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J. Warren Kerrigan

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J. Warren Kerrigan
Kerrigan c. 1918
Born
George Jack Warren Kerrigan

(1879-07-28)July 28, 1879
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJune 9, 1947(1947-06-09) (aged 67)
Balboa Beach, California, U.S.
Burial placeForest Lawn Memorial Park
Other namesJack Kerrigan
Occupation(s)Actor, director
Years active1910–1924
PartnerJames Carroll Vincent (c. 1914–1947; his death)

George Jack Warren Kerrigan (July 25, 1879 – June 9, 1947) was an American silent film actor and film director.[citation needed]

Controversy

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In May 1917, Kerrigan was nearing the end of a four-month-long personal appearance publicity tour that had taken him across the United States and into Canada. At one of the final stops, a reporter for The Denver Times asked Kerrigan if he would be joining the war. Kerrigan replied:

I am not going to war. I will go, of course, if my country needs me, but I think that first they should take the great mass of men who aren't good for anything else, or are only good for the lower grades of work. Actors, musicians, great writers, artists of every kind—isn't it a pity when people are sacrificed who are capable of such things—of adding to the beauty of the world.

Picked up and reprinted in newspapers across the country, this statement stunned his fans and his popularity plummeted, never to fully recover.[citation needed]

Family members later claimed in Behind the Screen (2001) by William J. Mann that his slump in popularity was more due to his living with his mother and partner James Vincent in the same house, and not having a business manager to overcome the negative publicity.[citation needed]

Revival

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In the spring of 1924, after John Barrymore bowed out, Kerrigan was assigned the starring role in Captain Blood. While the film was a moderate success, critics were unmoved and Kerrigan found himself working less and less and in smaller roles. In December 1924, Kerrigan was injured in an automobile accident in Illinois. According to the Des Moines Tribune (page 1, Monday, December 8, 1924) his face was badly scarred and it was stated that "he may never star in films again".[1]

Personal life and death

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Kerrigan lived with his domestic partner James Carroll Vincent from about 1914 until Kerrigan's death in 1947.[citation needed]

James Carroll Vincent

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James Carroll Vincent (November 9, 1897 – May 15, 1948) was a silent movie actor. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to California to be an actor where he met Kerrigan. Vincent moved into Kerrigan's home at 2307 Cahuenga Boulevard in Los Angeles, where they began a long-term relationship. He was listed at various times as Kerrigan's secretary or gardener.[2] Not to be confused with actor James Vincent, born in 1882 and only three years younger than Kerrigan, while his partner is described as being much younger than Kerrigan;[3] or stage manager James Vincent (who worked with Katharine Cornell and was long-time friend of George Cukor), born in 1900 who committed suicide in 1953 in New York City.[4]

In 1919 Vincent, who was a "juvenile" actor with Bessie Barriscale, appeared in the cast of Out of Court,[5] in 1920 he was in the cast of The Coast of Opportunity[6] and in 1924 in the cast of $30,000, all three of them movies with or by Kerrigan.[7] In 1924, Kerrigan and Vincent, along with several of their friends, were in an automobile accident in Dixon, Illinois, on the route from Sterling to Chicago. In news reports Vincent was again named as Kerrigan's secretary.[8]

On June 9, 1947, Kerrigan died from pneumonia at the age of 67. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[9]

After Kerrigan's death, Vincent married Mitty Lee Turner (1894–1968) on October 24, 1947. On March 15, 1948, Vincent committed suicide by gas in his bedroom at 14716 Magnolia Boulevard in Van Nuys, California, nine months after the death of Kerrigan.[10] He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[11]

Filmography

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A Man's Man (1917)
Lobby card with Kerrigan (left) in The Drifters (1919)
Year Title Role Notes
1913 Calamity Anne's Inheritance Williams - the Mining Agent Short
Calamity Anne's Vanity One of the Village Belle's Sweethearts Short
Calamity Anne's Beauty The Handsome Young Drummer Short
Woman's Honor Father Bob Short
Her Big Story Joel Hammond - the Managing Editor Short
Quicksands Frank Short
Truth in the Wilderness Bruce Willard Short
For the Flag Lieutenant Jack Bronson Short
For the Crown Jacques le Grand Short
Calamity Anne, Heroine Minor Role Short
The Restless Spirit The Husband - the Restless Spirit Short
The Girl and the Greaser Dave Lewis Short
The Tale of the Ticker Tom Burns Short
Back to Life Destiny's Victim Short
Rory o' the Bogs Rory o' the Bogs Short
1914 Samson Samson
1915 The Stool Pigeon Walter Jason Short
For Cash Arthen Owen Short
The Oyster Dredger Jack, the Oyster Dredger Short
The New Adventures of Terence O'Rourke Terence O'Rourke
1916 Langdon's Legacy Langdon
The Pool of Flame Terence O'Rourke
The Gay Lord Waring Lord Arthur Waring
A Son of the Immortals Prince Alexis Delgrade
The Silent Battle Tom Gallatin
The Beckoning Trail Carter Raymond
The Social Buccaneer Chattfield Bruce
The Measure of a Man John Fairmeadow
1917 A Man's Man John Stuart Webster
1918 The Turn of a Card Jimmie Montgomery Farrell
One Dollar Bid Toby
A Burglar for a Night Kirk Marden
Prisoners of the Pines Hillaire Latour
Three X Gordon Harold Gordon
1919 The Drifters Burke Marston
Come Again Smith Joe Smith
The End of the Game Burke Allister
The Best Man Cyril Gordon
A White Man's Chance Donald Joseph Blenhorn
The Lord Loves the Irish Miles Machree
The Joyous Liar Burke Harlan
1920 Live Sparks Neil Sparks
The Dream Cheater Brandon McShane
A Man's Man John Stuart Webster
Number 99 Arthur Penryn
The Green Flame Frank Markham
$30,000 John Trask
The House of Whispers Spaulding Nelson [12]
The Coast of Opportunity Dick Bristow
1922 Night Life in Hollywood Himself Cameo
1923 The Covered Wagon Will Banion
The Girl of the Golden West Ramerrez
Mary of the Movies Himself Cameo, Uncredited
Hollywood Himself Cameo
The Man from Brodney's Hollingsworth Chase
Thundering Dawn Jack Standish
1924 Captain Blood Captain Peter Blood (final film role)

References

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  1. ^ "8 Dec 1924, 1 - Des Moines Tribune at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "13 July 1931". Santa Ana Register: 7. July 13, 1931. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  3. ^ Broken Face In The Mirror (Crooks and Fallen Stars That Look Very Much Like Us). Dorrance Publishing. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-4349-4723-9.
  4. ^ Frasier, David K. (2005). Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases. McFarland. p. 330. ISBN 9781476608075. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  5. ^ "22 Nov 1919, Sat • Page 14". The Indianapolis News: 14. 1919. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  6. ^ "May 30, 1920, page 47". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: 47. 1920. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  7. ^ "$30,000 gives Kerrigan his fill of adventures". The Post-Crescent: 9. March 3, 1924. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  8. ^ "Movie Star Hurt As Autos Collide; Girl Near Death". The Daily Times: 1. December 8, 1924. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  9. ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 25361). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
  10. ^ "Ends Life by Gas". The van Nuys News: 4. March 18, 1948. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  11. ^ "17 March 1948". The Los Angeles Times: 31. March 17, 1948. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  12. ^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 222.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
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