Wikipedia

Clarence Burton

Clarence Forrest Burton (May 10, 1882 – December 1, 1933[A]) was an American actor, dancer, and singer. The son of minstrel show performers John and Lottie Burton, he grew up as a child entertainer in the Burton Family vaudeville act performing with his parents and sister. By 1904 he was performing without his family, and continued to work as a dancer in vaudeville until approximately 1910. By 1907 he had diversified his work into performing as an actor and comedian in both plays and musicals. After working in regional theatre in California he moved into work as a silent film actor in 1912. He appeared in more than 100 films released between the years 1913 and 1932; often working in collaboration with Cecil B. DeMille.

Clarence Burton
Burton in Miss Lulu Bett (1921)
Born
Clarence Forrest Burton

(1882-03-10)March 10, 1882
Fort Lyon, Benton County, Missouri, U.S.
DiedDecember 1, 1933(1933-12-01) (aged 51)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1913–1932

Biography

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The son of John and Lottie Burton,[3] Clarence Forrest Burton[4] was born in Fort Lyon, Benton County, Missouri on May 10, 1882.[1] He began his career as a child actor at the age of 5.[4] His parent were entertainers who performed plantation songs together in blackface minstrel shows and in vaudeville theaters.[3] His parents were actively performing until their retirement in 1914.[5] The family's real surname was Norris not Burton which they had adopted for the stage.[6]

By 1894 Clarence was working in vaudeville in an act performed with Baby May,[7] his sister.[3] In 1895 he was billed as a baritone singer in advertisements for the show the Burton Family Combination,[8] and 1898 report of the show referred to him as "the boy baritone".[9] From 1899-1902 the Burton family were periodically engaged at the Olympic Theatre in Chicago with Clarence performing buck dance and soft shoe.[10][11][12] In a 1901 advertisement for the family's vaudeville appearance in Cleveland, Clarence was billed as performing "trick buck and wing dancing".[13]

By 1904 Clarence was headlining in vaudeville in Illinois by himself as a dancer,[14] and in 1905 he was billed as both a singer and dancer as the headline act at the Star Theatre in Muncie, Indiana.[15] In 1905 he was engaged in vaudeville at the Grand Theatre in Joliet, Illinois[16] the Olympic Theatre in Chicago,[17] the Peoples' Theatre in Cedar Rapid, Iowa,[18] and the Majestic Theatre in Houston, Texas;[19] remaining at the latter theater into 1906.[20] That year he also performed in vaudeville theaters in Ohio[21] and Illinois.[22] He remained periodically active as a traveling vaudeville dancer over the next several years,[23][24] while branching out into work as a comedian and musical theatre actor. In 1907 he portrayed the Butler in a touring production of the musical The Telephone Girl,[25][26] and performed the role of the lawyer Sleigh in the farce Too Many Wives in regional theatre in New Mexico.[27] In 1908 he was a member of the Eckhardt Ideal Players; a stock theatre company active in California[28] and Oregon.[29]

In 1909 Burton starred in the musical Papa's Boy at the opera house in Woodland, California,[30] and appeared as a tap dancer in vaudeville in Indiana[31] Kentucky,[32] Ohio,[33] Pennsylvania,[34] Michigan,[35] and New York state.[36] In 1910 he starred in the leading comic role of Adam Schwindler in Aaron Hoffman and J. A. Raynes musical The Politicians at the Empire Theatre in Fresno, California.[37] This was followed by other leading parts at that same venue, including roles in The Merry Liars[38] and Getting the Coin.[39] In 1911 he was active as a musical theatre comedian with the Spalding Company in theaters in California.[40]

He was signed into films in late 1912 and starred in 132 films between 1913 and 1932. He was closely associated with the films of Cecil B. DeMille with whom he frequently collaborated.[2] He was known for his death scenes; playing characters who died violently in more than 100 films.[2]

Burton as the Egyptian taskmaster in The Ten Commandments (1923)

By late 1920, Burton had become heavy enough to be considered unsuited for his typical villainous roles in films. A trainer supervised a program of exercise and diet until Burton had lost enough weight to be cast in the Paramount film The Jacklins.[41]

Burton died of a heart attack on December 1, 1933 at the age of 51 at his home in Northeast Los Angeles, California.[2]

Partial filmography

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Burton appeared in over 160 films during his career. The table below represents a partial list of his filmography.

Film performances
Year Title Role Notes
1913 The Werewolf Ezra Vance
1916 The Sign of the Spade Dave Harmon
1916 The Twinkler Boss Corregan
1917 Beloved Rogues Jack Kennedy
1917 My Fighting Gentleman Isiah Gore
1918 Fame and Fortune Sheriff of Palo
1919 The Spender Elmer Robbins
1919 The Last of the Duanes Bland
1919 Wings of the Morning Taung Si Ali
1919 The Return of Mary John Denby
1919 Six Feet Four Sheriff Cole Dalton
1919 Castles in the Air John McArthur
1920 The Six Best Cellars Henry Carpenter
1920 Thou Art the Man Matt Solomon
1921 Forbidden Fruit Steve Maddock
1921 The Lost Romance Detective
1921 Crazy to Marry Gregory Slade
1921 Miss Lulu Bett Ninian Deacon
1921 Fool's Paradise Manuel
1922 Her Husband's Trademark Mexican Bandit
1922 The Impossible Mrs. Bellew Detective
1922 The Beautiful and Damned Bloeckman
1923 Adam's Rib Cave man
1923 Garrison's Finish Crimmins
1923 The Satin Girl Moran
1923 The Ten Commandments Taskmaster
1924 The Mine with the Iron Door The Sheriff
1924 No More Women Beef Hogan
1924 The Navigator Spy Uncredited
1925 The Road to Yesterday Hugh Armstrong
1925 The Coming of Amos Pedro Valdez
1925 The Wedding Song Capt. Saltus
1925 The Million Dollar Handicap Langdon
1925 Savages of the Sea Black Brock
1926 Shipwrecked Red Gowland
1926 The Danger Girl Organ Man
1926 The Warning Signal N/A
1926 The Nervous Wreck Andy McNab
1927 Rubber Tires Mexican
1927 The King of Kings Penitent Thief
1927 A Harp in Hock Plainclothesman
1927 Chicago Police Sargeant
1928 Stool Pigeon Mike Shields
1928 Stand and Deliver Captain Melok
1929 The Younger Generation Police Desk Sargeant Uncredited
1929 The Godless Girl Prison Guard
1929 Barnum Was Right Martin
1929 The Love Racket Defense Attorney
1930 The Unholy Three Regan
1930 The Love Trader John
1932 The Sign of the Cross Servillius

