Eugene Strong (August 9, 1893 – June 25, 1962) was an American film actor and vaudevillian.
Career
Eugene Strong oscillated between stage and film work throughout his acting career. He played the lead role in the stage production of The Virginian for two years.[1] He was working in vaudeville in 1915.[2]
Strong's first film was The Crimson Stain Mystery (1916); he received positive notice for his role as a man seduced by a vampire.[3]
Strong returned to vaudeville in the 1920s.[4] Strong worked with Valeska Surrat and supported Surrat in a lawsuit brought against her by Walter Percival in 1920.[5] He was part of the vaudeville act Mann and Strong, with singer Hazel Mann. A Variety review of the play Garage Love states, "Strong, as always, is the personified matinee hero who gets the flappers on sight... Strong is a romantic 'hero' who has few equals. With any kind of luck he should be a 'name' in the native legitimate drama. He has proven it. Even in vaudeville he has done worth-while and outstanding things".[6] A 1925 Billboard review of the act at The Palace Theatre in Cincinnati noted, "Eugene Strong has a likable easy-going manner that does much to put the act over."[7]
He was signed to a five-year motion picture contract with Edward Small in 1926.[8] One of his final films as an actor was The Front Page (1931).[9]
Personal life
Strong's marriage to Gladys Webster ended in divorce in 1919 on the grounds of his adultery.[10]
Strong was married to Maryland Morne, an actress, until her death in 1935.[11]
^"New Acts This Week: Mann and Strong." Variety. Vol. 75, Iss. 9, (Jul 16, 1924): Pg. 34. Via Proquest.
^Wesselmann, Cliff. Big City Vaudeville Reviews by special wire: Palace, Cincinnati. The Billboard (Archive: 1894-1960); Cincinnati Vol. 37, Iss. 34, (Aug 22, 1925): pg. 14.
^"Vaudeville: Eugene Strong Contracted for 5 Years in Films." Variety. Vol. 84, Iss. 5, (Aug 18, 1926): Pg. 70. Via Proquest.
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