John Francis Dillon(1884-1934)
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Actor/director John Francis Dillon was born in New York City on July
13, 1884 (his brother,
Robert Dillon, also entered the
film business, becoming a writer and director). He began his film
career in 1913 as an actor in two-reel Keystone comedies, billed as
"Jack Dillon". It wasn't long before he was also directing as well as
acting in two-reelers, for a variety of studios. He became better known
as a director than as an actor, however, and had a string of successes
in the silent
era--e.g.,Flaming Youth (1923),
The Perfect Flapper (1924),
We Moderns (1925))--and his
directorial career lasted into the 1930s, although with the coming of
sound he was relegated to lower-budget comedies and "B" pictures. His
best known picture is probably
Call Her Savage (1932), which was
silent-screen sexpot Clara Bow's
"comeback" film after a string of professional failures and personal
disasters. The film was well received and got Bow very good reviews,
but it couldn't save her career and she left films the next year.
John Francis Dillson died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, California, on April 4, 1934, at age 49.
John Francis Dillson died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, California, on April 4, 1934, at age 49.
