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Rupert Julian

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Actor

The Resume

    (January 25, 1879-September 27, 1943)
    Born in Whangaroa, New Zealand
    Born Thomas Percival Hayes
    Appeared in ‘The Merchant of Venice (1914),’ ‘The Pretty Sister of Jose,’ ‘The Lone Star Rush,’ ‘The Right to Be Happy,’ ‘The Bugler of Algiers,’ ‘Bettina Loved a Soldier,’ ‘A Kentucky Cinderella,’ ‘The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin (also writer and director),’ and ‘Three Faces East’
    Director of ‘Merry Go Round (1923),’ ‘Phantom of the Opera (1925),’ and (under Cecil B. DeMille) ‘Hell’s Highroad,’ ‘The Country Doctor (1927),’ and ‘The Yankee Clipper’

Why he might be annoying:

    An online search for the website dedicated to him may get you: ‘New Zealand’s least-known world-famous Hollywood star!’
    As a volunteer for the British effort in the Boer War, he was captured twice.
    He would adopt his stage name in response to news of a forger that was also named Percy Hayes!
    His portrayal of Kaiser Wilhelm II in ‘Kaiser,’ which he also wrote and directed, went on to be classified a lost film.
    He would replace the ultimately uncredited Erich von Stroheim six weeks into shooting ‘Merry-Go-Round.’
    There is minor confusion online as to whether he left or was fired from the Phantom film – not helped much by clashing with Lon Chaney – prior to completion.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was born to a sheepherder. (Well, it was <5380>New Zealand, dammit!)
    While his parents prepped him to become a Roman Catholic priest, he definitely wound up carving his own path.
    At his departure from the military, he had moved up to Lieutenant.
    Beginning with ‘Out of the Depths,’ he would have a sizable directorial resume (though ‘The Hole in the Garden Wall’ would be his scriptwriting debut).
    Barely three months stateside – in his mid-30s – he had appeared in 15 pictures!
    The three-picture agreement with DeMille involved vastly different premises.

Credit: Cool It All Right?


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying