Ashton Dearholt

Ashton Dearholt
Ashton Dearholt
	Dearholt in the advertisement for Too Much Youth (1925) under the name Richard Holt
Born	April 4, 1894; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Died	April 27, 1942 (aged 48); Los Angeles, California, US
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Other names	Richard Holt
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1915–1938
Spouse(s)	Florence Gilbert (1926–1934) (divorced); Ula Holt (July 1935–April 27, 1942; his death); Helene Rosson (before 1926; divorced)

Ashton Dearholt (April 4, 1894 – April 27, 1942) was an American actor of the silent film era. He appeared in 75 films between 1915 and 1938. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and died in Los Angeles, California.^[1] He was sometimes billed as Richard Holt.^[2]

Biography

Dearholt worked with Universal Studios on a number of melodramas during the 1910s but usually worked outside the studio system, producing and starring in a series of "Pinto Pete" Western during the 1920s. He occasionally acted under the name Richard Holt.

He founded Ashton Dearholt Productions in 1924. Ten years later, Dearholt and Edgar Rice Burroughs founded the film production company Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises^[2] when he was filming The New Adventures of Tarzan. His character in that serial was a mercenary antagonistic explorer sent to steal the valuable Green Goddess.

During its production in Guatemala, Dearholt married the leading actress, Ula Holt, and Burroughs broke up with his first wife to marry Dearholt's ex-wife, Florence Gilbert.