Essanay Co.

Born in Highland Park, IL. Co-founder in 1907 with Gilbert M. ("Broncho Billy") Anderson of Essanay, a film production and distribution company in Chicago. The company's name was derived from the first letters of the partners' surnames, S and A. Its trademark, an Indian's head, was borrowed from the one-cent coin then in circulation. Essanay pioneered in the production of two genres of film, the Western and slapstick comedy. Anderson was in charge of the Western crew, which traveled extensively throughout the West shooting hundreds of "Broncho Billy" one- and two-reelers starring himself. The train in which the company traveled was equipped with a film lab so that film could be developed as soon as it was exposed. The series enjoyed considerable popularity until 1915. In comedy, Essanay was one of the most active companies in the field. Calling itself "The House of Comedy Hits," it turned out numerous fast-paced farces at an unprecedented rate. Among its most successful series were the Snakesville comedies, taking place in a mythical village, and the "Alkali Ike" comedies, starring Augustus Carney. Ben Turpin, Francis X. Bushman, Beverly Bayne, Henry B. Walthal, and Max Linder were among the company's stars. Wallace Beery made his screen debut dressed as a woman in the 1914 Essanay series "Sweedie." Essanay reached the peak of its success in 1915 when it outbid Keystone for the services of Charlie Chaplin. During his Essanay period, lasting one year, Chaplin refined and further defined the character of his Tramp, adding subtlety and pathos to his comic antics. Essanay's fortunes declined sharply after Chaplin's defection to Mutual early in 1916. Anderson sold his share in the business to Spoor and went into semiretirement. Spoor tried valiantly to keep the company going. But in 1917, Essanay, one of the last surviving members of the Motion Picture Patents Company, ceased operations and soon after disbanded.  Special Award 1947: To "one of the small groups of pioneers whose belief in a new medium, and whose contributions to its development, blazed the trail along which the motion picture has progressed, in their lifetime, from obscurity to world-wide acclaim." Winners presented Statuettes. (w. Col. William N. Selig, Thomas Armat & Albert E. Smith) 1 Special Award