Douglas Haig (actor)

Douglas Haig [1]
Born
Douglas Patrick Haig

(1920-03-09)March 9, 1920[2]
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.[2]
DiedFebruary 1, 2011(2011-02-01) (aged 90)[3]
West Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1922–1937[1][2]

Douglas Patrick Haig (March 9, 1920 – February 1, 2011[3]) was an American child actor appearing in films in the 1920s and 1930s. His career began at age two in silent films and (unlike many silent film actors) continued into sound films ("talkies").[1]

From 1928 onward he appeared in at least 14 films. As a small child he was placid and pleasant-looking.[1] In a scholarly review of Attorney for the Defense, a 1932 sound film, his performance is described as very annoying.[2] The high point of Haig's career as a film actor came in 1935, with a starring role in Man's Best Friend (1935).

Before this he had appeared in both feature films and shorts such as The Family Group (1928), Sins of the Fathers (1928 lost silent film, of which only excerpts survive at the UCLA Film and Television Archives),[4] Betrayal (1929, a silent film with talking sequences, synchronized music and sound effects),[5] and Welcome Danger (1929).

In Man's Best Friend (1935), he starred in the lead role of Jed Strong, a boy whose abusive father wants to kill his dog. In 1986, TV Guide described the film as a “simple, unpretentious story of a little mountain boy and his pet police dog”.[6]

Although some early films in which Haig appeared have been lost, the later film survive and of those a few have been released on DVD. These include Man's Best Friend (together with The Secret Code) and High Gear.

Filmography

List of acting performances in film
Title Year Role Notes
Woman-Wise[7] 1937 Oscar uncredited
Man's Best Friend[7] 1935 Jed Strong
High Gear[7] 1933 Percy
Call Her Savage[7] 1932 Pete as a boy[8] uncredited; Willard Robertson plays Pete as a man; Clara Bow stars
That's My Boy[7] 1932 Tommy as a young boy
Attorney for the Defense[7] 1932 Paul Wallace as a boy
The Cisco Kid[7] 1931 Billy one of a series of films featuring The Cisco Kid, a wildly popular O. Henry character
The Spy[7] 1931 Seryoska
Caught Short 1930 Johnny
Welcome Danger 1929 Buddy Lee or Roy[8] uncredited
Betrayal 1929 Peter
Baby's Birthday 1929 uncredited
Sins of the Fathers 1928 Tom as a child Tom as an adult is played by Barry Norton; a Famous Players–Lasky production with Emil Jannings, ZaSu Pitts, and Ruth Chatterton
”The Family Group” 1928 a 20-minute Charley Chase film co-directed by Leo McCarey

References

  1. ^ a b c d John Holmstrom (1996). The moving picture boy: an international encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Michael Russell. pp. 97 (photo). ISBN 9780859551786.
  2. ^ a b c d Lynn Kear and James King (2009). Evelyn Brent: The Life and Films of Hollywood's Lady Crook. McFarland. pp. 203, 205. ISBN 9780786454686.
  3. ^ a b "Douglas Patrick Haig profile". www.footnote.com. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  4. ^ Charles Stumpf (2010). ZaSu Pitts: The Life and Career. McFarland. p. 126. ISBN 9780786460236.
  5. ^ "Entry on Betrayal".
  6. ^ TV Guide. Vol. 34. Triangle Publications. 1986.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h American Film Institute (1993). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1931-1940. Vol. 3. University of California Press. p. 302. ISBN 9780520079083.
  8. ^ a b Alan Gevinson, ed. (1997). American Film Institute Catalog. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520209640.