Lewis Stone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 - September 12, 1953) was an American actor. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Stone's hair grew gray by the time he was twenty. He fought in the Spanish-American War, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting, but his career was interrupted by World War I. By then he had a white-haired, distinguished appearance, and began appearing in roles which matched his demeanor.
Stone was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1929 for The Patriot. After that, he appeared in several movies with Greta Garbo. His appearance in the highly-successful prison film The Big House furthered his career, and he starred with some of the biggest names in Hollywood in the 1930s, such stars as Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Ramón Novarro, Clark Gable, and Jean Harlow. He played aging Indiana Jones-like adventurers in the dinosaur epic The Lost World (1925) with Wallace Beery and in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) with Boris Karloff.
In 1937, Stone assayed the role which would become his most famous, that of Judge Hardy in the Mickey Rooney "Andy Hardy" series. Stone appeared as the Judge in fifteen movies, beginning with You're Only Young Once.
Stone died in Beverly Hills, California on September 12, 1953. Reportedly, he suffered a heart attack while chasing away some neighborhood kids who were throwing rocks at his garage. A photo published in Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon shows Stone's body immediately after the incident.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6524 Hollywood Blvd.