Notes and references

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Some published sources give Burton's date of death as December 2, 1933 in Hollywood, Los Angeles.[1] However this is contradicted in his obituary in the Los Angeles Evening Citizen News which was published on December 2, 1933. It states he died a day earlier on December 1, 1933 at his home in Northeast Los Angeles.[2]

Citations

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  1. 1 2 Truitt 1984, p. 45.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Veteran Film Actor Passes". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. December 2, 1933. p. 1.
  3. 1 2 3 "Music and the Drama". The Milwaukee Sentinel. April 10, 1895. p. 4.
  4. 1 2 Lewisson 2024, Chapter 10: Forbidden Fruit.
  5. ↑ ""ELKS' GRANDDADDY" DIES.; John F. Norris, Blackface Comedian, Stricken on Tour of Lodges". The New York Times. January 21, 1926. p. 21.
  6. ↑ "John F. (Dad) Norris". Variety. Vol. 81, no. 11. January 27, 1926. p. 46.
  7. ↑ "The Musee". The St. Joseph Herald. January 23, 1894. p. 3.
  8. ↑ "High Street Theatre". The Muncie Daily Herald. February 12, 1895. p. 4.
  9. ↑ "Electric Park Theater". The Oshkosh Northwestern. July 16, 1898. p. 2.
  10. ↑ "Olympic". The Inter Ocean. February 5, 1899. p. 15.
  11. ↑ "Olympic". Chicago Tribune. January 7, 1900. p. 38.
  12. ↑ "Olympic". Chicago Tribune. January 12, 1902. p. 42.
  13. ↑ "Euclid Beach- Theater". The Cleveland Leader. September 1, 1901. p. 9.
  14. ↑ "Fine Show at Bijou". Rockford Daily Republic. December 28, 1904. p. 8.
  15. ↑ "Star Theatre". The Star Press. January 22, 1905. p. 16.
  16. ↑ "Grand Theatre". Joliet Evening Herald. April 9, 1905. p. 10.
  17. ↑ "Olympic". Chicago Tribune. April 18, 1905. p. 5.
  18. ↑ "Peoples' Theatre". The Gazette. June 20, 1905. p. 3.
  19. ↑ "At the Majestic". The Houston Chronicle. December 24, 1905. p. 15.
  20. ↑ "Majestic Theatre". The Fort Worth Record and Register. January 16, 1906. p. 5.
  21. ↑ "New Orphium". The Mansfield News. April 16, 1906. p. 10.
  22. ↑ "Vaudevillians". Rockford Daily Republic. December 31, 1906. p. 2.
  23. ↑ "Bijou Theatre". The Kalamazoo Gazette. December 7, 1909. p. 7.
  24. ↑ "Program Changes at Bijou Theatre". Freeport Journal-Standard. January 4, 1907. p. 5.
  25. ↑ "The Stage". The Albuquerque Tribune. May 20, 1907. p. 2.
  26. ↑ "Amusements". El Paso Herald. April 13, 1907. p. 23.
  27. ↑ "Too Many Wives". Albuquerque Journal. June 2, 1907. p. 5.
  28. ↑ "Stock Theatre at the Barton". Fresno Herald. March 23, 1908. p. 8.
  29. ↑ "The Bushranger at the Lyric". The Oregonian. June 3, 1908. p. 9.
  30. ↑ "Amusements". Woodland Daily Democrat. January 20, 1909. p. 3.
  31. ↑ "Vaudeville Acts". The Indianapolis Star. March 28, 1909. p. 19.
  32. ↑ "Vaudeville and Pictures". Lexington Herald-Leader. April 12, 1909. p. 2.
  33. ↑ "Pleasing Bill". Chillicothe Gazette. April 27, 1909. p. 4.
  34. ↑ "In the Theatres". The Pittsburgh Post. June 15, 1909. p. 6.
  35. ↑ "Clarence Burton. Soft Shoe Dancer". The Herald-Palladium. October 29, 1909. p. 2.
  36. ↑ "Amusements". Finger Lakes Times. February 19, 1909. p. 7.
  37. ↑ "Laughter Shook the Walls of Empire Last Night". Fresno Herald. September 13, 1910. p. 5.
  38. ↑ "There is Many a Good Laugh at the Empire". Fresno Herald. October 4, 1910. p. 3.
  39. ↑ "Packed House Enthuses Over Screaming Farce at Empire". The Fresno Tribune. October 18, 1910. p. 7.
  40. ↑ "Clarence Burton With the Spalding Musical Company". Visalia Daily Times. February 23, 1911. p. 3.
  41. ↑ "Lucky Clarence Got Thin in Time". The Philadelphia Inquirer. January 9, 1921. p. 32. Retrieved February 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

Bibliography

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