Al Ernest Garcia

Al Ernest Garcia
Born	Allan Ernest Garcia March 11, 1887 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died	September 4, 1938 (aged 51) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Years active	1911–1938

Al Ernest Garcia or also Allan Garcia (11 March 1887 – 4 September 1938) was an American actor and casting director, best known for his long association with Charlie Chaplin.

Life and career

Allan Garcia appeared in over 120 films between 1911 and 1938, mostly in supporting roles. He frequently played in silent film westerns with stars like Leo Carrillo and Warner Baxter. Garcia also directed a short film named The Purple Scar in 1917, but it stayed his only work as a director. Although born in California he was obviously also of Mexican origin, he played in some Mexican films and also portrayed Mexicans in American films. With the advent of sound film, his roles were somewhat smaller, but he worked until his death as an actor.

Garcia is best remembered for his work with Charlie Chaplin. He acted with Chaplin in six films between 1921 and 1936. Chaplin cast him mostly in clinical or villainous supporting roles. Garcia portrayed the brutal Circus director in The Circus (1928), the snobbish butler of the millionaire in City Lights (1931), and the director of the steel factory in Modern Times (1936) who is bored and plays puzzle while he demands maximum performances from his workers. The actor also worked as a Casting Director for Chaplin in The Circus, City Lights, and Modern Times. In contrast to his roles in Chaplin films, he engaged himself for better payment and more rights of supporting actors and bit players in films. He was the first chairman and co-founder of the Motion Picture Extras and Supporting Players Association which was originated in 1933.^[1]

Filmography

Allan Garcia (right side) with Herbert Barrington and Gertrude Astor in Under Two Flags (1915)

1910s

• The Counterfeit Trail (1919) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Trail of the Octopus (1919) - Jan al-Kasim (as Allen Garcia), Wang Foo (as Earnest Garcia)
• Six Feet Four (1919) .... Ben Broderick
• The Lamb and the Lion (1919) (as Al Garcia) .... Red Baxter
• A Gentleman's Agreement (1918) (as Al Garcia) .... Manager of Mine
• Baree, Son of Kazan (1918) (as Al Garcia) .... 'Bush' McTaggart
• Restitution (1918) (as Alfred Garcia) .... Lucifer and Satan
• Sunlight's Last Raid (1917) (as A. Garcia) .... Pedro
• The Purple Scar (1917) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Single Code (1917) (as Ernesto Garcia) .... Rodman Wray
• The Greater Power (1916) (as Al E. Garcia)
• Clouds in Sunshine Valley (1916) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Law at Silver Camp (1915)
• Her Atonement (1915) .... John De Forrest
• Gangsters of the Hills (1915) (as Al E. Garcia)
• Under Two Flags (1915) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Unafraid (1915) .... Joseph
• The Country Boy (1915) .... Jimmy Michaelson
• After Five (1915) (as Ernest Garcia)
• Young Romance (1915) (as Al Garcia) .... Spagnoli
• Rose of the Rancho (1914)
• Kate Waters of the Secret Service (1914) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Valley of the Moon (1914) (as Ernest Garcia) .... Bart
• The Big Horn Massacre (1913) (as Ernest Garcia)
• In the Midst of the Jungle (1913) (as Al E. Garcia)
• An Actor's Romance (1913)
• The Mansion of Misery (1913)
• The Reformation of Dad (1913) (as Al E. Garcia)
• A Western Romance (1913)
• The Fighting Lieutenant (1913)
• Woman: Past and Present (1913) .... Father Time
• The Stolen Melody (1913)
• Lieutenant Jones (1913)
• The Burglar Who Robbed Death (1913)
• The Tie of the Blood (1913) .... Mathews, A Half-Breed
• With Love's Eyes (1913) .... Dunwood, An Artist
• Margarita and the Mission Funds (1913) .... Ramon, an Outlaw
• The Spanish Parrot Girl (1913) .... Jose Raneros
• Yankee Doodle Dixie (1913) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Artist and the Brute (1913) (as Al E. Garcia)
• A Black Hand Elopement (1913)
• Our Lady of the Pearls (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Girl of the Mountains (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• Saved by Fire (1912/II) .... Harden Stone
• Her Educator (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• Monte Cristo (short) (1912) (as Al E. Garcia) .... Fernand
• An Assisted Elopement (1912/II) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Great Drought (1912)
• The Pirate's Daughter (1912)
• The Substitute Model (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Indelible Stain (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Little Indian Martyr (1912)
• A Messenger to Kearney (1912) (as A.E. Garcia) .... Palo Vasquez
• The Vow of Ysobel (1912)
• A Reconstructed Rebel (1912)
• The Lost Hat (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• A Humble Hero (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Hand of Fate (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The End of the Romance (1912) .... Jack Lee
• The Ones Who Suffer (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The 'Epidemic' in Paradise Gulch (1912)
• Bounder (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Danites (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• Disillusioned (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Test (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Bandit's Mask (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• Merely a Millionaire (1912)
• The Secret Wedding (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• The Cowboy's Adopted Child (1912) (as Al E. Garcia)
• An Evil Power (1911) (as Al E. Garcia)
• Old Billy (1911)
• Shipwrecked (1911) (as Albert E. Garcia)
• How Algy Captured a Wild Man (1911)
• The Regeneration of Apache Kid (1911)
• Their Only Son (1911)
• Slick's Romance (1911) (as Al E. Garcia)
• Told in the Sierras (1911)
• The Herders (1911)
• The Still Alarm (1911) (as Frank Garcia)
• The Code of Honor (1911)

