Fred C. Newmeyer
Newmeyer (at right) with Harold Lloyd in the 1919 short film Captain Kidd's Kids
Born(1888-08-09)August 9, 1888
Central City, Colorado, U.S.
DiedApril 24, 1967(1967-04-24) (aged 78)
Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, film director, film producer

Fred C. Newmeyer[lower-alpha 1] (August 9, 1888 – April 24, 1967) was an American actor, film director and film producer.

Biography

A native of Central City, Colorado, Newmeyer is best known for directing a handful of films in the Our Gang series and for directing several Harold Lloyd movies, eight of them being features. With Sam Taylor, Newmeyer co-directed Lloyd in films including Safety Last! (1923), Girl Shy (1924), and The Freshman (1925). Newmeyer also had an extensive directing and acting resume in other comedy short films. He appeared as an actor in 71 films between 1914 and 1923.

Prior to his film career, Newmeyer played professional baseball.[3][4][5] Partial statistics exist for his time as a left-handed pitcher in Minor League Baseball at the Class D level from 1911 to 1913 in the Southwest Texas League, Michigan State League, and Central Association.[6] He made at least 66 appearances and was the winning pitcher of at least 26 games.[6]

Newmeyer was the original director of the first short in the Our Gang series, also titled Our Gang; his version tested poorly, and producer Hal Roach scrapped most of the footage and remade the short with Robert McGowan as the director. Newmeyer, after directing numerous other shorts at Roach, returned to the Our Gang series in 1936 to direct The Pinch Singer, Arbor Day, Mail and Female and the feature film General Spanky.

Newmeyer and his wife, Berna, had a son, Fred W.[7] After his film career, Newmeyer worked with the athletic department of University High School in Los Angeles.[8] Newmeyer died on April 24, 1967, in Woodland Hills, California,[9] at the age of 78.

Selected filmography

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1916 (all as actor)
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1917
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1918
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1919
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1920
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1921
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1922
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1923
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1924
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1925
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1927
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1928
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1929
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1930
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1931
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1932
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1933
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1934
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1935
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1936
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1937

Notes

  1. ↑ Newmeyer's draft registration card of June 1917, which he signed, lists his name as "Fred R. Newmeyer".[1] He also is listed with a middle initial of "R" in the 1930 United States census.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Draft Registration Card". Selective Service System. June 1917. Retrieved October 24, 2021 – via fold3.com.
  2. ↑ "Sheet 17A Census - US Federal 1930". United States Census Bureau. April 1930. Retrieved October 24, 2021 – via fold3.com.
  3. ↑ "Biography: Fred C. Newmeyer". IMDb. Retrieved October 24, 2021. Fred C. Newmeyer was a professional baseball player from 1909-13 before beginning his career as an extra at Universal Pictures.
  4. ↑ "Bunnies Have to Pay Income Tax". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. March 9, 1914. p. 8. Retrieved October 24, 2021 – via newspapers.com. Fred Newmeyer, who pitched for Muscatine last season ... will continue in the motion picture business, which he started this winter.
  5. ↑ Kendall, Speed (May 12, 1929). "From Pitching to Movies". Los Angeles Times. p. III-1. Retrieved October 24, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 "Fred Newmeyer Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  7. ↑ Shane, Ken (February 13, 1958). "Towel Clerk Works Way Into Hearts of Unihi Students". Independent. Los Angeles, California. p. 1. Retrieved October 25, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Shane, Ken (February 13, 1958). "Towel (cont'd)". Independent. Los Angeles, California. p. 4. Retrieved October 25, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Obituary: Fred Newmeyer". Evening Vanguard. Venice, California. April 26, 1967. p. 2. Retrieved October 24, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
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