George Fawcett

Biography

A grand, stoic presence of the silent screen, George Fawcett was an immensely popular stage thespian both here and in London at the turn of the century. During his heyday his eloquence rivaled that of both Lionel Barrymore and John Barrymore. Born on August 25, 1860, in Alexandria Virginia, Fawcett was a graduate of the University of Virginia. His early acting career began in 1887, when he appeared in a production of "Baron Rudolph." Maintaining on the stage, he married actress wife, Percy Haswell, in 1895. She later formed the Percy Haswell (Stock) Company in Baltimore, Maryland in 1901, with George managing. The name was later changed to the George Fawcett Stock Company. The Company continued to stage shows until 1908. Fawcett eventually became a formidable fixture under the Broadway lights, appearing in such classic plays as "The Little Minister (1897, his debut), as well as "Peter Stuyvesent" (1899), "Caleb West" (1900), "Ghosts" (1903), "The Squaw Man" (1905, 1911), "The Silver Girl" (1907), "The Great John Ganton" (1909), "Getting a Polish" (1910), "A Gentleman of Leisure" (1911), "The Law of the Land" (1914), "The Mountain Man" (1921) and "Peacock" (1932). Fawcett came very late to films (age 55) but soon became a steadfast favorite of D.W. Griffith, who used him in his silent masterpieces Intolerance (1916), A Romance of Happy Valley (1919), True Heart Susie (1919), Scarlet Days (1919) and The Greatest Question (1919), as well as Lady of the Pavements (1929). Affectionately dubbed "The Grand Old Man of Films", Fawcett appeared in over 100 movies within a relatively short span of time (15 years), playing to great effect various ports of authority -- often grim, often stubborn and often bigoted. Other grand silent feature film appearances included The Cinderella Man (1917), The Beloved Traitor (1918), Turning the Tables (1919), Sentimental Tommy (1921), Polly of the Follies (1922), Java Head (1923), Pied Piper Malone (1924), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1924), The Price of Pleasure (1925), The Merry Widow (1925), The Son of the Sheik (1926), Flesh and the Devil (1926), Tillie the Toiler (1927) and The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927). The elderly veteran moved into talking pictures with ease and scored several picture parts before retiring a few years into the era. Among those talking pictures, he supported Barbara Stanwyck in Ladies of Leisure (1930); Warner Oland in The Drums of Jeopardy (1931); Helen Twelvetrees in A Woman of Experience (1931); and Nancy Carroll in Personal Maid (1931), his final film. George's wife, Percy Haswell, who frequently billed herself as "Mrs. George Fawcett," appeared with him in the Broadway plays "Peter Stuyvesent" and "Peacock", the latter which he produced in 1932. Fawcett died on June 6, 1939, in Nantucket, Massachusetts of heart problems. He was 78.