Marshall Neilan
actor, director, writer
- Birth name:
- Marshall Ambrose Neilan
- Born:
- 1891-04-11, San Bernardino, California, USA
- Died:
- 1958-10-27, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Professions:
- actor, director, writer
Biography
When talkies were still a rumor and title cards still reigned, Marshall Neilan ruled Goldwyn’s back-lot kingdom. Between takes on Mayer-financed weepers he’d already locked horns with the Boston bantam, so when the Metro-Goldwyn wedding bells clanged on 26 April 1924, Neilan skipped the champagne toasts. Instead he barked, “Back to ‘Tess’—now!” and marched cast, crew, and cameras off the ballroom floor and onto the Dorset downs. Months later Mayer screened the finished Tess of the D’Urbervilles, recoiled at Hardy’s bleak fade-out, and commanded a sunnier coda. Neilan howled; Mayer shrugged. Rather than bow to the new throne, Neilan slammed the gate behind him—the first talent to bolt the dream factory others would spend the next thirty years clawing to enter.
Filmography
In the vault (3)
