Actor Stuart Holmes (Joseph Liebschen, 1884-1971) may have appeared in as many as 600 movies from the years 1909 through 1964. Throughout his career he was mostly a supporting player, often known for playing “foreigners”, titled aristocrats, military officers, villains, and the like. His pinnacle was the lead in Fox’s first feature Life’s Shop Window (1914).
Originally from Chicago, Holmes worked his way from vaudeville and melodrama with stock companies to screen roles with early studios like Vitagraph and Kalem before moving up to Fox and the other Hollywood majors. He played Bumble the Beadle in the first screen version of Oliver Twist (1912) starring Nat Goodwin. Other notable silents included East Lynne and Under Two Flags, both with Theda Bara in 1916, Metro’s The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (1921), The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), the remake of Under Two Flags (1922) with Priscilla Dean, Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1924) with Blanche Sweet, and The Man Who Laughs (1928) with Conrad Veidt, as well as comedies like The Perfect Clown (1925) with Larry Semon, Duck Soup (1927) with Laurel and Hardy, and Should Tall Men Marry? (1928) with Stan Laurel. In 1928 he got star billing in an independent comedy feature called Devil Dogs.
In the sound era, Holmes was mostly a bit players (and later mostly just a crowd extra). Notable turns from the early sound era include performances in My Pal, the King (1932) with Tom Mix; appearances in some Clark and McCullough shorts; and an eighth-billed role in Belle of the Nineties (1934) with Mae West. You can also see him in Penrod and Sam (1937), Jezebel (1937), The Oklahoma Kid (1939 — as Grover Cleveland), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Chaplin’s Limelight (1952), Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1953), The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955, as the judge), and numerous Jerry Lewis movies. And some 500 more.
During his down time, Holmes was a woodworker and sculptor of sufficient reputation that he filled numerous municipal commissions for monuments and the like. His wife Blanca Maynard was originally an actress, and later became an astrologer.
For more on vaudeville, please consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, for more on classic film please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube.