Lal Chand Mehra

{{Infobox person

| name = Lal Chand Mehra

| alt = Sepia portrait photograph of the actor wearing a smart suit and bowtie

| caption = Lal Chand Mehra in 1933

| image = Lal_Chand_Mehra_in_1933.jpg

| birth_name =

| birth_date = August 14, 1897

| birth_place = Amritsar, India

| death_date = October 21, 1980 (aged 83)

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, USA

| education = University of Punjab
University of California Berkeley

| occupation = Actor, academic

| spouse = Georgia Williams (m. 1933)

}}

Lal Chand Mehra was an Indian character actor and academic active in Hollywood from the 1920s through the 1960s.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzi1QjokREkC&q=%22lal+chand+mehra%22&pg=PA223|title=The Complete Kay Francis Career Record: All Film, Stage, Radio and Television Appearances|last1=Kear|first1=Lynn|last2=Rossman|first2=John|date=2016-03-30|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476602875|language=en}}

Biography

Mehra was born into a prominent Hindu family in Amritsar, India. He attended the University of Punjab as an undergraduate,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKhqh3HFH8AC&q=%22lal+chand+mehra%22&pg=PA30|title=From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse: Highbrow and Lowbrow Transgression in Cinema's First Century|last1=Cline|first1=John|last2=Weiner|first2=Robert G.|date=2010-07-17|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810876552|language=en}} and got his postgraduate degrees in education and philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/380438578/?terms=%22lal+chand+mehra%22|title=Radiography|last=|first=|date=8 Sep 1935|website=The Los Angeles Times|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-11}}

In Hollywood, he worked as an actor and also as a technical director on films that called for knowledge of Indian culture and customs.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/585448856/?terms=%22lal+chand+mehra%22|title=In Hollywood|last=|first=|date=24 Mar 1929|website=The Bristol Herald Courier|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-11}}{{Cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19340223.2.29&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|title=Madera Tribune 23 February 1934 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=2019-11-11}} He also gave lectures on Indian culture and current events throughout Southern California and on the radio. He told reporters he planned on eventually going back to India and directing films, but it does not appear that he returned to India.

He married concert violinist Georgia Williams in 1933.

Selected filmography

References

Category:Indian male film actors

Category:1897 births

Category:1980 deaths

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:Emigrants from British India to the United States