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Harold Clayton Lloyd (April 20, 1893–March
8, 1971) was an American actor.

Harold Lloyd ranks alongside Charlie Chaplin and
Buster Keaton as one of the most popular and
influential film comedians of the silent film era.
 Lloyd made nearly 200 comedy films, both silent
and sound, between 1914 and 1947.  He is best
known for his "Glasses Character", a resourceful,
success-seeking go-getter who was perfectly in
tune with 1920's era America.  His films
frequently contained "thrill sequences" of
extended chase scenes and daredevil physical
feats, for which he is best remembered today.  The
image of Lloyd hanging from the hands of a clock
high above the street in Safety Last (1923) is one
of the enduring images in all of cinema.  Lloyd
did many of these dangerous stunts himself,
despite having severely injured his right hand in
a 1919 accident with a prop bomb.  

Lloyd began his film career in the 1910s with
pioneer comic filmmaker Hal Roach, portraying the
Chaplin-inspired "Lonesome Luke" character in
numerous short comedies.  By 1918, Lloyd and Roach
had developed the "Glasses Character" (always
named "Harold" in the films), a much more mature
comedy character with greater potential for
sympathy and emotional depth.  Beginning in 1921,
they moved to feature length comedies, including
Grandma's Boy (1922), Safety Last (1923), and Why
Worry? (1923).  Lloyd and Roach parted ways in
1924, and Lloyd became the independent producer of
his own films.  These included his great works
Girl Shy (1924), The Freshman (1925)(his most
successful silent film), The Kid Brother (1927),
and Speedy (1928), his final silent film.  These
films were enormously successful and profitable,
and influenced many filmmakers.  Like the other
great comics, Lloyd was the driving creative force
in his films, particularly the feature length
films, and he became one of the wealthiest and
most influential figures in early Hollywood.

Lloyd made the transition to sound in 1929 with
Welcome Danger, and made a handful of sound films
until 1937 (including the excellent ensemble film
Milky Way in 1936).  Unfortunately, his character
was out of tune with movie audiences of the Great
Depression, who failed to respond as before. 
Lloyd retired from the screen, but he returned for
an additional starring appearance in The Sin of
Harold Diddlebock (1948), directed by Preston
Sturges.  The film was a financial failure.

==Birth==
Lloyd, born in Burchard, Nebraska|Burchard,
Nebraska, started acting in one-reel film comedies
in 1912 in San Diego, California|San Diego,
California. Lloyd soon began working with Thomas
Edison's motion picture company, Universal
Studios|Universal, and eventually ended up with
Hal Roach. In 1924 he formed his own independent
film production company, with his films
distributed by Pathe and later Paramount
Pictures|Paramount.  Lloyd was a founding member
of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.

==Marriage==
Lloyd married his leading lady, Mildred Davis, in
February 1923. Together, they had two children:
Gloria, born in 1923, and Harold, born in 1931.
They also adopted Peggy in 1930. Mildred died in
1969, two years before Lloyd's death.  Lloyd's
fabled Beverly Hills home, "GreenAcres" was built
in 1928–1930, with 44 rooms, 26 bathrooms,
12 fountains, and 12 gardens. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.

==Retirement==
By the 1940s, Lloyd was no longer active in the
film industry. Instead, he remained very active in
a number of other interests, including important
civic and charity work with the Shriner's
Organization for Children.  Lloyd was very
involved with photography, including 3D
photography and early color film experiments. Some
of the earliest 2-color Technicolor tests were
shot at his Beverly Hills home.

==Renewed interest==
Lloyd kept copyright control of most of his films,
and re-released them infrequently after his
retirement.  As a consequence, his reputation and
public recognition suffered in comparison with
Chaplin and Keaton, whose work has generally been
more available.  Also, Lloyd's film character was
so intimately associated with the 1920's era that
he lacked the more timeless quality of Chaplin and
Keaton, and attempts at revivals failed to
resonate with audiences in the 1940s and 1950s. 
In the early 1960s, Lloyd produced two compilation
films, featuring scenes from his old comedies,
Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy (1962) and The
Funny Side of Life (1963). These films sparked
some renewed interest, but more importantly helped
restore Lloyd's status among film historians. 
Throughout his later years he screened his films
for audiences at special charity and educational
events, to great acclaim.   

