Fred Niblo

Personal Info

Known For Director

Gender Male

Birthday 1874-01-06

Deathday 1948-11-11 (74 years old)

Place of Birth York, Nebraska, USA

Also Known As Frederick Liedtke, Federico Nobile

Fred Niblo

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fred Niblo (January 6, 1874 – November 11, 1948) was an American pioneer film actor, director and producer. Niblo was born Frederick Liedtke (several sources give "Frederico Nobile", apparently erroneously) in York, Nebraska, to a French mother and a father who had served as a captain in the American Civil War and was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. Using the stage name, Fred Niblo, Liedtke began his show business career performing in vaudeville and in live theater. After more than twenty years doing live performing as a monologist, during which he traveled extensively around the globe, he worked in Australia from 1912 through 1915, where he turned to the burgeoning motion picture industry and made his first two films. As a Hollywood director, he is most remembered for several notable films beginning with his 1920 work The Mark of Zorro which starred Douglas Fairbanks. The following year he teamed up with Fairbanks again in The Three Musketeers and then directed Rudolph Valentino in Blood and Sand. In 1924, Niblo directed the film Thy Name Is Woman. In 1925, Niblo was the principal director of the epic Ben-Hur that was one of the most expensive films of the day but became the third highest-grossing silent film in cinema history. Niblo followed up on this success with two major 1926 works, The Temptress starring Greta Garbo in her second film in America, and Norma Talmadge in Camille. Niblo went on to direct some of the greatest stars of the era including Joan Crawford, Lillian Gish, and Ronald Colman. In 1930 he directed his first talkie with two of the biggest names in show business, John Gilbert and Renée Adorée in a film titled Redemption. Fred Niblo retired in 1933 after more than forty years in show business. The last sixteen years were used to make more than forty films, most of which were feature length projects. He was an important personality in the early years of Hollywood and was one of the original founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In recognition of his role in the development of the film industry, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7014 Hollywood Boulevard on February 8, 1960. His Ben-Hur film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Fred Niblo died in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery near his wife Enid Bennett in Glendale, California. His son with Josephine Cohan, Fred Niblo, Jr. (1903–1973) was a successful Hollywood screenwriter.

Known For

Director

1932
1932
Two White Arms

as Director

1931
The Big Gamble

as Director

1931
1930
Way Out West

as Director

1930
Redemption

as Director

1928
1928
Two Lovers

as Director

1928
Dream of Love

as Director

1927
Camille

as Director

1927
The Devil Dancer

as Director

1927
The Enemy

as Director

1926
The Temptress

as Director

1924
The Red Lily

as Director

1924
Thy Name Is Woman

as Director

1923
1923
1922
Blood and Sand

as Director

1922
1921
Greater Than Love

as Director

1921
1920
The Mark of Zorro

as Director

1920
Sex

as Director

1920
Hairpins

as Director

1920
The False Road

as Director

1919
1919
Partners Three

as Director

1919
Dangerous Hours

as Director

1918
The Marriage Ring

as Director

Actor

Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford

as J. Rufus Wallingford

1943
Crazy House

as Studio Executive

1942
Once Upon a Honeymoon

as Ship's Captain (uncredited)

1941
Life with Henry

as Mr.Sam Aldrich

1940
I'm Still Alive

as Fred, Third Director

1930
Estrellados

as Self (Guest Appearance)

1930
Free and Easy

as Himself

1929
A Man's Man

as Fred Niblo (uncredited)

1925
1924
Hello, 'Frisco

as Fred Niblo

1923
Souls for Sale

as Self - Celebrity Director

1922
Scandalous Tongues

as Reverend Charles Alden

1922
The Bootlegger's Daughter

as Reverend Charles Alden

1918
Coals of Fire

as Rev. Charles Alden

Producer

1927
The Enemy

as Producer

1924
The Red Lily

as Producer

1923
1922
Blood and Sand

as Producer

Writer

1927
Demon Thistle

as Story

1924
The Red Lily

as Original Story

1913
The Gangsters

as Writer