Paul Sablon
Belgium-born cinema pioneer and animal trainer (1883–1940)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Sablon (6 November 1888 – 3 November 1940), later Paul Bourgeois, was a Brussels-born actor, director, cinematographer, writer and animal trainer, who worked in the early film industry, including for Pathé Frères in Europe and Universal in the United States.[1]
While working in the Netherlands, "Sablon became the regular cameraman for Alfred Machin’s tiger Mimir."[2] He later toured with the Circus Hagenbeck, developing his animal training skills.[1] During his American era he seems to have been a combination animal trainer, critically and commercially successful director, con man and workplace predator.[3] “Bourgeois and his wife, actress Rosita Marstini, arrived in Hollywood in summer 1915” after he had worked with animals in New York and New Jersey.[3] He was head animal trainer and Universal City Zoo superintendent from approximately 1915 to 1916.[4] In 1916, he defrauded investors with an ice rink scheme and then absconded to Arizona with the money and his 19-year-old stenographer.[3] He spent time in both Canada and the United States but died in his home country of Belgium.[1][3]
Filmography
Actor:
- 1912: Het vervloekte Geld (The Curse of Money)
- 1913: Beasts of the Jungle[5]
- 1915: The Prisoner of the Harem[6]
- 1916: Hungry Happy’s Dream[7]
Director or cinematographer, in Europe:
- 1912: Babylas va se marier
- 1912: L'Âme des moulins[8]
- 1912: Calvaire du mousse
- 1912: L'Or qui brûle
- 1912: De Molens die juichen en weenen
- 1912: La Peinture et les cochons
Director, working in the United States under the name Paul Bourgeois:
Further reading
- Donaldson, Geoffrey (1997). Of joy and sorrow : a filmography of Dutch silent fiction. Amsterdam: Stichting Nederlands Filmmuseum. ISBN 90-71338-10-X. OCLC 39197409.
