (along with DeMille) to bring Hollywood, then known as Hollywoodland, to the world stage. Legend has it that the two filmmakers were scouting for a location to shoot 'The Squaw Man' (1914) in Flagstaff, Arizona. However the conspicuously snow-capped mountains contradicted the picture's sweltering western setting. So they climbed aboard a train and headed west. Eventually they found themselves in a sleepy district of Los Angeles named Hollywoodland. The all year-round sunshine and cheap land made it an ideal place to shoot films.

In late 1914, Apfel left the Lasky Company and directed for various companies into the 1920s, gradually returning to acting.

On March 21, 1938, Apfel died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack.

Selected filmography

• The Squaw Man (1914)
• Brewster's Millions (1914)
• The Master Mind (1914)
• The Only Son (1914)
• The Man on the Box (1914)
• The Call of the North (1914)
• The Ghost Breaker (1914)
• After Five (1915)
• Ravished Armenia (1919)
• Bulldog Drummond (1922)
• The Lion's Mouse (1923)
• Helping Grandma (1931)
• Five Star Final (1931)
• Impatient Maiden (1932)
• Business and Pleasure (1932)
• The Old Fashioned Way (1934)
• Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)
• Romance in Manhattan (1935)

External links

• Oscar Apfel at the Internet Movie Database
• Oscar Apfel at Allmovie

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