Following his death, most of his feature films
were marketed by Time-Life Films, but these were
poorly presented, with insensitive musical scores.
 The British Thames Silents series re-released
some of the feature films in the early 1990s on
video (with new orchestral scores by Carl Davis),
and these are frequently shown on the Turner
Classic Movies (TCM) network. A 1990 documentary
also created a renewed interest in Lloyd's work. 
DVD releases of restored versions of his major
films are expected in 2005, along with limited
theatrical screenings in New York City|New York
and other US cities.

==Academy Award==
In 1952, Lloyd received a special Academy Award
for being a "master comedian and good citizen."

==Death==
Lloyd died at the age of 77 from prostate cancer
on March 8, 1971, in Beverly Hills, California,
United States|USA. He was interred in the Forest
Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale,
California.



==Documentary==
Lloyd was the subject of a television documentary
series in 1990, Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius by
Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, which followed
similar acclaimed documentaries about the other
great silent film clowns, Charlie Chaplin and
Buster Keaton.  Through the participation of
Lloyd's granddaughter and estate trustee, Suzanne
Lloyd, the filmakers had full access to Lloyd's
films and his personal archive.

A highlight of this program were interviews with
Lloyd's legendary friend and partner Hal Roach,
then 95 years old.  Other Lloyd associates,
friends, and family members also participated in
the film. 

The two hour documentary revealed the methods
behind Lloyd's celebrated high-altitude stunts,
which he never revealed in his lifetime.  They
were staged on prop facades built above the
entrance to the Hill Street Tunnel in Los Angeles,
or on the rooftops of buildings in downtown Los
Angeles.  Lloyd was usually about 20 feet above a
hidden platform, but the camera was positioned
such that Lloyd appeared to be high above the
streets below.

==Walk of fame==
Harold Lloyd has a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame. In 1994, he was honored with his image on a
List of people on stamps of the United
States|United States postage stamp designed by
caricaturist Al Hirschfeld.

Lloyd was notorious for using his access to get
young actresses to pose for him, and in 2004, his
granddaughter Suzanne produced a book of
selections from his photographs, Harold Lloyd's
Hollywood Nudes in 3D! (ISBN 1579123945).

Sony Pictures plans a remake of Safety Last for
release in 2006. Talent is not yet signed, but the
producers are Jennifer Dana and Mark Gordon.

	Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Harold Clayton Lloyd (April 20, 1893–March
8, 1971) was an United States|American actor.

Harold Lloyd ranks alongside Charlie Chaplin and
Buster Keaton as one of the most popular and
influential film comedians of the silent film era.
 Lloyd made nearly 200 comedy films, both silent
and sound, between 1914 and 1947.  He is best
known for his "Glasses Character", a resourceful,
success-seeking go-getter who was perfectly in
tune with 1920's era America.  His films
frequently contained "thrill sequences" of
extended chase scenes and daredevil physical
feats, for which he is best remembered today.  The
image of Lloyd hanging from the hands of a clock
high above the street in Safety Last (1923) is one
of the enduring images in all of cinema.  Lloyd
did many of these dangerous stunts himself,
despite having severely injured his right hand in
a 1919 accident with a prop bomb.  

Lloyd began his film career in the 1910s with
pioneer comic filmmaker Hal Roach, portraying the
Chaplin-inspired "Lonesome Luke" character in
numerous short comedies.  By 1918, Lloyd and Roach
had developed the "Glasses Character" (always
named "Harold" in the films), a much more mature
comedy character with greater potential for
sympathy and emotional depth.  Beginning in 1921,
they moved to feature length comedies, including
Grandma's Boy (1922), Safety Last (1923), and Why
Worry? (1923).  Lloyd and Roach parted ways in
1924, and Lloyd became the independent producer of
his own films.  These included his great works
Girl Shy (1924), The Freshman (1925)(his most
successful silent film), The Kid Brother (1927),
and Speedy (1928), his final silent film.  These
films were enormously successful and profitable,
and influenced many filmmakers.  Like the other
great comics, Lloyd was the driving creative force
in his films, particularly the feature length
films, and he became one of the wealthiest and
most influential figures in early Hollywood.

Lloyd made the transition to sound in 1929 with
Welcome Danger, and made a handful of sound films
until 1937 (including the excellent ensemble film
Milky Way in 1936).  Unfortunately, his character
was out of tune with movie audiences of the Great
Depression, who failed to respond as before. 
Lloyd retired from the screen, but he returned for
an additional starring appearance in The Sin of
Harold Diddlebock (1948), directed by Preston
Sturges.  The film was a financial failure.

