John Bunny
Encyclopedia
John Bunny was an American
actor and was one of the first comic stars of the motion picture era. Between 1910 and his death in 1915 Bunny was one of the top stars of early silent film
, as well as an early example of celebrity. At one time he was billed as “the man who makes more than the president”! His face was insured for $100,000 and his unexpected death made headlines around the world. Though quickly forgotten, Bunny paved the way for future plump comedians such as Fatty Arbuckle
and Jackie Gleason
.
, Bunny was raised in Brooklyn
where he attended high school and worked as a grocery clerk before joining a small minstrel show
touring the East Coast. He went on to jobs as stage manager for various stock companies and performed in vaudeville
before being drawn to the fledgling motion picture business. By 1910, Bunny was working at Vitagraph Studios
where the happy-go-lucky, rotund man quickly became an international star of silent film comedies. At Vitagraph he starred in a series of over one hundred popular comedies with the comedian Flora Finch
that were popularly called "Bunnyfinches".
The popularity of Bunny can be attributed to the succulent fun of the music hall and the circus, not the dry wit of sophisticated comedies. He was jolly, boisterous, and broad in his acting, and because of this style, he connected strongly with early nickelodeon audiences.
In a 1913 interview in Motion Picture Acting by Francis Agnew, he prophetically mused,
Regarding the motion picture industry as a profession, Bunny reflected to Francis Agnew,
Unfortunately, Bunny was strongly disliked by most of his fellow actors at Vitagraph, including Finch. Interviews of former Vitagraph personnel conducted by Anthony Slide
in the 1960s and 1970s revealed that his co-workers found him arrogant, bad-tempered, and difficult to work with, an image very much at odds with his genial on-screen persona.
also became an actor.
at his home on April 26, 1915. He was interred in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, New York. Because silent film had no language barrier, Bunny's popularity was such that his death was front-page news in Europe
as well as the United States.
at 1715 Vine Street
in Hollywood.
In The Art of the Moving Picture (1915), American poet and early film critic Vachel Lindsay
considered Bunny to be the greatest of the early screen comedians.
Bunny was mentioned by Fred Mertz in the "I Love Lucy
" Season 4 episode "Ricky's Screen Test".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor and was one of the first comic stars of the motion picture era. Between 1910 and his death in 1915 Bunny was one of the top stars of early silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
, as well as an early example of celebrity. At one time he was billed as “the man who makes more than the president”! His face was insured for $100,000 and his unexpected death made headlines around the world. Though quickly forgotten, Bunny paved the way for future plump comedians such as Fatty Arbuckle
Fatty Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd...
and Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
.
Early life and career
Born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Bunny was raised in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
where he attended high school and worked as a grocery clerk before joining a small minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
touring the East Coast. He went on to jobs as stage manager for various stock companies and performed in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
before being drawn to the fledgling motion picture business. By 1910, Bunny was working at Vitagraph Studios
Vitagraph Studios
American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. By 1907 it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros...
where the happy-go-lucky, rotund man quickly became an international star of silent film comedies. At Vitagraph he starred in a series of over one hundred popular comedies with the comedian Flora Finch
Flora Finch
Flora Finch was an English-born film actress who starred in over 300 silent films, including over 200 for the Vitagraph Studios film company.-Early life and career:...
that were popularly called "Bunnyfinches".
The popularity of Bunny can be attributed to the succulent fun of the music hall and the circus, not the dry wit of sophisticated comedies. He was jolly, boisterous, and broad in his acting, and because of this style, he connected strongly with early nickelodeon audiences.
In a 1913 interview in Motion Picture Acting by Francis Agnew, he prophetically mused,
“I believe the time is coming when motion picture machines will be a part of the equipment of every school and college in the country, and many branches of learning now so objectionable to children will be made interesting by the use of motion pictures. My principal worry is the fact that I can’t hope to live long enough to do all the work that I’ve mapped out for myself. I have planned fifty years of activity in the motion picture business, which I fear I will not live to carry out entirely. I want to see Latin and Greek mythology taught in every school and college in the United States by the use of films. It can and will be done and will be one of the biggest gifts to mankind the world has ever known.”
