The Art of Lon Chaney Sr.

Lon Chaney was born on April 1, 1883 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was the son of deaf mute parents, Frank and Emma Chaney and he learned from childhood to communicate through pantomime, sign language and facial expression. His mother became bed ridden from rheumatism when Lon was very young, so he quit school about the age of ten to care for her and his younger siblings.





























The Unknown, 1927, Lon Chaney
Directed by Tod Browning

Lon Chaney Sr.

"Lon Chaney was someone who acted out our psyches. He somehow got into the shadows inside our bodies; he was able to nail down some of our secret fears and put them on-screen," the writer Ray Bradbury once explained. "The history of Lon Chaney is the history of unrequited loves. He brings that part of you out into the open, because you fear that you are not loved, you fear that you never will be loved, you fear there is some part of you that's grotesque, that the world will turn away from."

Lon Chaney Sr.

Lon Chaney Sr.

Lon Chaney Sr.

Known on stage and screen as "The Man of a Thousand Faces," He called his specialty 'extreme characterization.' Despite how he wretched and anguished some of his roles may appear, the reports of him enduring excruciating pain for his art are wildly exaggerated. A former dancer and avid outdoorsman, He maintained a strong, lean physique and was very flexible. Of course, he got injured occasionally; and some makeup and wardrobe effects were more uncomfortable than others. However, at no time did he ever resort to self-torture.