Paul Scardon

Australian actor

Betty Blythe

(m. 1919)

Paul Scardon (6 May 1874 – 17 January 1954) was an actor, a producer, and a director on both Australian and New York stages.

When he was 15, Scardon debuted on stage as a contortionist in vaudeville. He progressed from that to pantomime and then joined a troupe headed by J. C. Williamson, touring New Zealand and Australia for five years. In 1905, he joined a company headed by Nance O'Neil, and that group's tour brought him to the United States.^[1]

Scardon's Broadway credits include Mrs. Bumpstead-Leigh (1911), Becky Sharp (1911), The Green Cockatoo (1910), Hannele (1910), The Debtors (1909), Agnes(1908), Our American Cousin (1908), and Brigadier Gerard (1906).^[2]

Scardon went to Hollywood in 1910.^[3] In motion pictures, he worked for Majestic Pictures,^[1] Reliance-Majestic Studios and Vitagraph Studios.^[4] He directed Blanche Sweet in Unwilling Husband, Bessie Barriscale in some of her most successful productions, and most of the melodramas which starred his wife, actress Betty Blythe. Retiring when sound films came in, Scardon returned to films as an actor in the 1940s, playing bit roles until he retired from the film industry in 1948.

Personal life and death

At the time of his death, Scardon was married to actress Betty Blythe. On January 18, 1954, Scardon died of a heart attack in Fontana, California, at age 79.^[5]

Filmography

Actor

A Simple Life (1912, Short) – Cy Smith – Marie's Father
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1914) – Haley
The Sins of the Mothers (1914) – Anatole De Voie
The Juggernaut (1915) – Alexander Jones
The Goddess (1915) – Prof. Stilliter
The Battle Cry of Peace (1915) – Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
The Alibi (1916) – Walter Slayton
Man from Montreal (1939) – Trapper (uncredited)
Fighting Mad (1939)
The Green Hornet (1940, Serial) – Timothy Bryan [Ch. 7] (uncredited)
The Fatal Hour (1940) – Homer Lyons – Informant (uncredited)
Waterloo Bridge (1940) – Backdoor Stage Doorman (uncredited)
The Fargo Kid (1940) – Caleb Winters
Lady From Louisiana (1941) – Judge Wilson
The Son of Davy Crockett (1941) – Zeke
Today I Hang (1942) – Peter Hobbs
The Man Who Returned to Life (1942) – Reverend Tuller (uncredited)
My Favorite Blonde (1942) – Dr. Robert Higby (uncredited)
Mrs. Miniver (1942) – Nobby (uncredited)
Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942) – Senator (uncredited)
Tish (1942) – Toronto Postal Clerk (uncredited)
A Yank at Eton (1942) – Old Cleaner (uncredited)
The Man from the Rio Grande (1943) – Hanlon – County Clerk
His Butler's Sister (1943) – Professor (uncredited)
The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944) – Rudyard Kipling (uncredited)
Kitty (1945) – Undertaker (uncredited)
The Daltons Ride Again (1945) – Attorney (uncredited)
Cinderella Jones (1946) – Judge Rutledge (uncredited)
Down Missouri Way (1946) – Prof. Lewis
Gentleman Joe Palooka (1946) – File Room Attendant (uncredited)
The Verdict (1946) – Sexton (uncredited)
Pursued (1947) – Juryman (uncredited)
Time Out of Mind (1947) – Butler (uncredited)
Joe Palooka in the Knockout (1947) – Railroad Clerk (uncredited)
Magic Town (1947) – Hodges
Merton of the Movies (1947) – Club Member (uncredited)
The Fabulous Texan (1947) – Citizen (uncredited)
Secret Beyond the Door (1947) – Owl Eyes (uncredited)
Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad (1948) – Dr. Burman
The Sign of the Ram (1948) – Perowen (uncredited)
Canon City (1948) – Joe Bondy
He Walked by Night (1948) – Liquor Store Proprietor (uncredited)
The Shanghai Chest (1948)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949) – White Haired Peddler (uncredited)
The Doolins of Oklahoma (1949) – Minor Role (uncredited)
Samson and Delilah (1949) – Beggar (uncredited)
Belle of Old Mexico (1950) – Mr. Ambercrombie (uncredited) (final film role)

Director

The Alibi
All Man
Apartment 29
Arsene Lupin (1917)
A Bachelor's Children
Beating the Odds
Beauty-Proof
The Breaking Point (1921)
The Broken Gate
Children Not Wanted
The Darkest Hour
The Dawn of Freedom
The Desired Woman
The Enemy
False Kisses (1921)
Fighting Destiny
The Gamblers
A Game with Fate
The Golden Gallows
The Golden Goal (1918)
The Green God (1918)
The Grell Mystery (1917)
The Hawk
Her Own Free Will (1924)
Her Right to Live
Her Unwilling Husband (1920)
The Hero of Submarine D-2
Hoarded Assets (1918)
In Honor's Web (1919)
In the Balance
The Island of Surprise
The King of Diamonds
The Love Doctor
The Maelstrom
The Man Who Won (1919)
Milestones (1920)
The Other Man
Partners of the Night (1920)
Phantom Fortunes
A Prince in a Pawnshop
The Redemption of Dave Darcey
Rose of the South
Shattered Dreams (1922)
Silent Strength (1919)
Soldiers of Chance
The Stolen Treaty (1917)
Tangled Lives (1918)
Transgression
When the Devil Drives (1922)
A Wonderful Wife

References

^ ^a ^b Lowrey, Carolyn (1920). The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen. Moffat, Yard. pp. 166–167. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
^ "Paul Scardon". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
^ "Paul Scardon, Actor Of Silent Era, Dies At Home in Fontana". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. Associated Press. 19 January 1954. p. 17. Retrieved 15 November 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Fox, Charles Donald; Silver, Milton L. (1920). Who's who on the Screen. Ross publishing Company. p. 407. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
^ "Paul Scardon". The Courier-News. New Jersey, Bridgewater. Associated Press. 19 January 1954. p. 19. Retrieved 15 November 2019 – via Newspapers.com.