Harry Solter

Harry Solter
Born
Henry Lewis Solter

(1873-11-19)November 19, 1873
DiedMarch 2, 1920(1920-03-02) (aged 46)
Other namesHarry Salter
H. L. Solter
Harry L. Solter
Occupation(s)Actor, director
Years active1908–1917
Spouse
​
(m. 1908)​

Henry Lewis Solter[citation needed] (November 19, 1873 – March 2, 1920) was an American silent film actor and director.

Career

Cast of When Knights Were Bold (1908), from left: Linda Arvidson, D. W. Griffith, unknown player, and Solter

Solter began his career as an actor in 1908 with Biograph Studios. That same year he met actress Florence Lawrence while making the film Romeo and Juliet for Vitagraph Studios and married on August 30 of that year. In 1909, Solter began working for Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures Co. of America (IMP) as an actor but also as a director. Over the next nine years, he directed 148 silent films.[citation needed]

In 1912, Solter and his wife established the Victor Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In 1913, they sold out to Laemmle whose amalgamation of several studios created the colossal Universal Film Manufacturing Co. Solter continued to direct for the new company until 1918 when health problems emerged. With this new prosperity, Florence was able to realize a "lifelong dream", buying a 50-acre (20 ha) estate in River Vale, New Jersey.[1][2]

Death

Solter died of a stroke on March 2, 1920, at the age of 46. He is interred in the Baltimore Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.[citation needed]

Selected filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1908 Romeo and Juliet
When Knights Were Bold Nobleman
Balked at the Altar
Romance of a Jewess Customer/Rubinstein
The Taming of the Shrew Katharina's Father Writer
After Many Years Tom Foster
Money Mad First Villain
A Calamitous Elopement Frank
The Kentuckian
1909 At the Altar On Street
Jones and the Lady Book Agent Office employee
A Drunkard's Reformation In the Play
The Renunciation Sam Walters
1910 The Rocky Road
All the World's a Stage
–
 Director
Two Men
–
 Director
1911 The Two Paths
Duke De Ribbon Counter
–
 Director
During Cherry Time
–
 Director
1912 Not Like Other Girls
–
 Director
Betty's Nightmare
–
 Director
The Redemption of Riverton
–
 Director
1913 Unto the Third Generation
–
 Director
The Spender
–
 Director
His Wife's Child
–
 Director
1914 The Romance of a Photograph
–
 Director
The Pawns of Destiny
–
 Director, writer
A Mysterious Mystery
–
 Director
1916 Blind Man's Bluff
–
 Director, scenario
1917 Face on the Screen
–
 Director
The Spotted Lily
–
 Director
Credited as Harry L. Solter
1918 The Wife He Bought
–
 Director
1921 The Sage Hen
–
 Writer

References

  1. ^ Florence Lawrence Archived 2015-09-22 at the Wayback Machine, Women Film Pioneers Project. Accessed September 23, 2015. "Florence Lawrence intended her last Victor photoplay to be her second two-reel film, The Lady Leone (1912), and after its completion, she and Solter retired to their home in River Vale, New Jersey."
  2. ^ PHS Answer Girl & Curator Archived 2015-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, Pascack Historical Society. Accessed September 23, 2015. "Florence Lawrence was America’s first movie star according to movie historians. She lived at 565 Rivervale Road in River Vale from 1913 through 1916."


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