Frank Daniels

born: 15 August 1856 Dayton, Ohio, United States of America

died: 12 January 1935 West Palm Beach, Florida, United States of America (age 78)

Elderly American silent screen comedian. He worked at Vitagraph in 1916-1917. He was a superstar performer (1879-1930) in comic light operas and musical plays touring the US and Canada with a stint in England in the early 1900's. He continued to perform on stage even while he was acting in movies. He retired in 1912 but came out of retirement in 1914 to act in movies. He was known for his great singing voice and naturally comic acting, especially his walk and "acrobatic eyebrows". Most newspapers of his time say he was born in 1860. I trust the 1860 Census which says he was aged 4 and the 1880 Census aged 24. Most sources don't mention his first wife, JENNIE YEAMANS (Nov 1883), the star of their musical company. They eloped to Galveston, TX without notice and caused the play to fold and stranding the company. In 1895, he married his co-star, BESSIE SANSON (b.Scotland 1870-1932) and they adopted a young boy and girl from England. The boy, FRANK V., went into acting. (Another site says they had 3 children.). In 1900, FRANK earned an astonishing $25,000. He and friend, DeWOLFF HOPPER bought several acres of land on Long Island (Rye, NY) and built homes. He spent summers there and winters on his houseboat in West Palm Beach, FL. By the 1930 Census, his home was worth $100,000. When he died in 1935, his estate was valued at $200,000.

Real name: Frank Albert Daniels

Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography.

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1919 Soft Money [?] 1919 Count The Votes [?] 1919 Pay Your Dues [?] 1919 His Only Father [?] 1919 Bumping Into Broadway [?] 1921 Among Those Present [?] *Listed by the IMDb; not listed by Harold Lloyd Encyclopedia

Acknowledgements: Jim Jarvis (research and information) http://anthonybalducci.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/an-honorable-mention-frank-daniels.html (Anthony Balducci) https://familysearch.org/ark:/ 61903/1:1:MZH4-VSC?from=lynx1& treeref=KHKL-G5G (1860 Census, aged 4) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD3G-LZJ?from=lynx1&treeref=KHKL-G5G (1870 Census, aged 13) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHXG-2VF (1880 Census, aged 24, opera singer) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSP4-D6D (1900 Census, 2 children and servant) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M593-28R (1910 Census, 2 adopted children) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MV3Z-PYD (1920 Census, wife BESSIE and servant) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4GN-8PV (1930 Census, has $100,000 home) This page was last updated on: 16 August 2017