Ann,
It's interesting to speculate on his roles and his life. He worked in the
Hollywood studio system, so I'm not sure how much one can attribute to
some sort of personal origin to his choice of parts. I would prefer not
to find a connection to his childhood because his disabled characters are
so negative. A film was made of his life, a standard Hollywood biopic
starring James Cagney called "Man of a Thousand Faces" (Warner, circa
1955), in which his family is briefly depicted, with hearing actors
playing his parents. Recently, Turner Classic Movies cable-TV channel
broadcast a documentary about Chaney's life and career.
Paul
On Wed, 31 Jan 2001, acunningham wrote:
> Paul - thanks for the information. Unfortunatlely, I have not been able
> to see any of the Lon Chaney films. I have read about his abilility but,
> as Deaf sign language user, would like to be able to see his talents for
> myself also.
>
> Do you think he was drawn to play disabled characters because of is own
> experience of being a child of deaf/disabled parents or maybe just
> coincidence? I think his own life story would make an amazing
> film....maybe already one been made? It as lots of relevant links with
> today......how childen of deaf/disabled parents can be connected to that
> community (are they Friends or Betrayers of Internal Community Secrets).
> And also how a language that was at that time so disparaged and he
> learned as a non-deaf person would eventually help him when he became,in
> later life ,non verbal.
>
> anne
>
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