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George Beranger
George Beranger
	Beranger in D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Born	George Augustus Beringer; 27 March 1893; Enmore, New South Wales, Australia
Died	8 March 1973 (aged 79); Laguna Beach, California
Occupation(s)	Actor, film director, film writer
Years active	1913–1950

George Beranger (27 March 1893 – 8 March 1973), was an Australian silent film actor, director and film writer in New York and Hollywood.^[1] He is also sometimes credited under the pseudonym George Andre de Beranger.^[2] and multiple variations of the same.

Early life

Beranger was born George Augustus Beringer^[1] in Enmore, New South Wales, Australia, the youngest of five sons of Caroline Mondientz and Adam Beringer, a German engine fitter. His mother committed suicide when he was three years old and he left home at the age of 14.^[3] He studied acting at the College of Elocution and Dramatic Art founded by Scottish actor Walter Bentley.^[3]

Career

Beranger began playing Shakespearean roles at the age of sixteen with the Walter Bentley Players. He then emigrated from Australia to California, United States in 1912^[1] and worked in the silent film industry in Hollywood. According to a researcher, he "reinvented himself in Hollywood, claiming French parentage, birth on a French ocean liner off the coast of Australia and a Paris education."^[3] Beranger worked under the name George Andre de Beranger and multiple variations of the same pseudonym.

By the 1920s, Beranger had become a star, appearing in the movies of Ernst Lubitsch and D. W. Griffith.^[3] He also directed sixteen films between 1914 and 1924. Beranger owned a large Spanish-style home in Laguna Beach, rented a room at the Hollywood Athletic Club and owned an apartment in Paris, France.^[3]

Beranger eventually appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1950. Beranger's career declined following the 1930s Great Depression and the advent of sound film. He supplemented his income as a draftsman for the Los Angeles City Council. He sold his large properties and moved into a modest cottage beside his house in Laguna Beach.^[3]

Beranger's silent roles had often been sophisticates or dandy types, and in early sound films he was often relegated to non-speaking walk-ons or bit parts as hairdressers, concierges, florists and the like. However, in the mid and late 1940s, he played interesting speaking bit parts in three 20th Century-Fox (his main studio) film noirs: The Spider (a B noir in which he has several lines as a nosy apartment manager), Nightmare Alley (an all-time classic noir, playing the geek in the first act and singing the Irish drinking song "The Boston Burglar") and Road House (for which he received a rare screen credit, in spite of having only two lines of dialogue as Richard Widmark's bespectacled fishing buddy, "Lefty").^[4]

Beranger entered into a "lavender marriage" with a neighbouring woman who was a widow, but they never shared the same house and he continued to have sexual relationships with men unabated.^[5]

Beranger retired in 1952 and lived his later years in seclusion.^[6] He was found dead of natural causes in his home on 8 March 1973.^[7]

