tod browning (1882-1962)
Bord: July 12, 1880. Louisville, Kentucky
Died: October 6, 1962. Malibu, California
After leaving home at 16, Browning appeared in one-reel shorts, carnivals and vaudeville acts, changing his given name of Charles Albert to Tod. This performative background would certainly come in handy when creating one of Hollywood's most controversial films, Freaks (1932).
Browning was an assistant director for the crowd scenes in D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916) and acted in bit parts, accounting for 50 on-screen appearances between 1913-1919. Browning made his first horror film with London After Midnight (1927), which featured his friend and frequent collaborator Lon Chaney. It was Dracula (1931) that placed Browning on the horror map and successfully launched the Universal monster series, establishing a template for future horror classics to abide. Marketed as "The Strangest Love Story Ever Told", Dracula's success ensured a market for horror films that did not have to disguise their subject in the assured genres of romance and adventure.
Browning would later direct Freaks (1932), one of Hollywood's most controversial films. The film features real life carnival performers in all shapes and sizes, which makes the horror of their physic real rather than disguised via Hollywood magic. The reality seems to touch a nerve with many audiences, with Britain banning the film until 1963. However, the film has earned both cult and cultural status being selected in 1994 for a place in the National Film Registry.
Died: October 6, 1962. Malibu, California
After leaving home at 16, Browning appeared in one-reel shorts, carnivals and vaudeville acts, changing his given name of Charles Albert to Tod. This performative background would certainly come in handy when creating one of Hollywood's most controversial films, Freaks (1932).
Browning was an assistant director for the crowd scenes in D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916) and acted in bit parts, accounting for 50 on-screen appearances between 1913-1919. Browning made his first horror film with London After Midnight (1927), which featured his friend and frequent collaborator Lon Chaney. It was Dracula (1931) that placed Browning on the horror map and successfully launched the Universal monster series, establishing a template for future horror classics to abide. Marketed as "The Strangest Love Story Ever Told", Dracula's success ensured a market for horror films that did not have to disguise their subject in the assured genres of romance and adventure.
Browning would later direct Freaks (1932), one of Hollywood's most controversial films. The film features real life carnival performers in all shapes and sizes, which makes the horror of their physic real rather than disguised via Hollywood magic. The reality seems to touch a nerve with many audiences, with Britain banning the film until 1963. However, the film has earned both cult and cultural status being selected in 1994 for a place in the National Film Registry.
watch 'dracula' trailer and full version of 'freaks'
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