Karl Dane

The life of Karl Dane was a Cinderella story gone horribly wrong. The immigrant from Copenhagen was rapidly transformed from a machinist to a Hollywood star after his turn as the tobacco-chewing Slim in The Big Parade in 1925. After that, Dane appeared in more than 40 films with such luminaries as Lillian Gish, John Gilbert and William Haines until development of talkies virtually ruined his career. The most famous casualty of the transition from silent to sound film, Dane reportedly lost his career because of his accent, finding himself broke at the height of the Depression. He reportedly operated a hot dog stand outside the studio where he earned his fame, then committed suicide in 1934. This biography tells the tale of a daring yet tragic man who aimed for his wildest dreams and succeeded, if only for a short time.