John S. Robertson

For other people named John Robertson, see John Robertson (disambiguation).
John S. Robertson
Photo of Robertson from Photoplay (October 1921)
Born(1878-06-14)June 14, 1878
London, Ontario, Canada
DiedNovember 5, 1964(1964-11-05) (aged 86)
Escondido, California, U.S.[1]
OccupationFilm director
SpouseJosephine Lovett

John Stuart Robertson (June 14, 1878 – November 5, 1964) was a Canadian born actor and later film director perhaps best known for his 1920 screen adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, starring John Barrymore.

Biography

Robertson was born in London, Ontario. He broke into filmmaking in 1915 with Vitagraph, then with Famous Players–Lasky, making 57 features in his career. Robertson left film in 1935, amid the increasing prevalence of sound pictures. He was married to screenwriter Josephine Lovett. He died in California, aged 86.

The Byrds song "Old John Robertson," written by the group's bassist Chris Hillman and lead guitarist Roger McGuinn, is about Robertson.[2]

In his 2020 autobiography, Time Between, Hillman describes Robertson after he retired to Rancho Santa Fe, California, where Hillman grew up:

"Mr. Robertson wore a silver belly stetson hat, riding jodhpurs, and boots. With his long, white handlebar mustache, he resembled a sheriff out of the Old West. Robertson was never without his wife Jo by his side. He was a wonderful man who knew everyone by name and was so very kind to all of us kids. I loved running into him... (He was) a man I looked up to and never forgot for the rest of my life."[3]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ "John Robertson, 86, of Early Film Days". The New York Times. November 8, 1964.
  2. ^ Younger Than Yesterday, ByrdWatcher. Retrieved 3 April 2008....Retrieved Wayback version 15 November 2017(Wayback Machine)
  3. ^ Hillman, Chris (2020). Time Between: My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother, and Beyond. BMG. pp. 7–8. ISBN 9781947026353.
  • Media related to John S. Robertson at Wikimedia Commons
  • Works by or about John S. Robertson at Wikisource
  • John S. Robertson at IMDb
  • John S. Robertson at the Internet Broadway Database
  • John S. Robertson at Virtual History
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.