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Victor Kilian

October 15, 2023

Victor Arthur Kilian (March 6, 1891 – March 11, 1979) was an American actor who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.[1]

Victor Kilian
Kilian in Convict's Code (1939)
Born
Victor Arthur Kilian

(1891-03-06)March 6, 1891
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedMarch 11, 1979(1979-03-11) (aged 88)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of deathHomicide during a robbery
Resting placeWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor
Years active1909–1979
Spouse
Daisy Johnson
​
​
(m. 1915; died 1961)​

Early life, career, and homicide Edit

 
Victor Kilian in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
 
From Unknown World (1951), L-R: Otto Waldis, Bruce Kellogg, Marilyn Nash and Victor Kilian

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Victor Kilian began his career in entertainment at the age of 18 by joining a vaudeville company. In the mid-1920s, he began to perform in Broadway plays and by the end of the decade had made his debut in motion pictures. For the next two decades, he made a good living as a character actor in secondary or minor roles in films such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938). He was frequently cast as a villain. While staging a fight scene with John Wayne for a 1942 film, Kilian suffered a serious injury that resulted in the loss of one eye.[2]

He was an early resident of Free Acres, a social experimental community developed by Bolton Hall in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.[3]

During the McCarthyism of the 1950s, Kilian was blacklisted for his political beliefs, but because the Actors' Equity Association refused to go along with the ban, Kilian was able to earn a living by returning to perform on stage. After Hollywood's blacklisting ended, he began doing guest roles on television series during the 1970s. He is best known for his role as Grandpa Larkin (aka The Fernwood Flasher) in the television soap opera spoof Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976). Kilian's wife, Daisy Johnson, to whom he had been married for 46 years, died in 1961.

In 1979, Kilian appeared in an episode of All in the Family, "The Return of Stephanie's Father", portraying a desk clerk in a seedy hotel. In the same episode, fellow veteran Hollywood character actor Charles Wagenheim (1896-1979) appeared as a bum in the hotel's lobby. Just weeks before the episode aired, on March 6, 1979 (Kilian's birthday), the 83 year-old Wagenheim was bludgeoned to death in his Hollywood apartment after confronting his caregiver, Stephanie Boone, whom he accused of stealing from him and forging his signature on checks. Five days later, on March 11, 1979, Kilian, who lived alone in Hollywood just blocks from Wagenheim, also was beaten to death by burglars in his apartment after returning home from grocery shopping.[4]

On March 25, 1979, All in the Family posthumously aired the episode "The Return of Stephanie's Father", with Wagenheim's and Kilian's last screen performances. Victor Kilian's cremated remains were scattered in the rose garden at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Selected filmography Edit

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ Hardesty, Bill (October 10, 2012). "Who Killed Victor? • Memories of Hollywood". Memories of Hollywood. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  2. ^ CreepyLA. "The Strange Case of Victor Kilian and the Ghost of the Chinese Theatre – Creepy LA: The Los Angeles Halloween Blog". Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  3. ^ Buchan, Perdita. "Utopia, NJ", New Jersey Monthly, February 7, 2008. Accessed February 27, 2011. "Free Acres had some famous residents in those heady early days: actors James Cagney and Jersey City–born Victor Kilian, writers Thorne Smith (Topper) and MacKinlay Kantor (Andersonville), and anarchist Harry Kelly, who helped found the Ferrer Modern School, centerpiece of the anarchist colony at Stelton in present-day Piscataway."
  4. ^ "Victor Kilian, Actor, Found Beaten Fatally in Hollywood Home". The New York Times. March 13, 1979. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 27, 2019.

External links Edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victor Kilian.

