Philippe De Lacy

Born: 1917-07-25

Philippe De Lacy a.k.a. Philippe deLacy (July 25, 1917 – July 29, 1995) was a former silent film era child actor. Born during World War I, the already fatherless Philippe lost his mother and five siblings when a German shell devastated the family home. Only two days old at the time of tragedy, the boy was kept alive, but barely, in the basement of his grandmother's house. He was adopted by Mrs. Edith De Lacy, who was associated with the U.S. Woman's Overseas Hospital. After the war ended, Mrs. De Lacy brought Philippe to America, where his stunning looks soon created opportunities for him as a model for magazine advertisements. His modeling assignments brought him to the attention of Hollywood, and he appeared in his first film in a bit part at the age of four. Phillipe's childhood story was used as the subject of a fictional children's book, Little Philippe of Belgium, written by Madeline Brandeis as part of her "Children of the World" series. De Lacy freelanced for several studios in the 1920s, but mostly for Paramount. In 1924 he played the role of Michael Darling in the classic silent version of Peter Pan, with Betty Bronson. He played the young Don Juan at ten years of age in John Barrymore's Don Juan (1926), and in 1927 he played the young prince Karl Heinrich in Ernst Lubitsch's memorable The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, which also starred Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer. Also in 1927 he starred with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in Love, an updated version of the Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina in which he played the young son of Anna, Serezha Karenin. When the sound era arrived De Lacy's acting career was declining, and he never made the transition from child actor to adult. Apart from his films, De Lacy also did some work in the theatre. However he had lost his boyish charm by his early teens and retired from the screen in the early 1930s. De Lacy concentrated on the production end of films as a producer, director and cinematographer. He became an assistant to director Louis De Rochemont and worked with him in the 1940 film The Ramparts We Watch. Eventually he became an executive with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, a position he held for over 25 years. De Lacy’s first credit was in 1942 as an editorial associate for the US armed forces propaganda film We Are The Marines. Radio and television announcer Westbrook Van Voorhis provided the narration for the documentary, which was effectively a full-length fighting feature. In 1944 De Lacy was involved in another documentary, this time for the US Navy, filmed aboard the carrier Yorktown. The narrators in this documentary were actors Robert Taylor (who was actually a lieutenant in the navy at the time) and Charles Boyer who supplied the French narration. De Lacy was the cinematographer in The Fighting Lady and had three real life naval commanders to assist him. This film won the 1945 Oscar for Best Documentary. De Lacy then turned his hand to directing a television series in 1950, and in addition, he also became manager of a local Hollywood television station.


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Love

as Serezha Karenin (as Philippe de Lacy)
Released: 1927-11-29

In Imperial Russia, Anna Karenina falls in love with the dashing military officer Count Vronsky...

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Peter Pan

as Michael Darling
Released: 1924-12-29

Peter Pan enters the nursery of the Darling children and, with the help of fairy dust, leads...

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Flesh and the Devil

as Leo as a boy (uncredited)
Released: 1926-12-25

When lifelong best friends Leo and Ulrich return home after completing their military training,...

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The Four Feathers

as Harry Faversham - age 10
Released: 1929-06-01

An Englishman (Richard Arlen) fights in the Sudan after receiving white feathers of cowardice...

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The Royal Rider

as King Michael XI
Released: 1929-02-17

Dick Scott takes his Wild West show to the Balkan kingdom of Alvania where the boy king of the...

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Sarah and Son

as Bobby
Released: 1930-03-14

A ne'er-do-well husband, after years of abusing his wife, disappears with their son, and winds...

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Don Juan

as Don Juan - at age 10 (uncredited)
Released: 1926-08-06

If there was one thing that Don Juan de Marana learned from his father Don Jose, it was that...

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The Way of All Flesh

as August, as a child
Released: 1927-10-01

The story takes place in Milwaukee during the early 1900s with a bank clerk named August...

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Beau Geste

as Digby Geste - younger
Released: 1926-08-24

Michael "Beau" Geste leaves England in disgrace and joins the infamous French Foreign Legion. He...

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One Romantic Night

as Prince Georg
Released: 1930-04-30

A princess is forced to choose between a charming tutor and a rakish prince.

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The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg

as Heir Apparent
Released: 1928-01-30

A young prince falls in love with a beautiful barmaid while at university in old Heidelberg.

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Is Zat So?

as Little Jimmy Parker
Released: 1927-05-15

A rich man hires a pair of brothers, one to teach him to box and the other to manage him....

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The Marriage Playground

as Terry Wheater
Released: 1929-12-12

A delightful pre-code cocktail recipe. Take three couples (add gin and tonic), their several...

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The Magic Garden

as John Guido Forrester, as a child
Released: 1927-06-30

Story about a little boy and girl that meet in a beautiful garden and the little girl promises...

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Mother Machree

as Brian - Child
Released: 1927-12-19

Ellen McHugh, a poor Irish immigrant to America, finds work in a carnival and is thus able to...

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General Crack

as Christian, as a boy
Released: 1929-12-16

The film takes place in the 18th century Austria and revolves around Prince Christian, commonly...

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The Redeeming Sin

as Petit
Released: 1929-02-16

The Redeeming Sin (1929) is a crime drama part-talking silent film with Vitaphone music and...

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A Doll's House

as Ivar
Released: 1922-02-12

Nora Helmer has years earlier committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian...

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Napoleon's Barber

as The Barber's Son
Released: 1928-11-24

Arthur Caesar's classic about the barber who held the fate of France in his hands, has been...

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Rosita

as Rosita's Brother
Released: 1923-09-03

The King tosses Rosita in jail and when Don Diego, who Rosita loves, tries to defend her, he too...

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Square Shoulders

as Eddie Cartwright
Released: 1929-03-10

Tad's dream is to attend a military academy so he can grow up to be a great soldier and a war...

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The Sins of the Children

as Rudolph Wagenkampf as a Child (uncredited)
Released: 1930-06-27

A barber turns down a promising business venture in order to take his sick son to a drier...

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The Happy Warrior

as Ralph (at 8 years)
Released: 1925-07-05

Malcolm McGregor joins the circus and falls in love with Olive Borden but his life changes when...

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A Lover's Oath

as His Son
Released: 1925-09-29

"The plot introduces Omar as a leader of his people but deals rather with the love of his...

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The Tigress

as Pippa
Released: 1927-10-21

In Spain, a band of gypsies poach the deer in a neighboring estate. The gypsy chief, Tser...

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The Broken Mask

as Pertio, as a boy
Released: 1928-01-01

Pertio, an Argentine dancer, has a severely scarred face that has kept him from succeeding in...

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