Maurice Costello

At 73 years old, Maurice Costello physical status not available right now. We will update Maurice Costello's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Maurice George Costello (1877-1950), a prominent American vaudeville actor of the late 1890s and early 1900s, who later appeared in numerous American films as the leading man, supporting actor, and director.

Early life

Ellen (née Fitzgerald, 1853) and Thomas Costello (born 1852) were both born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Irish immigrants Ellen (née Fitzgerald; born 1853) and Thomas Costello (born 1852). Thomas, Thomas' father, died while repairing a blast furnace at Andrew Carnegie's Union Iron Mill when Maurice was just five months old. He had a strong Irish upbringing, lived with his mother, her Irish brother, and several Irish immigrant boarders.

Personal life

Costello was married to actress Mae Costello (née Altschuk). Costello was jailed on November 23, 1913, for beating his wife Mae. Costello admitted that he beat his wife while inebriated on November 25, 1913. Mae Costello requested that the charges be reduced to disorderly conduct, but Magistrate Geisner of the Coney Island Police Court granted Costello six months probation.

Costello died at the age of 73 in Los Angeles, California, of a heart disease, and was laid to rest at Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles, a Catholic cemetery.

Dolores Costello and Helene Costello, two daughters, actor John Drew Barrymore, a grandson John Drew Barrymore, and a great granddaughter Drew Barrymore are among his relatives.

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Career

Costello made his film debut in 1908, but he was long thought to have appeared in Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1905), presumably playing the lead in what is regarded as the first serious film to feature Sherlock Holmes' character since it was not released until the 30-second comedy film Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900). However, Holmesian scholar Leslie S. Klinger has stated that Costello's identification in the role is inaccurate. Costello's first appearance in Michael Pointer's Public Life of Sherlock Holmes was published in 1975, but Pointer later admitted to Klinger that he regretted his mistake.

Costello joined Vitagraph as a member of the first motion picture stock company to be established, appearing opposite Florence Turner. A Tale of Two Cities, The Man Who Couldn't Beat God, and For the Honor of the Family are among his best known images. Costello was known for his refusal to help build sets, claiming that he was "hired as an actor rather than anything else," despite the common practice at the time. Costello is often credited as "the father of screen acting" because of his work as the creator of the first recognized school of screen acting.

Costello was one of the world's first leading men in early American cinema, but he had a difficult time transitioning to "talkies" like a lot of other silent screen actors. Although his leading man was little known, Costello continued to appear in films, many in small roles and bit parts right up to his death in 1950.

Moe Howard of the Three Stooges, who, as a teenager, operated errands and bought lunches for the actors at the Vitagraph Studios at no cost, was also discovered by Maurice Costello. Costello was taken in and introduced to other leading actors of the day. Moe appeared in a few of the Vitagraph films in the 1990s, but most of these were destroyed by fire that swept the studios.

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