Karl Dane

 Karl Dane was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on October 10, 1886. His parents divorced when he was young and his childhood was an unhappy one. He took to puppeteering as an escape. He was married to Carla Dagmar Hagen on September 10, 1910 and they had two children. The war brought unemployment to Denmark and, with intentions of sending for his wife and children once he was settled, he immigrated to the US in 1916. He was lonely depressed and he worked various jobs and had a number jobs and he lived in several rented rooms. His wife grew impatient and was filing for divorce which became final in 1919. In 1917, he was in movies playing in anti Kaiser films and he changed his name from Rasmuss Karl Therkelsen Gottlieb to Karl Dane to avoid being thought of as German. He met Helen Benson who was Swedish. She disaproved of his acting so he quit and they married on June 15, 1921 and took up chicken farming. In 1923, Helen was pregnant and she died on August 9, 1923 giving birth to a daughter who also died. Devastated and lonely, Dane impulsively married telephone operator Emma Sawyer in March 1924 but the marriage ended in that September. A friend convinced him to try acting again and he was chosen for the role of 'Slim' in King Vidor's "The Big Parade", an anti-war film starring John Gilbert and Rene Adoree. The film was a huge success critical and financial success and has become a classic. Dane was signed to a contract by MGM and he worked with Rudolph Valentino, Lillian Gish, and John Gilbert. He was teamed with British actor George K. Arthur as 'Dane and Arthur' with Dane as a slow witted Scandinavian. in a series of films. He worked extremely hard and became ill while in a relationship with crazed Russian Thais Valdemeer. They never married despite her claim to the contrary and the relationship ended. Talking films came in and his accent was considered problematic although he had many film roles up to 1930. That year he worked menial jobs and had a nervous breakdown but after recovering in 1931, he reunited with George K. Arthur for an 8 month vaudeville tour and he was once again given a film contract. Writers soon found it difficult to create roles for him. His final film aooearance was in the three hour serial, "The Whispering Shadow".starring Bela Lugosi in 1932. Once again, he worked at menial jobs such as a waiter at a cafe where he was fired after the owner learned that he was a former movie star which which he felt wouldn't be a customer draw. MGM refused to rehire him even as an extra or as a carpenter. Dane had invested in mines but his partner swindled him out of all his money. On the way to his apartment in 1934, he was pick pocketed losing the only money he had left, $18. On the eve of April 14, 1934, his girlfriend, Frances Leake arrived to take him to a movie hoping to cheer him up. Unable to get in, she had the landlady open the door only to find him slumped in a chair dead, with a revolver in his hand. On a nearby table on a scrapbook of his film career was a note which read, "To Frances and all my friends -- Goodbye". He was 47. No relatives in Denmark claimed his body but the Hollywood Danis Community insisted he be given a proper funeral which, feeling pressured, MGM paid for and he was interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.