James Young (director)

James Young ( born January 1, 1872 in Baltimore, Maryland, † June 9, 1948 in New York City, New York ) was an American film director, actor and screenwriter.

Life

Young was the son of a politician in the U.S. state of Maryland and worked as a stage actor before his film career began with the film company Vitagraph. In 1909 he had his debut there as an actor in a film by James Stuart Blackton. Young's directorial debut and his first screenplay originated in 1912. He became one of the most important directors in Vitagraph and turned until his final retirement in 1919 for this company about 75 films, including 1914 first film with Rudolph Valentino. He took his last role as an actor at Vitagraph in 1914 and entered thereafter until 1917 sporadically in productions of other companies on.

In the 1920s, almost every one of his films from other producers has been funded. Among the best known are The Unchastened Woman ( 1925) - one of the lesser films obtained with Theda Bara - and The Bells (1926 ), an Edgar Allan Poe adaptation with Lionel Barrymore. Young's last movie Midnight Rose was founded in 1928, Lya de Putti played the lead role.

In his first marriage he was married until 1916 with the actress Clara Kimball Young. From 1910 to 1915, she frequently appeared together in movies. After an affair his wife with producer Lewis J. Selznick Young filed for divorce in 1916 and was finally divorced after a long legal dispute in 1919.