Charles Eyton
{{short description|American film producer}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Charles Eyton
| image = Charles Eyton.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = Eyton in 1921
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1871|06|24}}
| birth_place = Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1941|07|02|1871|06|24}}
| death_place = Hollywood, California, US
| occupation = Producer
| yearsactive =
| spouse = Anna S. Cole (m.1900–div.1901)
Bessie Eyton (m.1908–div.1915)
Kathlyn Williams (m.1916–div.1931)
| relatives = Alice Eyton (sister)
Vera Doria (sister)
}}
Charles Eyton (24 June 1871 – 2 July 1941) was an actor-producer who became general manager of Famous Players–Lasky Corporation (a Paramount Pictures subsidiary) during the silent film era.
Personal life
The second of five children, Charles F. Eyton was the son of journalist Robert Henry Eyton (–1885) and Eleanor Maud Eyton (née Fosbery), and born in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand.{{cite news |title=Births |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18710626.2.8 |access-date=24 January 2024 |work=Auckland Star |issue=455 |date=26 June 1871 |page=2 |via=National Library of New Zealand }}{{Citation | title = Mrs. Nightingale Dead | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = 29 March 1913}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162973465 |title=Death of a Journalist |newspaper=Tasmanian News |volume=II |issue=591 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=15 October 1885 |access-date=20 January 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} His sisters were singer/actress Vera Doria,{{cite journal | title =Vera Doria Latest Film Recruit | journal =Moving Picture World | volume =25 | issue =3 | pages =489 | date =17 July 1915 | url =https://archive.org/stream/movingpicturewor25newy#page/488/mode/2up | accessdate = 4 December 2013}} and writer Alice Eyton,{{cite news | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126577592 | title=Australians abroad | work=Sunday Times | date=18 July 1909 | accessdate=2 December 2013}} who died of burns in 1929 after her masquerade costume was accidentally set alight.{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fDVVAAAAIBAJ&dq=charles%20eyton&pg=4576%2C2289865 | title=ALICE EYTON BURNED TO DEATH AT PARTY | work=Rochester Evening Journal | date=4 November 1929 | accessdate=2 December 2013}}
In 1900 Charles Eyton married Anna S. Cole.{{Citation | title = Marriage Licenses | newspaper = Los Angeles Herald | date = 4 January 1900 | url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19000104.2.145 | accessdate=16 December 2013}} They were divorced in May 1901.{{Citation | title = Court Briefs | newspaper = Los Angeles Herald | date = 22 May 1901 | url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19010522.2.122# | accessdate=16 December 2013}}
On 3 September 1908, Charles Eyton married actress Bessie Harrison, who would henceforth use the professional name Bessie Eyton.{{Citation
| title = Incompatibility | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = 7 January 1915}} They were divorced on 16 March 1915.{{Citation | title = Say Bessie Eyton's To Marry Local Auto Man | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = 25 July 1916}}
He became a United States citizen in December 1915.{{Citation | title = Charlie Eyton One of Big Citizenship Class | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = 23 December 1915}}
On 2 June 1916, Charles Eyton married actress Kathlyn Williams. It was her third marriage.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zT1-QjkLnToC&q=%22Charles+Eyton%22&pg=PA207 | title=Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars | publisher=McFarland | author=Golden, Eve | year=2001 | pages=229 | isbn=9780786483549}} They were divorced in 1931 on the grounds of incompatibility, with Williams not seeking any payments from Eyton.{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HGZQAAAAIBAJ&dq=charles%20eyton&pg=2354%2C4760974 | title=Kathlyn Williams is Granted Divorce | work=The Milwaukee Sentinel | date=28 January 1931 | accessdate=2 December 2013}}
He died of pneumonia in Hollywood on 2 July 1941.{{Citation | title = Eyton, Screen Pioneer, Dies | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = 3 July 1942}}
Career
= Wrestling =
After establishing his reputation as a lightweight wrestler,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199512303 |title=The Slavin Combination |newspaper=The Tasmanian |volume=XVII |issue=37 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=15 September 1888 |access-date=24 January 2024 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}} standing {{convert|5|ft|9|in}} and weighing {{convert|9|st|3|lb}}, in 1889 Eyton sailed from Australia to the United States,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108100461 |title=Off to America |newspaper=The Evening News (Sydney) |issue=6952 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=2 September 1889 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} where he participated in a series of wrestling matches.{{Citation | title = Eyton's Record | newspaper = Helena Independent| url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025308/1892-04-18/ed-1/seq-5 | location = Helena, Montana | date = 18 April 1892| accessdate=15 December 2013}}
In 1900, he came to Los Angeles and became assistant manager of the Burbank Theater and an officer of the Los Angeles Athletic Club.{{Citation | title = Charles Eyton | newspaper = Los Angeles Herald| url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042462/1908-07-12/ed-1/seq-30/ | date = 12 July 1908}} He also worked as a boxing referee for over a decade, and was featured on a cigarette sports trading card in 1910.{{cite web
