Henry McDonald Sedley (1881–1962 [1] ) was an American actor. He caused the death of a fellow student while a freshman at Yale University in 1901, which may have been the reason for a young woman being banned by her grandmother from marrying him. [2]
Prior to achieving fame in silent film, he owned several racehorses and was a champion jockey. [3] [4] Born in New York in 1881, he attended St. Paul's school, Andover, and the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University, [4] though he did not complete a degree at Yale. [5] He bought a 70 foot racing yacht from Alfred G. Vanderbilt, and was described as a bon vivant. [4]
When a freshman at Yale in 1901, he caused the death of a classmate, Edward F. Corrigan. [2] He was expelled from Yale in the aftermath. [5] [6] In 1907 he reached a settlement for $300. [6] [7] About the same time, Oliver Barnes, a wealthy friend from Reno, Nevada, took Sedley under his wing and assisted his transition into the film industry. [8] In 1912, he was in the news when a young woman's grandmother forbade her from marrying him. [2] [9]
He was a stage actor for five years prior to transitioning to film in the late 1910s. [4] [10] Early in his film career he was known for playing villains. He was almost six feet tall. Having a slight build, he was not given to portrayals of physical conflict, [10] but in at least one instance (in Straight is the Way , 1921) his fight scene was highlighted in a review. [11] Early in his career he roomed with Adolphe Menjou, and the two shared their possessions and paychecks. [12]
His early film roles included The Daredevil , Thunderbolts of Fate , and The Kaiser's Bride . [10]
His father, also named Henry Sedley, was an engineer and journalist. His mother was Eleanor Phelps McKeague. [9] His younger brother Parke Godwin Sedley was a stockbroker. [2] [13] [14] He had two sisters, Eleanor and Barbara. [15]
Adolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris, where he played the lead role; Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory with Kirk Douglas; Ernst Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle; The Sheik with Rudolph Valentino; Morocco with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper; and A Star Is Born with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and was nominated for an Academy Award for The Front Page in 1931.

Louis Robert Wolheim was an American actor, of both stage and screen, whose rough physical appearance relegated him to roles mostly of thugs, villains and occasionally a soldier with a heart of gold in the movies, but whose talent allowed him to flourish on stage. His career was mostly contained during the silent era of the film industry, due to his death at the age of 50 in 1931.
Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook was an English film actor.

Henry Arthur Barrows was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 to 1936.
Milton George Gustavus Sills was an American stage and film actor of the early twentieth century.
Carmel Myers was an American actress who achieved her greatest successes in silent film.
Virginia Valli was an American stage and film actress whose motion picture career started in the silent film era and lasted until the beginning of the sound film era of the 1930s.
William Russell was an American actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter. He appeared in over two hundred silent-era motion pictures between 1910 and 1929, directing five of them in 1916 and producing two through his own production company in 1918 and 1925.

Fredrick Louis Kohler was an American actor.

George A. Siegmann was an American actor and film director in the silent film era. His work includes roles in notable productions such as The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), The Three Musketeers (1921), Oliver Twist (1922), The Cat and the Canary (1927), and The Man Who Laughs (1928).
Blanche Mehaffey was an American showgirl and film actress.
Kathryn Carver Hall was an American actress.
William V. Mong was an American film actor, screenwriter and director. He appeared in almost 200 films between 1910 and 1939. His directing (1911–1918) and screenwriting (1911–1922) were mostly for short films.
Charles Clary was an American actor of the silent film era. Clary appeared in more than 200 films between 1910 and 1930. He was born in Charleston, Illinois and died on his 58th birthday in Los Angeles, California. He worked for Selig and the Fine Arts Film Company. Before Clary joined Selig, he "played stock companies and road shows all over America".
George Fawcett was an American stage and film actor of the silent era.

Edna Murphy was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 80 films between 1918 and 1933. Murphy was voted "Most Photographed Movie Star of 1925" by ScreenLand Magazine.
Julia Swayne Gordon was an American actress who appeared in at least 228 films between 1908 and 1933.
Keene Thompson was a story, scenario and screenwriter who worked in the film industry from 1920 to 1937.
Blonde or Brunette is a surviving 1927 silent film comedy directed by Richard Rosson, produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. It stars Adolphe Menjou, Greta Nissen and Arlette Marchal.
Chester A. Lyons (1885–1936) was an American cinematographer. Active in the American film industry from 1917 until his death he worked on over eighty films during his career, the majority of them in the silent era. He began his career with Triangle Films and was later employed by Paramount, Fox, First National and MGM.