# Lou Tellegen

Lou Tellegen (born Isidor Louis Bernard Edmon van Dommelen; November 26, 1881 or 1883 – October 29, 1934) was a Dutch-born stage and film actor, film director and screenwriter.

## Early life

Lou Tellegen was born as Isidor Louis Bernard Edmon van Dommelen in Sint-Oedenrode, the illegitimate child of a separated, but not divorced, lieutenant of the West-Indian Army Isidore Louis Bernard Edmon Tellegen (1836–1902) and his partner Anna Maria van Dommelen (1844–1917), widow of Eduard Hendrik Jan Storm van 's Gravezande.
He made his stage debut in Amsterdam in 1903, and over the next few years built a reputation to the point where he was invited to perform in Paris, eventually co-starring in several roles with Sarah Bernhardt, with whom he was involved romantically. In 1910, he made his motion picture debut alongside Bernhardt in La dame aux camélias, a silent film made in France and based on the play by Alexandre Dumas, fils.

## Career

In 1910, Tellegen and Bernhardt travelled to the United States, where The New York Times first published, and then retracted, the announcement of their impending marriage. (She was 39 years his senior.) Back in France, in 1912 they made their second film together, Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth (Queen Elizabeth), and the following year, Adrienne Lecouvreur. The latter is considered a lost film.
In the summer of 1913, Tellegen went to London where he produced and starred in a play based on Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Invited back to the United States, Tellegen worked in theatre and made his first American film in 1915, titled The Explorer, followed by The Unknown, both with Dorothy Davenport as his co-star. Considered one of the best-looking actors on screen, he followed up with three straight films starring alongside Geraldine Farrar.

## Personal life

Tellegen married a total of four times, first to a sculptor in 1903 (this union produced a daughter), and second to Farrar in 1916. His marriage to Farrar ended in divorce in 1923. His third marriage was to actress Nina Romano (real name: Isabel Craven Dilworth), with whom he had a son. His fourth marriage was to silent film star Eve Casanova (real name Julia Horne). He became an American citizen in 1918.
On December 25, 1929, Tellegen sustained burns to his face when he fell asleep while smoking. At the time, he was preparing for an out-of-town tryout for a play. To repair the damage, Tellegen underwent extensive plastic surgery.

## Later career and death

In 1931, he wrote his autobiography Women Have Been Kind.
By 1931, Tellegen’s popularity had declined and he had trouble securing acting work. He was also deeply in debt and filed for bankruptcy. Around this time, Tellegen was diagnosed with cancer, though this information was kept from him. Tellegen soon grew despondent.
On October 29, 1934, while a guest of Edna Cudahy, the widow of meat packing heir Jack Cudahy, at the Cudahy Mansion at 1844 North Vine Street in Hollywood (now the site of the Vine-Franklin underpass of the Hollywood Freeway), Tellegen locked himself in the bathroom, then shaved and powdered his face. While standing in front of a full-length mirror, he stabbed himself in the heart seven times with a pair of sewing scissors. Some accounts claim Tellegen was surrounded by newspaper clippings of his career at the time of his suicide.
When asked to comment on Tellegen's death former wife Geraldine Farrar replied "Why should that interest me?" Tellegen was cremated and his remains were scattered at sea.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1911 | La Dame aux camélias | Armand Duval | |
| 1912 | Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth | Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex | Alternative titles: Queen Elizabeth La Reine Élisabeth |
| 1913 | Adrienne Lecouvreur | | Alternative title: An Actress's Romance, lost film |
| 1915 | The Explorer | Alec McKenzie | Credited as Lou-Tellegen, lost film |
| 1915 | The Unknown | Richard Farquhar | |
| 1916 | The Victory of Conscience | Louis, Count De Tavannes | |
| 1916 | The Victoria Cross | Major Ralph Seton | |
| 1917 | The Black Wolf | The Black Wolf | Lost |
| 1917 | The Long Trail | Andre Dubois | Lost |
| 1917 | What Money Can't Buy | – | Director; Lost |
| 1918 | The Thing We Love | – | Director, Lost film |
| 1919 | The World and Its Woman | Prince Michael Orbeliana | Alternative title: The Golden Song |
| 1919 | Flame of the Desert | Sheik Essad | |
| 1920 | The Woman and the Puppet | Don Mateo | |
| 1920 | Blind Youth | – | Writer, undetermined/presumably Lost |
| 1924 | Let Not Man Put Asunder | Dick Lechmere | Lost film |
| 1924 | Between Friends | David Drene | Lost film |
| 1924 | Single Wives | Martin Prayle | |
| 1924 | The Breath of Scandal | Charles Hale | Lost |
| 1924 | Those Who Judge | John Dawson | Lost |
| 1924 | Greater Than Marriage | John Masters | |
| 1925 | The Redeeming Sin | Lupin | Lost film |
| 1925 | Fair Play | Bruce Elliot | Alternative title: The Danger Zone |
| 1925 | The Verdict | Victor Ronsard | |
| 1925 | Parisian Nights | Jean | |
| 1925 | After Business Hours | John King | |
| 1925 | The Sporting Chance | Darrell Thorton | |
| 1925 | Parisian Love | Pierre Marcel | |
| 1925 | With This Ring | Rufus Van Buren | |
| 1925 | East Lynne | Sir Francis Levison | |
| 1925 | Borrowed Finery | Harlan | |
| 1926 | The Outsider | Anton Ragatzy | |
| 1926 | Siberia | Egor Kaplan | Lost film |
| 1926 | The Silver Treasure | Sotillo, the Bandit | Lost film |
| 1926 | 3 Bad Men | Sheriff Layne Hunter | |
| 1926 | Womanpower | The Broker | |
| 1927 | Stage Madness | Pierre Doumier | |
| 1927 | The Princess From Hoboken | Prince Anton Balakrieff | Lost film |
| 1927 | The Little Firebrand | Harley Norcross | |
| 1927 | Married Alive | James Duxbury | Lost film |
| 1928 | No Other Woman | – | Director, lost film |
| 1930 | To oneiron tou glyptou | | Writer, director Alternative title: Pygmalion kai Galateia |
| 1931 | Enemies of the Law | Eddie Swan | |
| 1934 | Caravane | | Uncredited; French-language version of Fox production Caravan |
| 1935 | Together We Live | Bischofsky | |

## Footnotes

* 1 2 "Lou Tellegen, Idol of Stage and Silent Screen, Stabs Himself Seven Times." Spartanburg (SC) Herald, October 30, 1934, pp. 1-2.
* ↑ Ellenberger, Allan (March 7, 2011). "The suicide of Lou Tellegen". allanellenberger.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014.
* ↑ George H. Beale, "Lou Tellegen, the Gable of Silent Films, Stabs Self to Death to Escape Poverty." Pittsburgh Press, October 30, 1934, p. 1.
* ↑ "Lou-Tellegen Now a Citizen". The New York Times. 1918-03-13. p. 9.
* ↑ Mankiewicz, Joseph L. (2008). Joseph L. Mankiewicz: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-934110-24-9.
* 1 2 "Metropolitan Announcer". Time. 1934-11-12. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-30.