October 15, 2023
victor, kilian, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, july, 2021,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Victor Kilian news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Victor Arthur Kilian March 6 1891 March 11 1979 was an American actor who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s 1 Victor KilianKilian in Convict s Code 1939 BornVictor Arthur Kilian 1891 03 06 March 6 1891Jersey City New Jersey U S DiedMarch 11 1979 1979 03 11 aged 88 Hollywood Los Angeles California U S Cause of deathHomicide during a robberyResting placeWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Los Angeles California U S NationalityAmericanOccupationActorYears active1909 1979SpouseDaisy Johnson m 1915 died 1961 wbr Contents 1 Early life career and homicide 2 Selected filmography 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksEarly life career and homicide Edit nbsp Victor Kilian in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1939 nbsp From Unknown World 1951 L R Otto Waldis Bruce Kellogg Marilyn Nash and Victor KilianBorn in Jersey City New Jersey Victor Kilian began his career in entertainment at the age of 18 by joining a vaudeville company In the mid 1920s he began to perform in Broadway plays and by the end of the decade had made his debut in motion pictures For the next two decades he made a good living as a character actor in secondary or minor roles in films such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1938 He was frequently cast as a villain While staging a fight scene with John Wayne for a 1942 film Kilian suffered a serious injury that resulted in the loss of one eye 2 He was an early resident of Free Acres a social experimental community developed by Bolton Hall in Berkeley Heights New Jersey 3 During the McCarthyism of the 1950s Kilian was blacklisted for his political beliefs but because the Actors Equity Association refused to go along with the ban Kilian was able to earn a living by returning to perform on stage After Hollywood s blacklisting ended he began doing guest roles on television series during the 1970s He is best known for his role as Grandpa Larkin aka The Fernwood Flasher in the television soap opera spoof Mary Hartman Mary Hartman 1976 Kilian s wife Daisy Johnson to whom he had been married for 46 years died in 1961 In 1979 Kilian appeared in an episode of All in the Family The Return of Stephanie s Father portraying a desk clerk in a seedy hotel In the same episode fellow veteran Hollywood character actor Charles Wagenheim 1896 1979 appeared as a bum in the hotel s lobby Just weeks before the episode aired on March 6 1979 Kilian s birthday the 83 year old Wagenheim was bludgeoned to death in his Hollywood apartment after confronting his caregiver Stephanie Boone whom he accused of stealing from him and forging his signature on checks Five days later on March 11 1979 Kilian who lived alone in Hollywood just blocks from Wagenheim also was beaten to death by burglars in his apartment after returning home from grocery shopping 4 On March 25 1979 All in the Family posthumously aired the episode The Return of Stephanie s Father with Wagenheim s and Kilian s last screen performances Victor Kilian s cremated remains were scattered in the rose garden at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Selected filmography EditGentlemen of the Press 1929 McPhee Reporter uncredited The Wiser Sex 1932 Ed Before Morning 1933 House Detective uncredited Air Hawks 1935 Tiny Davis After the Dance 1935 Kennedy Atlantic Adventure 1935 Joe Brannigan uncredited The Public Menace 1935 Joe The Girl Friend 1935 Sunshine Minton Bad Boy 1935 Sid Riffraff 1936 Flytrap The Music Goes Round 1936 Marshall The Road to Glory 1936 Tall Sergeant Shakedown 1936 Caretaker Blackmailer 1936 Photographer uncredited Ramona 1936 Father Gaspara Adventure in Manhattan 1936 Mark Gibbs Banjo on My Knee 1936 Mr Slade Lady from Nowhere 1936 Zeke Hopper Fair Warning 1937 Sam Seventh Heaven 1937 Gobin The League of Frightened Men 1937 Pitney Scott It s All Yours 1937 City Clerk It Happened in Hollywood 1937 Slim Tovarich 1937 Gendarme The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1938 Sheriff Gold Diggers in Paris 1938 Gendarme Marie Antoinette 1938 Guard in Louis Cell uncredited Prison Break 1938 Fenderson Passport Husband 1938 Gangster uncredited Boys Town 1938 The Sheriff Orphans of the Street 1938 Dave Farmer Fighting Thoroughbreds 1939 Wilson Convict s Code 1939 C W Bennett Paris Honeymoon 1939 Old Villager a k a The Ancient St Louis Blues 1939 Sheriff Burdick The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1939 Pap Finn Never Say Die 1939 Man Who Loads Pistols uncredited The Return of the Cisco Kid 1939 Bartender at Stage Stop Only Angels Have Wings 1939 Sparks