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Edmund Lowe

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For the New Zealand musician, see Eddie Low.

Edmund Lowe
Lowe on the Blue Network's radio series Three Thirds of a Nation (1942)
Born
Edmund Sherbourne Lowe

(1890-03-03)March 3, 1890
San Jose, California, U.S.
DiedApril 21, 1971(1971-04-21) (aged 81)
Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Resting placeSan Fernando Mission Cemetery
Alma materSanta Clara University
OccupationActor
Years active1915–1960
Spouses
Esther Miller
​
(div. 1925)​
​
​
(m. 1925; died 1934)​
Rita Kaufman
​
​
(m. 1936; div. 1950)​

Edmund Sherbourne Lowe (March 3, 1890 – April 21, 1971) was an American actor.[1] His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film.

Biography

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Lowe's childhood home was at 314 North 1st Street, San Jose. He attended Santa Clara College and entertained the idea of becoming a priest before starting his acting career. He died in Woodland Hills, California, of lung cancer and is buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California.[2]

Quirt and Flagg

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Lowe in 1925

Lowe's career included over 100 films, beginning in 1915. He became established as a popular leading man in silent films. He is best remembered for his role as Sergeant Harry Quirt, smart-mouthed buddy of the equally abrasive Captain Jimmy Flagg (Victor McLaglen) in the 1926 silent feature What Price Glory? directed by Raoul Walsh.

The popularity of Quirt and Flagg virtually guaranteed Edmund Lowe's success in the new talking pictures: audiences could hardly wait to hear the salty Quirt and Flagg insulting each other in spoken dialogue. During the sound era, a musical comedy remake and two sequels were produced, all starring Lowe and McLaglen, with the first two also directed by Raoul Walsh. Lowe reprised his role from the movies in the radio program Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt, broadcast on the Blue Network September 28, 1941 - January 25, 1942, and on NBC February 13, 1942 - April 3, 1942.[3] (The radio show probably resulted from Lowe and McLaglen reuniting as battling buddies Harry and Jimmy in the military movie comedy Call Out the Marines.)

Lowe worked steadily as a leading man throughout the 1930s, freelancing at various Hollywood studios. He portrayed the young doctor trying to get out of an affair with Wallace Beery's character's wife, played by Jean Harlow, in Dinner at Eight (1933).

Later career

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A look at Edmund Lowe's screen resumé would indicate that he descended to "Poverty Row" productions in 1942 and his career never recovered. In fact, Lowe's career was stalling as early as 1938, when the actor was too mature to play most romantic leads. His last such role was in 1937's Every Day's a Holiday, in which the 48-year-old Lowe played opposite the 44-year-old Mae West. Lowe shifted gears and began playing strong supporting roles in major films and leads in minor films.

Lowe's friend William K. Howard, a top director of the 1920s, was attempting a comeback at the low-budget Monogram Pictures in 1942. As a favor to Howard, Lowe took the leading role in Klondike Fury. Lowe's loyal gesture took a toll on his professional standing: the small, independent Monogram studio was firmly in Hollywood's minor league. As actor Bill Kennedy told author Scott MacGillivray, "If you were an actor on the way up, like Robert Mitchum or Alan Ladd, working at Monogram was okay -- no stigma. But -- if you were already a star at a big studio like Fox or Paramount and then went to Monogram, a la Edmund Lowe, it was the kiss of death."[4]

Lowe's work in Klondike Fury won him an invitation from Columbia Pictures to star in three comedy-mysteries. Lowe also kept working at Monogram, notably in the 1945 crime thriller Dillinger, a surprise hit. Lowe's last starring movie role was in Monogram's The Strange Mr. Gregory (1945).

In 1951-52 Lowe starred in 38 episodes of the television show Front Page Detective and appeared as the elderly lead villain in the first episode of Maverick opposite James Garner in 1957. Lowe appeared occasionally in major motion pictures through 1960.

Marriages

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After his first marriage to Esther Miller ended in early 1925, Lowe met Lilyan Tashman while filming Ports of Call. Lowe and Tashman were married on September 21, 1925, before the release of the film. The two had homes in Beverly Hills and Malibu. They were married until Tashman's death from cancer at age 37 in 1934.[citation needed]

Seventy years after Tashman's death, author E.J. Fleming claimed Lowe was a homosexual and Tashman was a lesbian.[5] If the claims were true, fan magazine writers and newspaper columnists made no mention of them during Tashman's lifetime or for 70 years after her death.[6]

Lowe's third wife was costume designer Rita Kaufman. They were married from 1936 to 1950.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Lowe with Dolores del Río and Victor McLaglen in What Price Glory? (1926)

References

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  1. ^ "Edmund Lowe". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2008. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008.
  2. ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 28770-28771). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
  3. ^ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 136–137. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  4. ^ MacGillivray, Scott (2009). Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward (Second Edition, Revised and Expanded ed.). New York: iUniverse. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-4401-7237-3.
  5. ^ The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine By E.J. Fleming p.104
  6. ^ The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine By E.J. Fleming p.104
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