John St. Polis

Dignified character actor John Saint Polis billed himself as Saint Polis when he made his screen bow in 1914. During the pre-WWI era, the actor starred in such important productions as Joseph and His Brethren. During the 1920s, he was established as a character actor, with sizeable roles in Three Weeks (1924) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925), among others. He made an impressive transition to talkies as Mary Pickford's fatally honor-bound father in Coquette (1929), then spent the remainder of his career in roles of varying sizes, usually playing doctors or officials. Like many other venerable silent-film veterans, John Saint Polis made his last appearance in a Cecil B. De Mille production, Reap the Wild Wind (1942).

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide