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Marc McDermott

{{short description|Australian-American actor (1871-1929)}}

{{for|rugby player|Mark McDermott}}

{{Use Australian English|date=February 2015}}

{{more citations needed|date=May 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}

{{Infobox person

| name =Marc McDermott

| image =Marc McDermott.jpg

| caption = McDermott, c. 1925

| birth_name = Marcus McDermott

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1871|7|24|df=y}}

| birth_place = Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date = {{death date and age|1929|1|5|1871|7|24|df=y}}

| death_place = Glendale, California, U.S.

| othername =

| yearsactive = 1900–1929

| spouse = Miriam Nesbitt

}}

Marcus McDermott (also credited as Marc MacDermott; 24 July 1871 – 5 January 1929) was an Australian actor who starred on Broadway and in over 180 American films from 1909 until his death.Nick Murphy, [https://forgottenaustralianactresses.com/2019/10/17/marc-mcdermott-the-sydney-hairdresser-who-went-to-hollywood/], at the Forgotten Australian Actors website, 12 November 2019Detroit Free Press, 6 January 1909. "Movie Pioneer is dead at 60." 13 November 2019

Early life and career

McDermott was born in Goulburn, New South Wales to Irish parents and he attended Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview in Sydney. Later, while working as a hairdresser in central Sydney, McDermott took an active interest in amateur theatricals. In 1899 he was discovered by illustrious stage actor George Rignold, and he traveled on an extended Australian tour with Rignold's company. In mid-1902 McDermott traveled to New York via Canada, joining Mrs Patrick Campbell’s a company soon after and appearing on Broadway, as Sir George Orreyed in The Second Mrs. Tanqeray. In mid-1903 he traveled to England with Campbell and performed there until 1906 when he returned to the United States, his reputation by now well established.

McDermott got his first taste of the American film industry when he was hired by Thomas Edison in 1909 to appear as a featured player at Edison's Bronx studio, in replacement of Maurice Costello, who had moved to Vitagraph, the first motion picture stock company ever formed. McDermott was then picked for a role in Les Misérables, acting with Maurice Costello and William V. Ranous. Later that year, he acted in 1909 short Lochinvar, based on the story by Sir Walter Scott. That movie was released before Les Misérables, but he filmed the movie after Lochinvar. The next year, McDermott was cast as Ebenezer Scrooge in the short seventeen-minute silent film adaptation of Charles Dickens' work, A Christmas Carol. In 1912, McDermott starred with Mary Fuller and Charles Ogle in What Happened to Mary?, the first motion picture serial made in the U.S. The Edison Studios production consisted of twelve one-reel episodes released monthly starting on 26 July 1912 to coincide with the serial of the same name published in McClure's Ladies' World magazine.

Two years later, McDermott appeared as the lead in The Man Who Disappeared, another popular ten-chapter series that also was featured in magazines just as each chapter appeared on the screen. McDermott had starred in over 140 films for Edison by 1916, and had frequently appeared in popular film magazines like Photoplay and Moving Picture World. That year, on 20 April, McDermott married stage actress Miriam Nesbitt, who later co-starred with him in many films such as The Man Who Disappeared. McDermott then left Edison Studios to join Vitagraph Studios. For the next decade, McDermott spent his time starring in minor and major roles in dozens of movies.

Death

McDermott died at the age of 57 on 5 January 1929 of cirrhosis of the liver, during surgery to treat the condition.https://www.newspapers.com/image/385376618/?match=1&terms=marc%20mcdermott He was entombed in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Partial filmography

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References

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External links

{{commons category|Marc McDermott}}

  • {{Internet Archive author |sname=Marc McDermott |sopt=t}}
  • {{IMDb name|0531584}}
  • [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18665/marc-mcdermott findagrave.com]

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Category:1871 births

Category:1929 deaths

Category:Australian male stage actors

Category:Australian people of Irish descent

Category:Deaths from cirrhosis

Category:Australian expatriate male actors in the United States

Category:Australian male silent film actors

Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)

Category:19th-century Australian male actors

Category:20th-century Australian male actors

Category:People educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview