Back when I was thinking about starting Silent-ology, I worked on a few biographies of silent film actors to get a feel for film history writing and research. I’m archiving them here and may add more as time goes by.
If you want to use or reproduce any of my writing, please cite me as a source. Thank you kindly!
Theda Bara
Joe Bordeaux
Charley Bowers
Louise Fazenda
Robert Harron
Harry Langdon
Sybil Seely
Henry B. Walthall
Silent-ology 
Looking for info on Wilkey Mahoney, a onetime Keystone Kop.
Hello Don,
I hadn’t heard of Mahoney before, and according to Brent Walker’s book on Keystone no one with that name ever worked at the Sennett studio. But! I did find some references to a “Wilkie Mahoney” working for Hal Roach in the mid-1920s. He’s mentioned working as a supporting player in a Clyde Cook comedy and a Charley Chase comedy: http://lantern.mediahist.org/?page=4&q=wilkie+mahoney&sort=date-start+asc%2C+title+asc&utf8=%E2%9C%93
From a few more quick scans of the Lantern site, Wilkie seems to have become a screenplay and dialogue writer for 1930s and 1940s comedies, as well as a writer for radio shows.
The Lantern site is always a great place to find material on our silent actors, directors, editors, and other personnel: http://lantern.mediahist.org Hope that helps!
Wilkie Mahoney was my parents’ favorite friend and I have researched him from both a local and a show-biz perspective for the past couple years. Here is some info I’ve gathered:
https://bobsarber.wordpress.com/2018/06/28/gag-man-in-a-golden-age
Thanks for the link, Bob! Hopefully Don will see it, since there doesn’t seem to be a way to contact him.
I loved the article–I can see why your parents got such a kick out of him. Little did I know Wilkie was one of Bob Hope’s writers, too. How cool is that?
Hello:)
My utter obsession is Florence La Badie. I am currently collecting as much info on her as I can. I have an idea that I am working on but I need to bounce my ideas with someone who loves silent films and the stars. Is there anyway I can get in touch with you privately? ANY help/assistance would be greatly appreciated
Hi Maria!! Flo was a wonderful talent, it’s always heartwarming to know there are folks who still love her. I have a contact form on my “About Silent-ology” page in the main bar above–drop me a line!
Hi there:
I am looking for any information on Doris Keane (Romance, 1920) and/or R. Henderson-Bland (From the Manger to the Cross 1912). Would you happen to have anything you could share? Thank you! Michael
Hello Michael! I’m afraid I don’t know very much about either actor, although I think I’ve stumbled across reviews of Doris’s work in the past. A search of the Media History Digital Library brings up a bunch of results, if you haven’t searched there yet: http://lantern.mediahist.org/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=%22Doris+Keane%22
There are fewer results for Henderson-Bland, but he does seem to have been highly regarded: http://lantern.mediahist.org/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=%22R.+Henderson+Bland%22
This article about him has an interview, which was pretty interesting: https://archive.org/stream/movingpicturewor21newy#page/1354/mode/2up
Hope that helps a bit! Thanks for contacting me.