Re: Extra Extra re:Movie Star?

Oksana Dykyj (oksana@vax2.concordia.ca)
Thu, 25 Sep 1997 12:00:52 +0000 (HELP)

Simon Hart wrote:
>Thanks for all the responses, what I have so far:
>
>It does appear that Mr Valentine did change his name. We are infering this
>as we now know from a local newspaper clipping that he played Tom Warren in
>the 1930 version of Sunny directed by William A Seiter. Both the IMDB and
>BFI index tell us that the actors name was Lawrence Gray (otherwise known
>as Larry Gray). IMDB make reference to 35 film roles for a Lawrence Gray.
>
>I also now know that Mr Valentine's first name was William.
>
>Can anyone confirm the name change? Can any one provide any new information
>based on these new details? My client is more interested in biographical
>information.
>
>once again many thanks,
>
>Simon.
>
Lawrence Gray? Of course! Here's some ideas for you: His career began in
the silent period so my first suggestion is to query the usenet group
alt.movies.silent. The other thing you might do, other than looking in Who
Was Who, is to check in books about early film musicals or about the coming
of sound as he appeared in a number of musicals in the late 20's and early
30's. You might check in books like Ray Stuart's _Immortals of the Screen_
or Twomey and Mclure's _The Versatiles_ for mini bio-blurbs.

More elaborate research would require your client to contact the New Zealand
Film Archive in Wellington, New Zealand and speak to Diane Pivac who's in
charge of documentation. tel: (64-4) 384-7647 fax: (64-4) 382-9592. Perhaps
they have a full run of _Photoplay_ , or _Motion Picture_, or _Motion
Picture Classic_ for your client to browse through. The biographical
information would have been filtered through the various studios he worked
for, which included First National/Warner Brothers, Cosmopolitan/MGM,
Paramount and his last films which were programmers associated with
Victory...Still these articles have historical importance and if your client
is willing to do the research, he/she will find it interesting.

Let me also suggest the Center for Motion Picture Study at the Academy Film
Archive in Bevely Hills. tel: (310) 247-3027, fax: (310) 657-5431.

Gee, this sounds like so much fun...

Oksana
=============================================================
Oksana Dykyj Tel: 514-848-3443
Head, Visual Media Resources Fax: 514-848-3441
Audio-Visual Department H-342 Email:oksana@vax2.concordia.ca
Concordia University
1455 de Maisonneuve West
Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8
CANADA
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