# Most famous silent actor to be the most famous talky actor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2021, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886 "2021-12-11T14:39:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/21 "2021-12-12T00:05:09Z")
Possible candidates not previously mentioned include (but are not limited to): Lionel Barrymore Marlene Dietrich (longer sound career than Garbo) Emil Jannings Pola Negri Erich von Stroheim Conrad Veidt ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/22 "2021-12-12T00:48:30Z")
I’d add Gary Cooper to that list. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/23 "2021-12-12T00:53:15Z")
Did silent directors have a lot of success once sound came in? D. W. Griffith struggled. I guess Alfred Hitchcock did silent movies? He’s so well known for his sound movies, I’m not even sure how big a hit he was before that. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/24 "2021-12-12T00:59:07Z")
Cecil B. DeMille managed all right… ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/25 "2021-12-12T02:35:23Z")
Should we mention Gloria Swanson? Wish we still had @Eve with us. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/26 "2021-12-12T02:45:35Z")
Most of her silent films are long lost, but “Sunset Boulevard” is a classic. IIRC, she put her career aside for quite a few years to raise her children (and yeah, have an affair with Joseph Kennedy). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/27 "2021-12-12T03:19:34Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Did silent directors have a lot of success once sound came in? D. W. Griffith struggled. > > I guess Alfred Hitchcock did silent movies? He’s so well known for his sound movies, I’m not even sure how big a hit he was before that. Hitchcock was successful with silents, directing ten of them. Though they were shot in England, so he may not have been well known in the states. John Ford made around 60 silent films. His silent _The Iron Horse_ was a success. Frank Capra basically invented the character played by Harry Langdon (who was grouped with Chapin, Keaton, and Lloyd as the four great names of silent comedy by James Agee). He directed several of Langdon’s films to great success before sound came in. King Vidor directed the silent hits _The Big Parade_ and _The Crowd_ and received several Oscar nominations for his sound films. Of course, it would be easier for a director to make the change, since he would have learned the visual part of directing in the silent days and just had to learn how to direct dialog. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/28 "2021-12-12T05:31:21Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > She also did silent porn. What??? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/29 "2021-12-12T05:54:23Z")
You know, with a gag on. It’s a particular fetish, I understand. 😙 ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/30 "2021-12-12T07:37:36Z")
> [@Lantern2](#): > > Edit: I guess it depends on whether we are talking fame during the star’s career or today. For the former I would go with Garbo and the latter with Chaplin. Just to clarify I meant that Garbo’s sound films were more famous in her lifetime than Chaplin’s but today Chaplin’s one major sound film is more famous. Clearly Chaplin was a more famous star both then and now. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886/31 "2021-12-12T07:43:38Z")
For directors Lubitsch deserves a mention as someone with success with both silent and sound but De Mille is probably the right answer in terms of having mega-hits in both eras. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-silent-actor-to-be-the-most-famous-talky-actor/955886.md?page=1)