| title = Chas. Eyton (Referee) | publisher = Mecca Cigarettes | year = 1910 | url =http://webzoom.freewebs.com/looking-for-mabel/00001107%20JUL%20PIXS/Charles%20Eyton%20CARD.jpg | accessdate = 17 December 2013}} The championship bouts refereed by Charles Eyton included:
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Class ! Boxers |
|---|
| 1906
| heavyweight | Tommy Burns vs. Marvin Hart{{Citation | title = Champion Hart Loses His Title | newspaper = Los Angeles Herald | url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19060224.2.54 | date = 24 February 1906 | accessdate=17 December 2013}} |
| 1911
| lightweight | Ad Wolgast vs. George Memsic{{Citation | title = Wolgast Tightens his hold on the Lightweight Honors | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = 18 March 1911}} |
| 1912
| featherweight | Johnny Kilbane vs. Abe Attell{{Citation | title = Abe Attell loses to John Kilbane | newspaper = The New York Times | date = 23 February 1912}} |
| 1913
| heavyweight | Jess Willard vs. John "Bull" Young (fatal fight){{Citation | title = Jess Willard and Others are Called to Trial | newspaper = San Francisco Call | url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19130830.2.92 | date = 30 August 1913 | accessdate=17 December 2013}} |
= Motion pictures =
Eyton formed the Real Art Picture Corporation in 1908.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47431087 |title=High praise for Charlie Chaplin |newspaper=The Advertiser|location=Adelaide |volume=95 |issue=29,314 |date=24 September 1952 |access-date=24 January 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}
In 1914, Frank Garbutt created the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company, named after Oliver Morosco. Charles Eyton was appointed to supervise the company's productions{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YLPTleQHkrUC&q=Charles+Eyton&pg=PA43 | title=Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood | publisher=University Press of Kentucky | author=Birchard, Robert | year=2004 | location=USA | pages=430 | isbn=9780813123240}} and also the productions of Bosworth, Inc., which were produced in the same studio at 201 N. Occidental, in Los Angeles. Bosworth, Inc. soon folded and was replaced by Pallas Pictures. In 1916, Morosco and Pallas became part of Famous Players–Lasky, and Charles Eyton remained manager of the Morosco studio. In 1919, Eyton became manager of the larger Famous Players–Lasky studio at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood.{{Citation | title = Lasky Promotions | url=https://archive.org/stream/variety56-1919-09#page/n64/mode/1up | newspaper = Variety | page = 65 | date = 5 September 1919| accessdate=5 December 2013}}
In 1925, he was appointed to be in charge of Paramount productions abroad.{{cite news | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58231631 | title=Paramount Production | work=Sunday Times | location=Perth | date=6 December 1925 | accessdate=2 December 2013}} Adolph Zukor announced the special production unit would include a production of D. W. Griffith's adaption of Marie Corelli's novel, The Sorrows of Satan; with Eyton described as having been in charge of the Paramount studio and was 'voted unqualifiedly the most popular man in the entire motion picture colony'.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91690723 |title=The motion picture section |newspaper=The Examiner (Tasmania) |volume=LXXXIII |issue=293 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=12 December 1925 |access-date=24 January 2024 |page=18 (Daily) |via=National Library of Australia}}
He resigned from Paramount in 1926.{{Citation | title = Eyton Quits | url=https://archive.org/stream/filmdaily3738newy#page/359/mode/1up | newspaper = The Film Daily | page = 1 | date = 10 August 1926 | accessdate=5 December 2013}}
William Taylor's murder
On 1 February 1922, Charles Eyton was one of the first people to arrive on the scene of the murder of film director William Desmond Taylor (1872–1922), and was said to have been the person to have discovered that Taylor was shot when he attempted to raise the body.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169188750 |title=Movie magnate murder mystery |newspaper=Truth |issue=1679 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=12 March 1922 |access-date=24 January 2024 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75453704 | title=Murdered a few minutes after Mabel Normand left him | work=The Mirror | date=12 June 1937 | accessdate=2 December 2013}} Eyton was interviewed by police, ostensibly in relation to means of locating the deceased's missing butler, and Eyton denied knowing about letters apparently missing from Taylor's house.{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/02/07/98980004.pdf | title=PRESS FILM STAR FOR TAYLOR CLUE | work=The New York Times | date=7 February 1922 | accessdate=2 December 2013}} There were a number of possible suspects and remains a cold case today.[http://www.taylorology.com/issues/Taylor04.txt Taylorology (newsheet)] Issue 4, April 1993; retrieved 12 May 2013.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|6590138|Thomas J. Geraghty}}
- [http://cdm15759.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15759coll3/id/118 Letter from Whitman Bennett to Charles Eyton, 1919]
- [http://www.taylorology.com/inquest/inquest.pdf#page=5 Charles Eyton's testimony at the Inquest into the death of William Desmond Taylor, 1922]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyton, Charles}}
Category:Film producers from Los Angeles
Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery