Australians in Hollywood : Biographical Notes

Arthur Shirley
Arthur Shirley (1886-1967) sailed for America in 1914, having appeared in early Australian films such as The Shepherd of the Southern Cross (1912). His Hollywood debut came in the Lon Chaney picture Bound on the Wheel (1915). Over six feet tall, Shirley played leading man to a variety of Hollywood beauties, including Mae Murray in Universal's Modern Love (1918). His most famous role was that of John Vassar in The Fall of a Nation (1916). The film's poster, which showed Shirley holding the U.S. flag, was used for patriotic purposes during WW1. He also ran a photography business on Hollywood Boulevard. His portrait of Rudolph Valentino is said to have landed that pale heart-throb his first screen-test. After seven years in Hollywood , Shirley returned to Australia in 1921 and formed Arthur Shirley Productions. In a Rose Bay studio he began filming The Throwback , but his company went into liquidation before the film's completion. For another firm, Pyramid Pictures, he directed and acted in the profitable The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1925) and the less successful The Sealed Room (1926). A staunch campaigner for government assistance for the ailing local industry, he retired from films after a series of failed ventures in the 30s.

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