Anderson Lawler
Also Known As: Anderson Lawlor, Sidney Lawler
Biography: From Wikipedia, the free encycloped Anderson Lawler (May 5, 1902 – April 6, 1959) was an American film and stage actor and producer, who had a career lasting from the 1920s through the 1950s. He began on Broadway, before moving to featured and supporting roles in Hollywood over a ten-year career at the very beginning of the talking picture era. After the end of his acting career, Lawler would move to the production end of the film industry, as well as becoming a producer of legitimate theater in the late 1940s and 1950s. Life and career Lawler was born Sidney Lawler on May 5, 1902 in Russellville, Alabama to Earnest H. and Dona C. Lawler. Prior to 1927, Lawler would move to New York City, and change his professional name to Anderson. In 1927 he would have a featured role in the Broadway production Her First Affaire, which premiered at the Nora Bayes Theatre in August 1927. In 1929 he would move to Los Angeles, where he would begin his career in the film industry. His first role would be in 1929's River of Romance. While in Hollywood, he appeared in almost thirty films during this time, mostly in supporting roles, before moving behind the scenes in 1939. Aside from his professional career, he was also popular with many Hollywood luminaries, such as William Haines, George Cukor, Gary Cooper and Katharine Hepburn. Lawler was a homosexual, although he was frequently linked with women. In 1935 he accompanied Kay Francis on a trip to Europe, ostensibly sent by the studios to keep her out of trouble. At one point, Walter Winchell started a rumor that the two were engaged. He produced the 1946 film, Somewhere in the Night, which was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and starred John Hodiak, Nancy Guild, and Lloyd Nolan. Lee Strasberg adapted the screenplay, and was an assistant director on the project. Shortly after this, both Lawler and Strasberg were transferred to the New York office of Twentieth Century-Fox. Lawler and Strasberg had a close friendship, Lawler becoming the Godfather of Strasberg's daughter, Susan Strasberg. In New York, Lawler worked in Fox's talent department, but he also began a second career as a producer of legitimate theater. At least one of those plays, Oh Men, Oh Women, would be turned into a film by Fox in 1957. On April 6, 1959, Lawler would die suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Russellville, Alabama, USA
Birthday: May 05, 1902
Deathday: April 06, 1959
Adult: No
Gender: Male
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Known For:
Night After Night
Overview: A former boxer purchases a classy speakeasy and falls in love with a wealthy society girl.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-10-29
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Girls About Town
Overview: A dynamic duo in silk and ermine entertain hick businessmen looking for a good time while in Manhattan.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1931-11-07
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Maid's Night Out
Overview: A millionaire's son works as a milkman for a month to win a bet with his father. While delivering milk he falls in love with a young debutante whom he mistakes for a maid.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-03-03
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Confession
Overview: Vera Kowalska is put on trial for murdering concert pianist Michael Michailow. In court it is revealed that some years earlier Michael ruined Vera's life.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-08-19
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Ace of Aces
Overview: A sculptor who doesn't want to have any part of World War I is shamed by his girlfriend into joining the army. He becomes a fighter pilot, and undergoes a complete personality change.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-10-20
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Half Marriage
Overview: A young couple marries in secret. Judy's afraid her parents won't approve of Dick and she'll lose her generous allowance. Her parents bring her home from the city where she's been studying art and encourage the attentions of Tom, a persistent suitor. Judy and her jealous husband have an argument that leads her back to the city, a drunken, amorous Tom and a tragedy.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1929-10-12
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Let's Fall in Love
Overview: A carnival girl pretends to be Swedish in order to win a movie role.
Genres: Romance Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-12-26
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Mystery House
Overview: When a banker is found shot dead with a gun in his hand, his daughter refuses to believe it is a suicide. With the help of a detective, she hopes to get to the bottom of the case.
Genres: Adventure Crime Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-05-21
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Men Must Fight
Overview: Prophetic tale of a mother in 1940 trying to keep her son out of war.
Genres: Drama War Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-02-17
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A Lady to Love
Overview: Middle-aged Napa Valley grape-grower Tony posts a marriage proposal to San Francisco waitress Lena enclosing a photo of his handsome younger brother Buck. When she gets there she overlooks his duplicity and marries him. Then she falls in love with Buck.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1930-02-28
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The River of Romance
Overview: Mississippi, 1830's. Tom Rumsford comes back to Magnolia Landing, his parents'estate. Having been brought up in the North by Quaker relatives, he just hates violence and accordingly refuses a duel. As this is the only way in the South to settle a dispute between gentlemen, Tom's father is so infuriated by his behavior that Tom has no other choice but leave. Away from Magnolia Landing, Tom learns bravery and returns seven years later as "the notorious Colonel Blake", the terror of the Lower Mississippi.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1929-06-28
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The Invisible Menace
Overview: Army Private Eddie Pratt smuggles his new bride into camp in hopes of having a happy wedding night. Instead they discover a murder. Colonel Rogers of Army Intelligence arrives to take over the case. The prime suspect, Jevries, is well-known to Rogers, who sets out to get a confession from Jevries even though there are plenty of other suspects.
