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Lew Cody

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Lew Cody
Cody, c. 1915
Born
Louis Joseph Côté

(1884-02-22)February 22, 1884
DiedMay 31, 1934(1934-05-31) (aged 50)
Resting placeSt. Peter's Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMcGill University
OccupationActor
Years active1907–1934
Spouses
(m. 1910; div. 1911)
(m. 1913; div. 1914)
(m. 1926; died 1930)

Lew Cody (born Louis Joseph Côté; February 22, 1884 – May 31, 1934) was an American stage and film actor whose career spanned the silent film and early sound film age. He gained notoriety in the late 1910s for playing "male vamps" in films such as Don't Change Your Husband.[1]

Early life and career

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Cody was born on February 22, 1884 (some sources say 1885)[2] to Louis Joseph Côté and Elizabeth Sarah Côté (née Herbert). His father was French Canadian, with his ancestral lineage dating back to France and Germany, and his mother was a native of Maine. Cody and his younger brothers and sisters were born in Waterville, Maine.[3][4][5][6] After Elizabeth's death, Louis remarried to Marie Lena Rose Toussaint, and they had a daughter named Cecile Côté.

The family moved to Berlin, New Hampshire, where Cody's father owned a drug store. In his youth, Cody worked at his father's drug store as a soda jerk. He later enrolled at McGill University in Montreal where he intended to study medicine but abandoned the idea of setting up in practice and joined a theatre stock company in North Carolina.[4]

He made his debut on the stage in New York in Pierre of the Plains.[5] Cody moved to Los Angeles and began a minor film career at The Balboa Film Studios with Thomas Ince. [4] Cody had at least 99 film credits from 1914 to 1934.[citation needed]

Personal life

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Cody was married three times. His first two marriages were to actress Dorothy Dalton. They first married in 1910 and divorced in 1911. They remarried in 1913 and were divorced a second time in 1914.[7] Playing the debonnaire leading man, Cody enjoyed the later single life of "a man's man", which added to his acting persona. In what may have been started as a mutual lark, Cody married Mabel Normand in 1926.[8] Having pre-med schooling, Cody understood that Mabel had acute tuberculosis, so they lived separately and he attended all he possibly could to Mabel's comfort. They remained married until Normand's death from tuberculosis in February 1930.[8][9]

Death

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After Mabel's passing, he successfully transitioned into talking pictures and to even better roles. On May 31, 1934, Cody died of a sudden heart attack in his sleep at his home in Beverly Hills, California.[3] He is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery, Lewiston, Maine, in the family plot.[6][10]

