Alan Crosland

Alan Crosland (born August 10, 1894; died July 16, 1936) was an American actor and film director. Born in New York City, New York to a well-to-do family, Alan Crosland attended Dartmouth College. After graduation he took a job as a writer with the New York Globe magazine. Interested in the theatre, he began acting on stage, appearing in several productions with Shakespearian actress Annie Russell (1864-1936). Crosland began his career in the moti... more

Alan Crosland (born August 10, 1894; died July 16, 1936) was an American actor and film director. Born in New York City, New York to a well-to-do family, Alan Crosland attended Dartmouth College. After graduation he took a job as a writer with the New York Globe magazine. Interested in the theatre, he began acting on stage, appearing in several productions with Shakespearian actress Annie Russell (1864-1936). Crosland began his career in the motion picture industry in 1912 at Edison Studios in The Bronx, New York where he worked at various jobs for two years until he had learned the business sufficiently well to begin directing short films. By 1917 he was directing feature-length films and in 1920 directed Olive Thomas in The Flapper, one of her final films before her untimely death in September of that year. In 1925 Crosland was working for Jesse L. Lasky's Famous Players-Lasky Company when he was hired by Warner Bros. to work at their Hollywood studios. He had directed several... less