Genres: Mystery Thriller Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-01-11
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Ever Since Eve
Overview: Madge Winton, a beautiful secretary, makes herself look homely in order to avoid advances by lecherous bosses. When her new employer, writer Freddy Matthews, accidentally sees her without her disguise, she has to pretend to be her roommate Sadie.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-07-15
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Sinners in the Sun
Overview: A New York fashion model finds herself being pursued by a poor but honest garage mechanic and a rich philanderer.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-05-13
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Only Saps Work
Overview: Rubber-legged comedian Leon Errol made his talkie starring bow in Paramount's Only Saps Work. Based on a play by Owen Davis Sr., the film casts Errol as James Wilson, a kleptomaniac who starts with picking pockets and ends up robbing a bank. Wilson's friend Lawrence Payne (Richard Arlen) inadvertently aids our hero during one of his heists, ending up in deep doo-doo with the law. Before Wilson is able to extricate Payne from his dilemma for the sake of heroine Barbara Tanner (Mary Brian), he pauses long enough to pose as a private eye -- and even gives bellboy Oscar (Stu Erwin) tips on how to spot a crook! If only all of Leon Errol's feature films had been as consistently hilarious as Only Saps Work.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1930-12-05
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Born to Love
Overview: A pregnant American nurse living in London during WWI, believing her soldier-fiance has been killed in France, marries a wealthy aristocrat so her child will have a father.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1931-04-17
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The Daredevil Drivers
Overview: To spite his girlfriend, the owner of a successful bus company, an auto racer goes to work for her rival.
Genres: Action Crime Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-02-12
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Heart of the North
Overview: A two-fisted Canadian Mountie leads lawmen in pursuit of the thieves who stole an Edmonton-bound freighter's cargo.
Genres: Western Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-12-10
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Fly Away Baby
Overview: Torchy Blane solves a murder and smuggling case during a round-the-world flight.
Genres: Adventure Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-06-19
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Empty Holsters
Overview: Ace owns just about everything around except for the Bank, which is owned by John Ware. Ace also has his eye on Judy, but Judy only has eyes for Clay. Since Ace is a crook, he holds up the stage and has his cronies swear that Clay was the bandit which gets Clay 10 years in jail. After he gets out in 5 for good behavior, Clay sets out to find who framed him and stole the stage strongbox. Since the sheriff does not like Clay, he takes his guns away as part of his probation and it makes Clay a target for the Ace gang.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-07-10
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Torchy Blane in Chinatown
Overview: Torchy Blane joins her police-detective fiance to solve a series of murders involving a set of Chinese grave tablets taken and sold to a collector and death-threats written in Chinese characters.
Genres: Action Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-02-02
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The Cheyenne Kid
Overview: Chasing a gambler that stole money, Tom Larkin gets his horse shot out from under him. Meeting an outlaw with a horse, after a fight Tom rides away on that horse. Arriving in town he is mistaken for the outlaw and offered a job of killing a man. But the man is the father of the girl that Tom's money was to go to but was stolen by the gambler.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-01-20
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Over the Wall
Overview: When a singing, song-writing prizefighter is framed for murder and sent to the state pen, his girlfriend sets out to prove his innocence.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-04-02
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Accidents Will Happen
Overview: A married insurance claims adjuster investigates a gang of accident-fraud racketeers, but they retaliate by targeting his wife.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-04-09
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The Road to Reno
Overview: Jackie is the perpetually adolescent mother of two grown children - daughter Lee and son Jeff - who are in their early 20's. In spite of the fact that fourth husband Robert is a good provider, good step-dad, and all-around good sport about Jackie's rather wild ways, Jackie is intent on divorcing him although she seems to bear the man no resentment. It just seems that her only reason is that it's time for a change, much like an impulse to buy a new hat. Both children are upset about her decision since they have great affection for Robert. However, daughter Lee has just arrived home from school and decides to accompany her mother to Reno to look after her. On the train west, Lee meets a young mining engineer, Tom, who is headed to a job interview in California. The two hit it off and a romance buds.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1931-09-25
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The Adventurous Blonde
Overview: The third of nine Torchy Blane movies. Angry that police detective Steve McBride (Barton MacLane) is giving preferential treatment to his reporter-fiancée, Torchy Blane (Glenda Farrell), reporters from a rival newspaper plan a fake murder with the idea that Torchy's paper will print the story and look foolish. The tables are turned when the fake murder turns out to be the genuine article.
Genres: Romance Comedy Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-11-13
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Let's Talk It Over
Overview: A young sailor saves a woman from drowning. The woman turns out to be a rich heiress; unfortunately for the sailor, she was only pretending to be drowning so that another young man she had her eye on would save her.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-06-01
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Public Hero Number 1
Overview: G-Man Jeff Crane poses as a crook to infiltrate the notorious Purple Gang, a band of hoodlums which preys upon other hoodlums. Orchestrating the jailbreak of the gang's leader, Crane joins him in a Dillinger-like flight across the country.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-05-31
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Mr. Dodd Takes the Air
Overview: A country bumpkin becomes a singing sensation on the radio.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-08-11
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Hollywood Speaks
Overview: The darkest side of Tinseltown is depicted in this drama that centers upon a Hollywood columnist determined to reveal the awful truth about entertainment business.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-06-25
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Alcatraz Island
Overview: A man who has been railroaded into prison is framed for the murder of a fellow inmate and must prove his innocence.
Genres: Romance Drama Action Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-10-13
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Beloved
Overview: Story about four generations in a family of musicians.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-01-22
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American Madness
Overview: Socially-conscious banker Thomas Dickson faces a crisis when his protégé is wrongly accused of robbing the bank, gossip of the robbery starts a bank run, and evidence suggests Dickson's wife had an affair... all in the same day.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-08-15
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