Jack Mulhall

Elegant silent film leading man Jack Mulhall launched his career as a boy singer on the tent-show circuit, then moved up the ladder to vaudeville and stock companies. Appearing in his first film in 1913, Mulhall rose to full stardom in the 1920s, playing light romantic leads opposite some of Hollywood's most glamorous female stars; his most frequent co-star was Dorothy Mackaill, with whom he appeared in several popular Warner Bros. films of the late silent era. His well-modulated voice, seasoned with a touch of the brogue, assured him a seamless transition to talking pictures. In 1929's Dark Streets, Mulhall essayed the first dual role ever attempted in talkies. By the early '30s, however, Mulhall's star was in eclipse, and he was taking whatever he could get: leads in Poverty Row detective mellers, supporting roles in serials, bits in A-pictures like DeMille's Cleopatra, and so on. Outwardly taking his fall from grace in stride, Mulhall remained perplexed at this reversal of fortune until the end of his days. His best showing in the 1940s was as one of the headliners of the long-running Los Angeles stage revue Ken Murray's Blackouts. Jack Mulhall remained active in films until 1960, keeping busy in his last years on the board of the Screen Actors Guild.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide