Author(s): Annette M. D'Agostino

Film

Harold Lloyd, born in 1893, became one of the greatest comic actors in America. This is a compendium of all things Lloyd, with entries on noteworthy persons, recurring themes, crucial elements of Lloyd's life (birth, education, marriage, family, hobbies, death, etc.), his prime co-stars and co-workers, the films that made him a legend (201 of them), and numerous other topics covering every facet of the man and the actor, all fully cross-referenced and accompanied by a vast collection of images and advertisements. Lacking the vaudeville training of his chief contemporaries, Lloyd nonetheless grew quickly from a gag technician to a skilled actor. In 1917, he created his famed Glass Character, but a live bomb amongst the props maimed his hand two years later. Keeping his handicap hidden by use of a revolutionary prosthetic, he continued to both charm and enthrall audiences. 'The action may be outlandish', he said of himself, 'but the characters - most particularly the central character - must not be'. An Appendix A lists the Lloyd shorts in the order produced, with the Production Code assigned by the Rolin Film Company officials.
Appendix B is a proper filmography, listing each Lloyd film from 1913 to 1966 in chronological order.