- Lee Boubyer & Charlie Taylor
- BBC News, Somerset
image source, wellington film festival
The work of a silent film star who left Hollywood and retired to Somerset is set to be shown at a film festival.
Jack Ackroyd starred in more than 70 films made in Los Angeles in the early 20th century, co-starring stars such as Laurel and Hardy.
The actor’s film and a documentary about his life will be screened at the Wellington Film Festival, which runs from Friday to Sunday.
He retired to Wellington, where he lived for 31 years until his death in 1962.
image source, wellington film festival
Mr. Ackroyd held a number of jobs before entering the film industry in 1919.
He joined the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment shortly after the outbreak of World War I and survived being shot in the head, thigh and arm.
After being discharged from the army, he moved to Vancouver, Canada, in 1918, and then to California, USA, where he took a job as a cleaner at Mack Sennett Studios, one of Hollywood’s biggest producers at the time.
This role launched him into an acting career, and he became a Hollywood A-lister, starring in box office hits.
His great-grandson, David Ackroyd, said a local newspaper called Mr Ackroyd an “over-the-top Charlie Chaplin”.
He told BBC Radio Somerset: “It’s great to hear people laughing[at his films].”
“It’s really amazing. I still can’t believe it. I heard these things about the movie when I was little. I saw the stills…I’m still amazed.”
Mr. Ackroyd’s best-known works include the 1919 film “Hearts and Flowers,” in which he co-starred with then-popular actress Louise Fazenda, and the 1926 film “Better All,” in which he played a German soldier. There is.
Wellington Film Festival is run by Somerset Film, an educational charity and film production company.
