Marc McDermott
| Marc McDermott | |
|---|---|
Publicity still of McDermott (ca 1925)
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| Born |
Marcus McDermott 24 July 1881 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 5 January 1929 (aged 47) Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Years active | 1909–1929 |
| Spouse(s) | Miriam Nesbitt |
Marcus "Marc" McDermott (24 July 1881 – 5 January 1929) was an Australian actor who starred on Broadway and in over 180 American films from 1909 until his death.
McDermott was born in Goulburn, New South Wales to Irish parents. At age 15, while McDermott was studying at the Jesuit College of Sydney, his father Patrick died. To support his mother and sister, McDermott joined an acting troupe in Sydney. Within a year, he was discovered by illustrious stage actor George Rignold, who put him in some of his future works. Later in London, McDermott was seen by the wife of Patrick Campbell, and was cast to star opposite her in future plays. He then sailed to the United States and played on Broadway opposite her as Sir George Orreyed in The Second Mrs. Tanqeray. Back in London, New York agent and producer Charles Frohman saw McDermott's work and was impressed. He then hired him to play Sherlock Holmes and later brought him to the United States.
McDermott got his first taste of the American film industry when he was hired by Thomas Edison in 1909 to appear as a featured player at Edison's Bronx studio, in replacement of Maurice Costello, who had moved to Vitagraph, the first motion picture stock company ever formed. McDermott was then picked for a role in Les Misérables, acting with Maurice Costello and William V. Ranous. Later that year, he acted in the 1909 short Lochinvar, based on the story by Sir Walter Scott. That movie was released before Les Misérables, but he filmed the movie after Lochinvar. The next year, McDermott was cast as Ebenezer Scrooge in the short seventeen-minute silent film adaptation of Charles Dickens' work, A Christmas Carol. In 1912, McDermott starred with Mary Fuller and Charles Ogle in What Happened to Mary?, the first motion picture serial made in the U.S. The Edison Studios production consisted of twelve one-reel episodes released monthly starting on 26 July 1912 to coincide with the serial of the same name published in McClure's Ladies' World magazine.
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