Richard Rosson

Biography

Richard Rosson, the movie actor and director, was born on April 4, 1893, in New York, New York. His siblings would excel in the new movie industry: his older brother was director Arthur Rosson, his younger sister Helene Rosson became a movie actress, and his younger brother Harold Rosson became a noted director of photography who won the first Academy Award for color cinematography. Richard Rosson began acting in motion pictures in 1911, using the name Dick Rosson for his debut in the John Bunny comedy Selecting His Heiress (1911) Rosson was an actor until 1922, though he did make his directorial debut in 1917, co-helming Her Father's Keeper (1917) with his brother Arthur. Arthur directed Richard, the actor, in five films, Cassidy (1917), A Case at Law (1917), Polly of the Storm Country (1920) (on which brother Harold also was a collaborator as the director of photography), For Those We Love (1921), and Always the Woman (1922). He began his directing career proper helming the Gloria Swanson picture Fine Manners (1926) at Famous Players-Lasky (Paramount). He made five movies in 1927, and three in 1928, until his directorial carer took a hiatus after The Very Idea (1929), his first sound picture. Apparently, Rosson was one of the silent directors displaced by the advent of sound. In 1928-29, the major Hollywood studios brought in Broadway directors and sound technicians and briefly tried to give them authority over the old hands who had established themselves as directors in the now-obsolete medium of silent film. As Rosson was a relative novice at directing, he likely was vulnerable. Rosson began his long association with Howard Hawks by helping direct Scarface (1932). Rosson was used by Hawks as a second-unit director on four of his films, and Rosson was the co-director with Hawks on another film, Today We Live (1933). Rosson also directed the logging sequences in Hawks' _Come and Get It (1936)_ (producer Samuel Goldwyn fired Hawks and replaced him with William Wyler to complete the picture). The association with Hawks lasted until the end of his career, with Hawks producing Rosson's final film, Corvette K-225 (1943). Altogether, Rosson and Hawks were jointly involved in the production of eight pictures. In addition to Polly of the Storm Country (1920) (which starred Charles Chaplin's ex-wife, billed as Mildred Harris Chaplin by producer Louis B. Mayer after Chaplin objected to Mayer's plans on billing her as Mrs. Charlie Chaplin), he worked with his brother Hal on Panthea (1917), Too Hot to Handle (1938), and Flight Command (1940). Richard Rosson committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning on May 31, 1953, in Pacific Palisades, California, at the age of 60. He was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetary.