Irving Pichel (24 June, 1891 – 13 July, 1954), was an American actor, and film director. He married Violette Wilson, daughter of Jackson Stitt Wilson, a Methodist minister and Socialist mayor of Berkeley, California. Her sister was actress Viola Barry. The Pichels had three sons, Pichel Wilson, Julian Irving, and Marlowe Agnew.
Pichel's first work in musical theatre was as a technical director for the Bohemian Club's summer pageants at the Bohemi...
more
Irving Pichel (24 June, 1891 – 13 July, 1954), was an American actor, and film director. He married Violette Wilson, daughter of Jackson Stitt Wilson, a Methodist minister and Socialist mayor of Berkeley, California. Her sister was actress Viola Barry. The Pichels had three sons, Pichel Wilson, Julian Irving, and Marlowe Agnew.
Pichel's first work in musical theatre was as a technical director for the Bohemian Club's summer pageants at the Bohemian Grove. He was soon loaned out to Wallace Rice as the main narrator in Rice's Primavera, the Masque of Santa Barbara in 1920. Pichel achieved significant notoriety as the title character in the landmark Pasadena Playhouse production of Eugene O'Neill's play "Lazarus Laughed" in 1927.
Among his most notable screen roles were the servant Sandor in Dracula's Daughter, and Fagin in the 1933 adaptation of Oliver Twist. He directed several well-regarded films, including The Miracle of the Bells, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, and Destination Moon....
less