Regarding the motion picture industry as a profession, Bunny reflected to Francis Agnew,
“There’s nothing like it. No other work gives an actor or would-be actor the same advantages. In the pictures, a player gets fifty-two weeks in the year. Where is the theatrical manager who can offer that? Not even vaudeville stars can get such bookings. At best, thirty weeks is about all an actor can expect on the stage. He may get summer stock work, but even so it is of uncertain duration. Stage work is a gamble. Even when you have been engaged for a production, rehearsed from three to six weeks without pay, and no doubt bought your own costumes for the piece, you have no guarantee that it will be a success. If the public does not set its stamp of approval, your job is all over perhaps after but one performance, and you can only repeat the procedure by trying again with someone else, charging the other to your loss account, with a credit notation probably on the page marked ‘experience.’”
Unfortunately, Bunny was strongly disliked by most of his fellow actors at Vitagraph, including Finch. Interviews of former Vitagraph personnel conducted by Anthony Slide
Anthony Slide
Anthony Slide is a writer who has produced more than seventy books and edited a further 150 on the history of popular entertainment. He wrote a "letter from Hollywood" for the British Film Review from 1979 to 1994, and he wrote a monthly book review column for Classic Images from 1989 to 2001...
in the 1960s and 1970s revealed that his co-workers found him arrogant, bad-tempered, and difficult to work with, an image very much at odds with his genial on-screen persona.
Personal life
Bunny married Clara Scallan on January 23, 1890 with whom he had two children, George and John Jr. who later became an actor. His brother GeorgeGeorge Bunny
George Bunny was an American actor. He appeared in sixty-four films between 1915 and 1950.He was born in New York City, New York, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart attack. He was the brother of actor John Bunny....
also became an actor.
Death
Bunny had only been acting in films for five years when he died from Bright's diseaseBright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
at his home on April 26, 1915. He was interred in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, New York. Because silent film had no language barrier, Bunny's popularity was such that his death was front-page news in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as well as the United States.
Legacy
Following his passing, advances in technology and in stunts brought great new comedic stars to silent film that relegated Bunny to the status of an almost completely forgotten actor. However, he was eventually honored for his contribution to the motion picture industry with a star on the Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1715 Vine Street
Vine Street
Vine is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north-south from Melrose Avenue up past Hollywood Boulevard. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine was once a symbol of Hollywood itself...
in Hollywood.
In The Art of the Moving Picture (1915), American poet and early film critic Vachel Lindsay
Vachel Lindsay
Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was an American poet. He is considered the father of modern singing poetry, as he referred to it, in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted...
considered Bunny to be the greatest of the early screen comedians.
Bunny was mentioned by Fred Mertz in the "I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
" Season 4 episode "Ricky's Screen Test".
Selected filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1909 | Cohen's Dream | Cohen | Alternative title: Cohen's Dream of Coney Island |
| Cohen at Coney Island | Cohen | ||
| 1910 | Davy Jones and Captain Bragg | Captain Bragg | |
| Captain Barnacle's Chaperone | Captain Barnacle | ||
| 1911 | A Queen for a Day | Bridget McSweeney | |
| Teaching McFadden to Waltz | McFadden | ||
| Her Crowning Glory | Mortimer | ||
| 1912 | A Cure for Pokeritis | George Brown | |
| Michael McShane, Matchmaker | Michael McShane | ||
| 1913 | Seeing Double | Binks | |
| Flaming Hearts | Jonathan Whippletree | ||
| 1914 | Love's Old Dream | Professor Simon Sweet | |
| Setting the Style | Mr. Finnegan | ||
| 1915 | The Jarrs Visit Arcadia | ||