Joseph De Grasse

Biography

Joseph Louis DeGrasse (May 4, 1873 - May 25, 1940) was born into a French Canadian family. He is the son of Lange DeGrasse and Ellen Comeaux of Bathurst, New Brunswick. Joseph is the older brother of actor Samuel DeGrasse. There were 11 siblings. Joe immigrated to the USA around 1880 as a young child. Joseph began his career as a journalist, but soon became enamored of the theater and took work as a stage actor. Joe DeGrasse met and married actress, Ida May Park (1879-1954). By 1910, he and Ida were acting in motion pictures in Burbank, California. Joe eventually appeared as an actor in 13 films, and wrote 2 screenplays, his real interest was in directing. Ida also became one of the few female directors working at the time. In 1915, Joe became a founding member of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a forerunner to the Director's Guild of America. During a career spanning from 1910 to 1935 he directed a total of 86 films, as well as writing and producing. Joseph DeGrasse died in Eagle Rock, California. Family lore contends that there is a link between the DeGrasse brothers and French Admiral and US Revolutionary War hero, François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse, 13 September 1722.