Allan Dwan

@Millionaires, Timeline and Childhood ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ A man of innovation with over 400 movies to his credit, Allan Dwan was a writer, director, producer belonging to the era of silent films Millionaires American University Of Notre Dame Film & Theater Personalities Directors Aries Celebrities A filmmaker belonging to the era of silent movies, Allan Dwan is touted as an actor’s director. With a background in engineering, he attempted to shoot films more effectively in terms of cost and quality. His ability to visualise a scene in his mind with minute details and then converting them to celluloid, lent a dramatic appearance to his shots. He always followed a logical approach to solve filmmaking problems. The techniques and approaches devised by him went on to become the standard norm later on He is credited for being the first ever director to use equipment such as cranes and dolly back then. The list of movies directed by him includes over 400 movies which comprises of about 300 silent short movies and over a hundred feature films. He’s believed to have contributed as a writer, actor, producer, and director to as many as 1500 movies. His career faltered with the advent of talkies. Though he had a slew of works, this filmmaker never got a chance to work with major projects. He was acknowledged as an actor’s director, since he liked to develop friendly relations with his actors, and always let the actors express their perceptions and views. He became an inspiration for many of the modern day directors. In his interview, book Peter Bogdanovich championed Allan as ‘The Last Pioneer’

Personal Details

Birthday: April 3, 1885 Died on: December 28, 1981 Nationality: American Famous: Millionaires, University Of Notre Dame, Film & Theater Personalities, Directors Spouses: Marie Shelton, Pauline Bush Known as: Joseph Aloysius Dwan, Alan Dwan, Dwan Universities: University Of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame Information Detail Birthday April 3, 1885 Died on December 28, 1981 Nationality American Famous Millionaires, University Of Notre Dame, Film & Theater Personalities, Directors Spouses Marie Shelton, Pauline Bush Known as Joseph Aloysius Dwan, Alan Dwan, Dwan Universities University Of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame Notable Alumnis University Of Notre Dame Birth Place Toronto Religion Catholicism Gender Male Sun Sign Aries Born in Toronto Famous as Director Died at Age 96

Toronto

Allan Dwan born at Unsplash Birth Place

This filmmaker was married to actress Pauline Bush whom he directed in many of his movies. After her death, he remarried to Marie Shelton. Unsplash Personal Life

His story as mentioned in the book ‘Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios’ by Frederic Lombardi, was released in New York accompanied by a screening of Allan’s directorial works. Unsplash Personal Life

He died in his woodland hills home in Los Angeles, California. The burial ceremony was held at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California Unsplash Personal Life

Joseph Aloysius Dwan was born in Ontario, Canada on April 3rd 1885. He was renamed Allan Dwan later, since he was teased in his school for having a girlish name. The family then migrated from Canada to America when he was barely eight years old. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He then attended the prestigious ‘University of Notre Dame’ located in Indiana, United States to pursue a degree in engineering. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Allan started his career as an engineer with a lighting company in Chicago. The production house ‘Essanay Studios’ was a client of the company he was working with, and during one of his assignments to inspect the lights installation in the studio, he came across movie producer George Spoor. Thus began his tryst with Hollywood, when he submitted his written works to the latter’s studio and was offered a job as the scriptwriter in 1909. Unsplash Career

The story of how he turned a director is hilarious. This man initially worked as a scriptwriter for a movie production firm named ‘Flying A Studios’ in La Mesa, California. In August 1911, during the filming activity of one of the banner’s movies, he was asked to trace the whereabouts of the director. Unsplash Career

It was later discovered that this director had fled town after one of his drinking episodes, and the responsibility to direct the movie passed on to Allan. Unsplash Career

He then went on to work with the production company ‘Flying A Studios’ till 1913, directing as many as fifty Westerns starring the new-comer Pauline Bush. He later went on to marry her. Unsplash Career

He next worked at the ‘Universal Pictures’ from 1913-1915, where he apparently directed twenty films including flicks like ‘A Girl of Yesterday’, which starred Mary Pickford. Unsplash Career

His movies ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘Iron Mask’ starring Douglas Fairbanks were a big success at the box office. ‘Robin Hood’ established him in the industry as a major film maker. Unsplash Major Works

The war movie ‘The Sands of Iwo Jima’, which came out in 1949 was also a block buster and earned Oscar nominations. The movie is a prized collection of the Republic Pictures Library. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	April 3, 1885
Died on	December 28, 1981
Nationality	American
Famous	Millionaires, University Of Notre Dame, Film & Theater Personalities, Directors
Spouses	Marie Shelton, Pauline Bush
Known as	Joseph Aloysius Dwan, Alan Dwan, Dwan
Universities	University Of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame
Notable Alumnis	University Of Notre Dame
Birth Place	Toronto
Religion	Catholicism
Gender	Male
Sun Sign	Aries
Born in	Toronto
Famous as	Director
Died at Age	96

Allan Dwan

American

Apr 3, 1885

Biography

Personal Details

Toronto