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Lloyd Lonergan (March 3, 1870, Chicago, Illinois - April 6, 1937, New York City) was one of the most prolific scenario and screenwriters in American silent film. A brother-in-law of Edwin Thanhouser he worked for the Thanhouser Company based in New Rochelle, New York, writing screenplays for over 100 films.
Writer: The Lurking Peril. Born in Chicago, Lloyd F. Lonergan was one of five children of Thomas Lonergan, a newspaper publisher. His mother was a writer for various newspapers, and eventually all of his siblings became newspaper writers, too. Lonergan attended the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD.
- January 1, 1
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- January 1, 1
- New York, USA
Lloyd Lonergan. Writer: The Lurking Peril. Born in Chicago, Lloyd F. Lonergan was one of five children of Thomas Lonergan, a newspaper publisher. His mother was a writer for various newspapers, and eventually all of his siblings became newspaper writers, too. Lonergan attended the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD.
Born in Chicago, Lloyd F. Lonergan was one of five children of Thomas Lonergan, a newspaper publisher. His mother was a writer for various newspapers, and eventually all of his siblings became newspaper writers too. Lonergan attended the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD.
- Introduction
- On The Stage with Edwin Thanhouser
- Enter: Gertrude Homan
- Courtship and Marriage
- Exit Milwaukee, Hello Chicago
- Enter Lloyd F. Lonergan: Brother-In-Law and Newspaperman
- Into The Motion Picture Business
- Edwin Thanhouser: Buisnessman, Visonary, and Spokesman
- Gertrude Thanhouser: The Creative Force Behind The Scenes
- Lloyd F. Lonergan: Master of Scenarios
The family mode of production in the early motion picture industry was firmly established by stage actors and theater management veterans Edwin and Gertrude Thanhouser with brother-in-law and journalist Lloyd F. Lonergan. The three joined forces in 1909 to establish what would become one of America’s pioneering independent silent motion picture stu...
Edwin Thanhouser joined the Salvini theatrical troupe in 1894, playing mostly “one night stands” in numerous cities, towns, and hamlets from coast to coast. When, as reported by The New York Times, Salvini died suddenly of tuberculous in 1896, Edwin joined Charles Frohman’s traveling company and performed in minor roles, such as Captain La Rolle in...
Gertrude Homan was a child star on the New York stage starting in 1888 at age six in “Partners” at the Madison Square Theatre in New York City. The Partners company went to the West Coast in the summer of the same year. An article in The Daily Alta Californiafrom August 10, 1888 relates: “‘I am told,’ said the reporter, ‘that you have a remarkable ...
In the days before air conditioning, many theaters–if not most of the larger venues in America, including those on Broadway–were dark during most of June, July, and August due to the oppressive heat indoors. It was therefore customary for headliners to apply for positions out “in the sticks” during the summer months. The reputation of Edwin Thanhou...
Edwin Thanhouser’s success managing the Academy of Music Theatre in Milwaukee had, by this time, made him a man of wealth. By 1908, one can imagine that he longed for a greater challenge. Edwin enlisted some of his Thanhouser Stock Company members and departed for seemingly greener pastures in Chicago, a theatre center second only to New York City....
In the spring of 1909, after researching the motion picture industry, Edwin Thanhouser terminated his lease on the Bush Temple Theatre. With their two young children, Lloyd and Marie, they relocated to New York City and moved in with Gertrude’s brother-in-law Lloyd F. Lonergan who was married to Gertrude’s sister, Marie Homan. Lonergan came from a ...
Edwin and Gertrude enticed Lonergan to join them in establishing the Thanhouser Company as an independent motion picture production studio. From the certificate of incorporation dated October 28, 1909, the stated purpose of the company was, “To take, make and exhibit, moving, animated, and stationary pictures and photographs, and to lease rights to...
Edwin’s years of theatrical management in Milwaukee and Chicago thrust him into the role as the manager of the company and chief promoter for the new venture. In a March 1910 interview titled “Thanhouser Company: A New Film Producer,” Edwin articulated why the studio would be successful in the motion picture business: “The Thanhouser Stock Company ...
Gertrude Thanhouser was not only a talented actress, but from her years on the stage and helping to manage the Academy Theater in Milwaukee and the Bush Temple Theatre in Chicago, she applied her knowledge of stagecraft to the fledgling company. Magazine articles, as well as family history, document Gertrude’s central role in the formation, managem...
In the early years from 1910 to 1912, nearly every scenario was credited to Lonergan. During this period, Lonergan, sometimes with the assistance of Gertrude, crafted one scenario a week starting with the company’s first film, The Actor’s Children, released on March 15, 1910. In an interview published on March 6, 1915 in The New Rochelle Pioneer, L...
Biographical Notes: Born in Chicago on March 3, 1870, Lloyd F. Lonergan was one of five children (four boys and a girl) of Thomas A. Lonergan, a newspaper publisher and editor, and Ellen A. Lonergan, a newspaper writer born in Ireland, who during his career was society editor for The Chicago Tribune and The New York World.
Charles Hite and Lloyd Lonergan sit on the beach while on a Thanhouser Company outing at Cape May, New Jersey, ca. 1913. Lloyd Lonergan was one of the most prolific scenario and screenwriters in American silent film, and Charles Hite was president and chief executive officer at Thanhouser.
