Philippe De Lacy
Philippe De Lacy
Biography
Philippe De Lacy a.k.a. Philippe deLacy (July 25, 1917 – July 29, 1995) was a former silent film era child actor. Born during World War I, the already fatherless Philippe lost his mother and five siblings when a German shell devastated the family home. Only two days old at the time of tragedy, the boy was kept alive, but barely, in the basement of his grandmother's house. He was adopted by Mrs. Edith De Lacy, who was associated with the U.S. Woman's Overseas Hospital. After the war ended, Mrs. De Lacy brought Philippe to America, where his stunning looks soon created opportunities for him as a model for magazine advertisements. His modeling assignments brought him to the attention of Hollywood, and he appeared in his first film in a bit part at the age of four. Phillipe's childhood story was used as the subject of a fictional children's book, Little Philippe of Belgium, written by Madeline Brandeis as part of her "Children of the World" series. De Lacy freelanced for several studios in the 1920s, but mostly for Paramount. In 1924 he played the role of Michael Darling in the classic silent version of Peter Pan, with Betty Bronson. He played the young Don Juan at ten years of age in John Barrymore's Don Juan (1926), and in 1927 he played the young prince Karl Heinrich in Ernst Lubitsch's memorable The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, which also starred Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer. Also in 1927 he starred with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in Love, an updated version of the Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina in which he played the young son of Anna, Serezha Karenin. When the sound era arrived De Lacy's acting career was declining, and he never made the transition from child actor to adult. Apart from his films, De Lacy also did some work in the theatre. However he had lost his boyish charm by his early teens and retired from the screen in the early 1930s. De Lacy concentrated on the production end of films as a producer, director and cinematographer. He became an assistant to director Louis De Rochemont and worked with him in the 1940 film The Ramparts We Watch. Eventually he became an executive with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, a position he held for over 25 years. De Lacy’s first credit was in 1942 as an editorial associate for the US armed forces propaganda film We Are The Marines. Radio and television announcer Westbrook Van Voorhis provided the narration for the documentary, which was effectively a full-length fighting feature. In 1944 De Lacy was involved in another documentary, this time for the US Navy, filmed aboard the carrier Yorktown. The narrators in this documentary were actors Robert Taylor (who was actually a lieutenant in the navy at the time) and Charles Boyer who supplied the French narration. De Lacy was the cinematographer in The Fighting Lady and had three real life naval commanders to assist him. This film won the 1945 Oscar for Best Documentary. De Lacy then turned his hand to directing a television series in 1950, and in addition, he also became manager of a local Hollywood television station.
Known For
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
32
Gender
Male
Birthday
1917-07-25 (108 years old)
Place of Birth
Nancy, France
Acting

1930

The Sins of the Children as Rudolph Wagenkampf as a Child (uncredited)

1930

One Romantic Night as Prince Georg

1930

Sarah and Son as Bobby

1929

Square Shoulders as Eddie

1929

General Crack as Christian, as a boy

1929

The Redeeming Sin as Petit

1929

The Marriage Playground as Terry Wheater

1929

The Four Feathers as Harry Faversham - age 10

1929

The Royal Rider as King Michael XI

1928

The Broken Mask as Pertio, as a boy

1928

4 Devils as Adolf - as a Boy

1928

Napoleon's Barber as The Barber's Son

1927

Love as Serezha Karenin (as Philippe de Lacy)

1927

Is Zat So? as Little Jimmy Parker

1927

Mother Machree as Brian - Child

1927

The Magic Garden as John Guido Forrester, as a child

1927

The Tigress as Pippa

1927

The Way of All Flesh as August, as a child

1926

Faithful Wives as The Child

1926

Beau Geste as Digby Geste - younger

1926

Flesh and the Devil as Leo as a boy (uncredited)

1926

Don Juan as Don Juan - at age 10 (uncredited)

1925

The Happy Warrior as Ralph (at 8 years)

1925

A Lover's Oath as His Son

1924

Peter Pan as Michael Darling

1923

The Wheel of Fortune as Not available

1923

Rosita as Rosita's Brother

1922

A Doll's House as Ivar

1920

The Riddle: Woman as Not available
Crew

1963

The Best of Cinerama Director

1955

Cinerama Holiday Director