Selected filmography

The Well (1913 short) as The Accomplice
The Switch Tower (1913 short) as A Tramp
When Love Forgives (1913 short) as The Bartender
Almost a Wild Man (1913) as In Audience (uncredited)
Home, Sweet Home (1914) as The Accordion Player
The Birth of a Nation (1915) as Wade Cameron – Second Son
The Absentee (1915) as Tom Burke / Ambition
Let Katie Do It (1916) as Witness to Accident (uncredited)
The Good Bad-Man (1916) as Thomas Stuart
Flirting with Fate (1916) as Automatic Joe
The Half-Breed (1916) as Jack Brace
Pillars of Society (1916) as Johan Tonnesen
Intolerance (1916) as High Priest of Bel
Manhattan Madness (1916) as The Butler
Mixed Blood (1916) as Carlos
Those Without Sin (1917) as Chester Wallace
A Love Sublime (1917) as Her Husband
A Daughter of the Poor (1917) as Rudolph Creig
Time Locks and Diamonds (1917) as Ramon Mendoza
The Spotted Lily (1917) as Captain Franz
Sandy (1918) as Carter Nelson
Broken Blossoms (1919) as The Spying One
A Manhattan Knight (1920, director)
Burn 'Em Up Barnes (1921, director)
Sinister Street (1922, director)
Was She Guilty? (1922, director)
The Leopardess (1923) as Pepe
The Bright Shawl (1923) as Andre Escobar
Ashes of Vengeance (1923) as Charles IX
Dulcy (1923) as Vincent Leach
The Extra Girl (1923) as Actor in Wardrobe Line
Tiger Rose (1923) as Pierre
The Man Life Passed By (1923) as Leo Friend
Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo (1924) as Krantz
Beau Brummel (1924) as Lord Byron
His Hour (1924) as English Nobleman
Beauty and the Bad Man (1925) as L.I.B. Bell
Confessions of a Queen (1925) as Lewin
Are Parents People? (1925) as Maurice Mansfield
The Man in Blue (1925) as Carlo Guido
Grounds for Divorce (1925) as Guido
A Woman's Faith (1925) as Leandre Turcott
The Big Parade (1925) as Patriotic Letter Reader (uncredited)
The Grand Duchess and the Waiter (1926) as The Grand Duke Paul
Miss Brewster's Millions (1926) as Mr. Brent
The Bat (1926) as Gideon Bell
So This Is Paris (1926) as Maurice Lalle
Fig Leaves (1926) as Josef André
The Eagle of the Sea (1926) as John Jarvis
The Lady of the Harem (1926) as Selim
The Popular Sin (1926) as Alphonse Martin
Paradise for Two (1927) as Maurice
Altars of Desire (1927) as Count André D'Orville
The Small Bachelor (1927) as Finch
If I Were Single (1927) as Claude
Powder My Back (1928) as Claude
Five and Ten Cent Annie (1928) as Orchestra Leader
Beware of Bachelors (1928) as Claude de Brie
Stark Mad (1929) as Simpson – Guide
Strange Cargo (1929) as First Stranger
Glad Rag Doll (1929) as Barry (an actor)
Darkened Rooms (1929) as Madame Silvara's Customer (uncredited)
Lilies of the Field (1930) as Barber
The Boudoir Diplomat (1930) as Potz
Three Girls Lost (1931) as Andre
Annabelle's Affairs (1931) as Archie
The Age for Love (1931) as The Poet
Surrender (1931) as Fichet
Ladies of the Jury (1932) as Alonzo Beal
Love Is a Racket (1932) as Manager of Elizabeth Morgan's (uncredited)
Ex-Lady (1933) as Dinner Guest / Pianist (uncredited)
Mama Loves Papa (1933) as Basil Pew
Coming Out Party (1934) as Waiter at Aladdin's Lamp (uncredited)
Jimmy the Gent (1934) as Steamship Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
Hollywood Party (1934) as Durante's Barber (uncredited)
Kiss and Make-Up (1934) as Jean - Dr Lamar's Butler
Young and Beautiful (1934) as Henry Briand
The Captain Hates the Sea (1934) as Jeweler (uncredited)
Clive of India (1935) as Mr. St. Aubin (uncredited)
One New York Night (1935) as Matthews (uncredited)
Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) as Head Waiter
Once in a Blue Moon (1935) as Prince Kolia
The Flame Within (1935) as Prince Hassan (uncredited)
Don't Bet on Blondes (1935) as Wedding Dress Fitter (uncredited)
The Payoff (1935) as Reporter (uncredited)
Ship Cafe (1935) as Tailor (uncredited)
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo (1935) as Casino Assistant (uncredited)
Stars Over Broadway (1935) as Man Wanting Testimonial (uncredited)
Dangerous (1935) as First Waiter (uncredited)
Anything Goes (1936) as Man with Silly Walk (uncredited)
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) as Louis Pasteur's Assistant
The Walking Dead (1936) as Nolan's Butler (uncredited)
Love Before Breakfast (1936) as Charles
Colleen (1936) as Jeweler
Snowed Under (1936) as Costume Designer Maza (uncredited)
The Singing Kid (1936) as Designer (uncredited)
Times Square Playboy (1936) as Jewelry Store Clerk (uncredited)
Bullets or Ballots (1936) as Waiter (uncredited)
Hearts Divided (1936) as Jefferson's Secretary (uncredited)
The Big Noise (1936) as Mr. Rosewater
Hot Money (1936) as Ed Biddle
China Clipper (1936) as Waiter (uncredited)
Love Begins at 20 (1936) as Eddie as Office Worker (uncredited)
Walking on Air (1936) as Albert, the Valet
Down the Stretch (1936) as William J. Cooper
Cain and Mabel (1936) as Headwaiter (uncredited)
Love on the Run (1936) as Comedy Reactionary (uncredited)
King of Hockey (1936) as Evans, Kathleen's Chauffeur
Stolen Holiday (1937) as Swiss Waiter (uncredited)
Ready, Willing, and Able (1937) as Tenant (uncredited)
Café Metropole (1937) as Hat Clerk
San Quentin (1937) as Lorenz Review Headwaiter (uncredited)
Dangerous Holiday (1937) as Violin Teacher (uncredited)
Wake Up and Live (1937) as Pianist
Fight for Your Lady (1937) as Florist (uncredited)
Hollywood Round-Up (1937) as Hotel Clerk
I'll Take Romance (1937) as Male Dressmaker
The Lone Wolf in Paris (1938) as Hotel Desk Manager (uncredited)
Beauty for the Asking (1939) as Cyril
He Stayed for Breakfast (1940) as maître d'hôtel (uncredited)
She Knew All the Answers (1941) as Head Waiter
Two in a Taxi (1941) as Receptionist (uncredited)
Our Wife (1941) as Waiter (uncredited)
Over My Dead Body (1942) as Salesman
Saratoga Trunk (1945) as Leon (uncredited)
The Spider (1945) as Apartment Manager
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947) as Office Clerk (uncredited)
Nightmare Alley (1947) as The Geek (uncredited)
Cry of the City (1948) as Barber (uncredited)
The Snake Pit (1948) as Patient (uncredited)
Road House (1948) as Lefty
Unfaithfully Yours (1948) as maître d'hôtel (uncredited)
Chicken Every Sunday (1949) as Jake Barker (uncredited)
The Fan (1949) as Alphonse - Philippe's Assistant (uncredited)
You're My Everything (1949) as Waiter (uncredited)
Dancing in the Dark (1949) as Waiter
Wabash Avenue (1950) as Wax Museum Attendant (uncredited)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1887–1940; Microfilm Serial: M1524; Microfilm Roll: 2.
^ "George Beranger". IMDb. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cosgrove, Bryony (3 March 2012). "The stuff of silent legend". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
^ Calderwood, Brent (December 2021). "Step Right Up: The World of Carnival Noir". Noir City Magazine. 33: 26.
^ Cosgrove, Bryony (3 March 2012). "The stuff of silent legend". The Saturday Age. p. 18.
^ Kane, Rich (6 March 2012). "A Laguna Beach Silent Film Star's Story Sounds a Lot Like "The Artist"". Laguna Beach Patch. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
^ "Film Maker G A Beranger Dies in Laguna". Los Angeles Times. Laguna Beach. 9 March 1973. p. Obituary.