1920s

• Morgan's Last Raid (1929) .... Morgan
• The Circus (1928) (as Allan Garcia) .... The Circus Proprietor and Ring Master
• The Gold Rush (1925) (uncredited) .... Prospector
• The Power God (1925) (as Allan Garcia) .... Weston Dore
• The Three Buckaroos (1922) .... 'Card' Ritchie
• Pay Day (1922/I) .... Drinking Companion and Policeman
• The Idle Class (1921) .... Cop in Park and Guest
• Reputation (1921) .... Leading man (stage sequence)
• Skyfire (1920) (as Al Garcia) .... Pierre Piquet
• The Golden Trail (1920) (as Al Garcia) .... Jean the Half-Breed

1930s

• In Old Mexico (1938) (as Al Garcia) .... Don Carlos Gonzales
• Blockade (1938) (uncredited)
• Blossoms on Broadway (1937) (uncredited) (as Allan Garcia) .... Opera Patron
• I'll Take Romance (1937) (uncredited) .... Garcia
• The Last Train from Madrid (1937) (uncredited) .... Third Hotel Clerk
• The Gay Desperado (1936) .... Police Captain
• Modern Times (1936) (as Allan Garcia) .... President of the Electro Steel Corp.
• Under the Tonto Rim (1933) (as Allan Garcia)
• The California Trail (1933) (as Allan Garcia) .... Sergeant Florez
• One Way Passage (1932) (uncredited) .... Honolulu Cigar Store Proprietor
• The Gay Desperado (1932) (uncredited) (as Allan Garcia) .... Bit Role
• South of Santa Fe (1932) (as Captain Garcia) .... Captain Felipe Mendezez Gonzales Rodrigues
• Marido y mujer (1932) .... Dr. Burgess
• Models and Wives (1931)
• The Deceiver (1931) .... Payne
• The Cisco Kid (1931) (uncredited) .... Undetermined Role
• Gran jornada, La (1931) .... Flack
• City Lights (1931) (as James) .... The Eccentric Millionaire's Butler

References

1. "Hollywood Unknowns: A History of Extras, Bit Players, and Stand-Ins", Anthony Slide

External links

• Al Ernest Garcia at the Internet Movie Database