David Voorhees

born: 16 August 1892
Osawatomie, Kansas,
United States of America
died: 23 January 1939
San Francisco County, California,
United States of America
(age 46)

Exceptionally tall American actor, nicknamed "Slim," who frequented Harold Lloyd's early films. He was a nephew of Indiana Senator Daniel W. Voorhees. After appearing in about a year's worth of Lonesome Lukes and "glasses" one-reelers filmed between September 1916 and August 1917 (though officially announced in trades as joining the company in December 1916), Voorhees left the Rolin stock company when recruited by the U.S. Army. He had enlisted in Los Angeles on 28 September 1916 (having expressed a desire to "go to war" as early as 1914, but being foiled then by his exceptional height), and was called up for duty on 15 July 1917, to serve at Fort McArthur, San Pedro, CA, and served as drum major and Mess Sergeant of the Coast Artillery Corps. At that moment, he was reportedly the tallest man enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was discharged on 23 December 1919 (service no longer required).
He returned to Roach briefly in 1920, but afterwards worked as a chauffeur for Southern California Edison and as a truck driver for Consolidated Rock Co. He married Monica Mary Diebolt (b. 1900) in 1923 and had two sons, David Ellison, Jr. (b. 1927) and John Jude (1929-2015). He had taken over the role of Rolin's resident "big guy" from Ben Corday, and after Voorhees' military call-up, said role would essentially be inherited by James Fitzgerald.
Real name: David Ellison Voorhees
Height: 6'7¾"
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography.

18


1917
Lonesome Luke On Tin Can Alley
[?]

1917
Lonesome Luke's Honeymoon
[?]

1917
Lonesome Luke, Plumber
[?]

1917
Stop! Luke! Listen!
[?]

1917
Lonesome Luke, Messenger
[?]

1917
Lonesome Luke, Mechanic
[?]

1917
Lonesome Luke's Wild Women
[?]

1917
Over The Fence
[?]

1917
Lonesome Luke Loses Patients
[?]

1917
Pinched
[?]

1917
By The Sad Sea Waves
[?]

1917
Birds Of A Feather
[?]

1917
Bliss
Piccolo player

1917
Love, Laughs And Lather
[?]

1917
Clubs Are Trump
Tall caveman

1917
We Never Sleep
[?]

1920
An Eastern Westerner
[?]

1920
High And Dizzy
[?]

Acknowledgements & sources:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL8V-V6NW (1895 KS Census)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMYQ-YY1 (1900 Census)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2HV-FCM (1910 Census)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZV6-VMN (WWI draft reg. card)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHQT-VTZ (1920 Census)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8NS-HS9 (1923 marriage)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V8MS-SJQ (soldier's home record — 1931)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKS9-VGLC (CA Death Index)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56821714 (Find a Grave)
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LKHQ-DWH (family tree — FamilySearch)
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/181327123/ (Star Tribune [Minneapolis, MN], 23 Apr 1914)
https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturenew14moti_4#page/3648/mode/1up/search/david (Motion Picture News, 09 Dec 1916)
https://archive.org/stream/motography162elec#page/1308/mode/1up/search/voorhees (Motography, 09 Dec 1916)
https://archive.org/stream/mowor33chal#page/807/mode/1up/search/yoorhees (Moving Picture World, 04 Aug 1917)
https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturenew161unse#page/863/mode/1up/search/voorhees (Motion Picture News, 04 Aug 1917)
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1917-08-07/ed-1/seq-5/ (Morning Oregonian, 07 Aug 1917)
https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturenew161unse#page/1018/mode/1up/search/voorhees (Motion Picture News, 11 Aug 1917)
https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturenew161unse#page/1108/mode/1up/search/voorhees (Motion Picture News, 18 Aug 1917)
https://books.google.com/books?id=A9bbAAAAIAAJ&q=%22e+voorhees%22 (Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of California)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGL7-H7WK (son David Ellison [Jr.]'s birth, 1927)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGL7-6NR6 (son John Jude's birth, 1929)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144363396 (son John Jude at Find a Grave)
Jesse Brisson (research and information)

This page was last updated on: 13 April 2019