Blackmail 1939 Warden Frank Miller uncredited Dust Be My Destiny 1939 Doc Saunders The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1939 Esmeralda s Hangman uncredited Invisible Stripes 1939 Loading Dock Foreman uncredited Abe Lincoln in Illinois 1940 Minor Role uncredited Little Old New York 1940 DeWitt Young Tom Edison 1940 Mr Dingle Virginia City 1940 Abraham Lincoln Dr Cyclops 1940 Steve Baker Til We Meet Again 1940 Herb McGillis King of the Lumberjacks 1940 Joe Saloon Owner Torrid Zone 1940 Carlos Florian 1940 Junk Man uncredited Out West with the Peppers 1940 Jim Anderson All This and Heaven Too 1940 Gendarme The Return of Frank James 1940 Preacher City for Conquest 1940 Bill Poster uncredited Barnyard Follies 1940 Hiram Crabtree Tugboat Annie Sails Again 1940 Sam They Knew What They Wanted 1940 The Photographer The Mark of Zorro 1940 Boatman uncredited Santa Fe Trail 1940 Dispatch Rider uncredited Chad Hanna 1940 Potato Man Western Union 1941 Charlie Blood and Sand 1941 Priest Sergeant York 1941 Andrews uncredited I Was a Prisoner on Devil s Island 1941 Guissart Mob Town 1941 Uncle Lon Barker Secrets of the Lone Wolf 1941 Colonel Costals You re in the Army Now 1941 Soldier uncredited A Date with the Falcon 1942 Max Carlson uncredited Reap the Wild Wind 1942 Mathias Widgeon This Gun for Hire 1942 Drew Atlantic Convoy 1942 Otto The Ox Bow Incident 1943 Darby Hitler s Madman 1943 Janek uncredited Bomber s Moon 1943 Henryk van Seeler Johnny Come Lately 1943 Tramp in Box Car Five Were Chosen 1944 Uncertain Glory 1944 Latour uncredited The Adventures of Mark Twain 1944 Higgins uncredited Kismet 1944 Jehan uncredited Barbary Coast Gent 1944 Curry Slake Meet Me in St Louis 1944 Baggage Man uncredited Dangerous Passage 1944 Buck Harris 1st Mate Belle of the Yukon 1944 Professor Salsbury Dillinger Pa Dillinger uncredited Escape in the Desert 1945 Rancher uncredited Bedside Manner 1945 Board Member uncredited Behind City Lights 1945 Daniel Lowell Spellbound 1945 Sheriff uncredited The Spanish Main 1945 Santa Madre Captain The Fighting Guardsman 1946 Montebar uncredited Little Giant 1946 Gus Anderson salesman Smoky 1946 J P Mingo Junkman uncredited The Yearling 1946 Captain uncredited Duel in the Sun 1946 Gambler uncredited Gentleman s Agreement 1947 Olsen uncredited Northwest Stampede 1948 Mel Saunders Yellow Sky 1948 Bartender uncredited I Shot Jesse James 1949 Soapy Rimfire 1949 Sheriff Jim Jordan Colorado Territory 1949 Missouri Sheriff uncredited The Wyoming Bandit 1949 Ross Tyler Reign of Terror 1949 Jailer uncredited Madame Bovary 1949 Speaker at Agricultural Show uncredited Stars in My Crown 1950 Ned uncredited The Flame and the Arrow 1950 Mazzoni Apothecary The Old Frontier 1950 Judge Ames The Showdown 1950 Hemp No Way Out 1950 Father uncredited The Return of Jesse James 1950 Westfield Sheriff Rigby The Bandit Queen 1950 Jose Montalvo One Too Many 1950 Frank J Emery The Lemon Drop Kid 1951 Mr Egan Landlord uncredited Passage West 1951 Messenger uncredited The Tall Target 1951 John K Gannon Flyer Express Engineer uncredited Unknown World 1951 Dr Jeremiah Morley uncredited Face to Face 1952 Jasper Morgan segment The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky uncredited The Brady Bunch 1970 Mr Stoner episode The Treasure of Sierra Avenue The Jeffersons 1975 Uncle Bertram Willis episodes Uncle Bertram and Jenny s Grandparents All in the Family 1979 Mr Burkvist episode Edith Gets Fired clerk episode The Return of Stephanie s Father See also Edit nbsp Biography portalList of unsolved deathsReferences Edit Hardesty Bill October 10 2012 Who Killed Victor Memories of Hollywood Memories of Hollywood Retrieved September 27 2019 CreepyLA The Strange Case of Victor Kilian and the Ghost of the Chinese Theatre Creepy LA The Los Angeles Halloween Blog Retrieved September 27 2019 Buchan Perdita Utopia NJ New Jersey Monthly February 7 2008 Accessed February 27 2011 Free Acres had some famous residents in those heady early days actors James Cagney and Jersey City born Victor Kilian writers Thorne Smith Topper and MacKinlay Kantor Andersonville and anarchist Harry Kelly who helped found the Ferrer Modern School centerpiece of the anarchist colony at Stelton in present day Piscataway Victor Kilian Actor Found Beaten Fatally in Hollywood Home The New York Times March 13 1979 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved September 27 2019 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victor Kilian Works by or about Victor Kilian at Internet Archive Victor Kilian at the Internet Broadway Database nbsp Victor Kilian at IMDb Victor Kilian at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Victor Kilian amp oldid 1166330266, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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