Partial filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1914 Harp of Tara Jim Macy Short subject
1915 The Tip-Off Arthur Clarke Short subject
The Floating Death Bruce Graham Short subject
His Mother's Portrait Darrell Blackley Short subject
The Mating 'Bullet Dick' Ames Credited as Lewis J. Cody
Lost film
The Promoter Jim Howard Short subject
Credited as Lewis J. Cody
Comrade John Prophet Stein Credited as Lewis J. Cody
Should a Wife Forgive? Alfred Bedford
1916 The Buried Treasure of Cobre Professor Peabody Short subject
Credited as Louis Cody
The Crime of Circumstance Short subject
The Grinning Skull Donald Harvey Short subject
The Cycle of Fate Sid Aldrich Credited as Lewis Cody
The Oath of Hate Short subject
1917 A Noble Fraud Short subject
Credited as Lewis J. Cody
The Bride's Silence Paul Wagner Credited as Lewis J. Cody
Southern Pride Robert Orme Short subject
A Game of Wits Larry Caldwell
A Branded Soul John Rannie Lost film
1918 Painted Lips Jim Douglass
Daddy's Girl John Standlaw
Mickey Reggie Drake Credited as Lewis Cody; co-starring Mabel Normand
For Husbands Only Rolin Van D'Arcy Lost film
Treasure of the Sea Jim Hardwick
The Bride's Awakening Richard Earle
The Demon Jim Lassells Credited as Lewis Cody
Playthings John Hayward
Beans Kirk
Borrowed Clothes Stuart Furth
1919 Don't Change Your Husband Schuyler Van Sutphen co-starring Gloria Swanson; directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Are You Legally Married? John Stark Lost film
Men, Women and Money Cleveland Buchanan
Our Better Selves Willard Standish Lost film
The Life Line Philip Royston co-starring Wallace Beery
The Broken Butterfly Daniel Thorn
The Beloved Cheater Bruce Sands Lost film
As the Sun Went Down Faro Bill Lost film
1920 The Butterfly Man Sedgewick Blynn Lost film
Occasionally Yours Bruce Sands
1921 The Sign on the Door Frank Devereaux
1922 The Valley of Silent Men Cpl. James Kent Incomplete film
The Secrets of Paris King Rudolph Lost film
Dangerous Pastime Barry Adams
1923 Rupert of Hentzau Rupert of Hentzau Sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda
Lost film
Jacqueline Raoul Radon Lost film
Souls for Sale Owen Scudder
Within the Law Joe Garson
Lawful Larceny Guy Tarlow Lost film
Reno Roy Tappan
1924 The Shooting of Dan McGrew Dangerous Dan McGrew
The Woman on the Jury George Montgomery / George Wayne Lost film
Defying the Law Pietro Savori Lost film
Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model Walter Peck
Three Women Edmund Lamont
Revelation Count Adrian de Roche
Husbands and Lovers Rex Phillips
So This is Marriage? Daniel Rankin
1925 Man and Maid Sir Nicholas Thormonde Lost film
The Sporting Venus Prince Carlos Starring Blanche Sweet and Ronald Colman
A Slave of Fashion Nicholas Wentworth co-starring Norma Shearer
Lost film
The Tower of Lies Victor Seastrom co-starring Lon Chaney and Norma Shearer[11]
Lost film
Exchange of Wives John Rathburn
His Secretary David Colman co-starring Norma Shearer
Lost film
1926 Monte Carlo Tony Townsend
The Gay Deceiver Toto/Antoine di Tillois Lost film
1927 The Demi-Bride Philippe Levaux Lost film
On Ze Boulevard Gaston Pasqual
Adam and Evil Adam Trevelyan / Allan Trevelyan Lost film
Tea for Three Carter Langford Lost film
1928 Wickedness Preferred Anthony Dare Lost film
Beau Broadway Jim Lambert Lost film
The Baby Cyclone Joe Meadows Lost film
Show People Himself Uncredited
1929 A Single Man Robin Worthington Lost film
1930 What a Widow! Victor co-starring Gloria Swanson
Lost film
Divorce Among Friends Paul Wilcox
1931 Dishonored Colonel Kovrin
Not Exactly Gentlemen Ace Beaudry
Three Girls Lost William (Jack) Marriott Starring John Wayne and Loretta Young
Beyond Victory Lew Cavanaugh co-starring ZaSu Pitts
Stout Hearts and Willing Hands The Villain Short subject
Sweepstakes Wally Weber
A Woman of Experience Captain Otto von Lichstein
The Common Law Dick Carmedon co-starring Constance Bennett and Hedda Hopper
Meet the Wife Philip Lord co-starring Laura La Plante
Sporting Blood Tip Scanlon co-starring Clark Gable
X Marks the Spot George Howe
1932 The Crusader Jimmie Dale
File 113 M. Gaston Le Coq
Beautiful and Dumb Short subject
The Tenderfoot Joe Lehman
70,000 Witnesses Slip Buchanan
The Crusader Jimmie Dale
Madison Square Garden Rourke
The Unwritten Law Roger Morgan
A Parisian Romance Baron co-starring Gilbert Roland
Under-Cover Man Kenneth Mason
1933 By Appointment Only Dr. Michael Travers
Wine, Women and Song Morgan Andrews
Sitting Pretty Jules Clark co-starring Ginger Rogers and Thelma Todd
I Love That Man Labels Castell
1934 Private Scandal Benjamin J. Somers co-starring ZaSu Pitts
Shoot the Works Axel Hanratty

References

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  1. ^ St. Johns, Adela Rogers (March 1919). "The Confessions of a Male Vampire". Photoplay. New York: Photoplay Publishing Co. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  2. ^ (Chicago), Photoplay (1924). "Stars of the Photoplay".
  3. ^ a b Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). Silent Film Necrology. McFarland & Company Incorporated Pub. p. 96. ISBN 0-7864-1059-0.
  4. ^ a b c Beale, George H. (June 1, 1934). "Lew Cody, Noted Star, Found Dead". San Jose News. p. 7. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Lew Cody Dies In His Sleep After Many Years Of Work On Stage and In Pictures". The Evening Independent. June 1, 1934. p. 3-A. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Connor, Sam E. (July 16, 1934). "Lew Cody: Behind the Scenes With Late Hollywood Actor". Lewiston Evening Journal. p. A-12. Retrieved April 21, 2014. I love Maine, perhaps because I was born in Waterville, but I don't think that's it." (Quote by Lew Cody)
  7. ^ Houseman, Victoria (1991). Made in Heaven: The Marriages and Children of Hollywood Stars. Bonus Books. p. 72. ISBN 0-929387-24-4.
  8. ^ a b "Lew Cody Dead In Film Capital". Spokane Daily Chronicle. June 1, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  9. ^ Warwick White, Wendy (2007). Ford Sterling: The Life and Films. McFarland. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-7864-8220-7.
  10. ^ Wilson, Scott; Mank, Gregory W. (forward) (2016). "Cody, Lew #2486". Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0786479924. OCLC 948561021.
  11. ^ Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 151. ISBN 1-879511-26-6.
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