==Birth==
Lloyd, born in Burchard, Nebraska|Burchard,
Nebraska, started acting in one-reel film comedies
in 1912 in San Diego, California|San Diego,
California. Lloyd soon began working with Thomas
Edison's motion picture company, Universal
Studios|Universal, and eventually ended up with
Hal Roach. In 1924 he formed his own independent
film production company, with his films
distributed by Pathe and later Paramount
Pictures|Paramount.  Lloyd was a founding member
of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.

==Marriage==
Lloyd married his leading lady, Mildred Davis, in
February 1923. Together, they had two children:
Gloria, born in 1923, and Harold, born in 1931.
They also adopted Peggy in 1930. Mildred died in
1969, two years before Lloyd's death.  Lloyd's
fabled Beverly Hills home, "GreenAcres" was built
in 1928–1930, with 44 rooms, 26 bathrooms,
12 fountains, and 12 gardens. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.

==Retirement==
By the 1940s, Lloyd was no longer active in the
film industry. Instead, he remained very active in
a number of other interests, including important
civic and charity work with the Shriner's
Organization for Children.  Lloyd was very
involved with photography, including 3D
photography and early color film experiments. Some
of the earliest 2-color Technicolor tests were
shot at his Beverly Hills home.

==Renewed interest==
Lloyd kept copyright control of most of his films,
and re-released them infrequently after his
retirement.  As a consequence, his reputation and
public recognition suffered in comparison with
Chaplin and Keaton, whose work has generally been
more available.  Also, Lloyd's film character was
so intimately associated with the 1920's era that
he lacked the more timeless quality of Chaplin and
Keaton, and attempts at revivals failed to
resonate with audiences in the 1940s and 1950s. 
In the early 1960s, Lloyd produced two compilation
films, featuring scenes from his old comedies,
Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy (1962) and The
Funny Side of Life (1963). These films sparked
some renewed interest, but more importantly helped
restore Lloyd's status among film historians. 
Throughout his later years he screened his films
for audiences at special charity and educational
events, to great acclaim.   

Following his death, most of his feature films
were marketed by Time-Life Films, but these were
poorly presented, with insensitive musical scores.
 The British Thames Silents series re-released
some of the feature films in the early 1990s on
video (with new orchestral scores by Carl Davis),
and these are frequently shown on the Turner
Classic Movies (TCM) network. A 1990 documentary
also created a renewed interest in Lloyd's work. 
DVD releases of restored versions of his major
films are expected in 2005, along with limited
theatrical screenings in New York City|New York
and other US cities.

==Academy Award==
In 1952, Lloyd received a special Academy Award
for being a "master comedian and good citizen."

==Death==
Lloyd died at the age of 77 from prostate cancer
on March 8, 1971, in Beverly Hills, California,
United States|USA. He was interred in the Forest
Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale,
California.



==Documentary==
Lloyd was the subject of a television documentary
series in 1990, Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius by
Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, which followed
similar acclaimed documentaries about the other
great silent film clowns, Charlie Chaplin and
Buster Keaton.  Through the participation of
Lloyd's granddaughter and estate trustee, Suzanne
Lloyd, the filmakers had full access to Lloyd's
films and his personal archive.

A highlight of this program were interviews with
Lloyd's legendary friend and partner Hal Roach,
then 95 years old.  Other Lloyd associates,
friends, and family members also participated in
the film. 

The two hour documentary revealed the methods
behind Lloyd's celebrated high-altitude stunts,
which he never revealed in his lifetime.  They
were staged on prop facades built above the
entrance to the Hill Street Tunnel in Los Angeles,
or on the rooftops of buildings in downtown Los
Angeles.  Lloyd was usually about 20 feet above a
hidden platform, but the camera was positioned
such that Lloyd appeared to be high above the
streets below.

==Walk of fame==
Harold Lloyd has a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame. In 1994, he was honored with his image on a
List of people on stamps of the United
States|United States postage stamp designed by
caricaturist Al Hirschfeld.

Lloyd was notorious for using his access to get
young actresses to pose for him, and in 2004, his
granddaughter Suzanne produced a book of
selections from his photographs, Harold Lloyd's
Hollywood Nudes in 3D! (ISBN 1579123945).

Sony Pictures plans a remake of Safety Last for
release in 2006. Talent is not yet signed, but the
producers are Jennifer Dana and Mark Gordon.

==Autobiography==
* An American Comedy (1928)

==External links==
*imdb name|name=Harold Lloyd|id=0516001
*http://www.haroldlloyd.com Official site