Thomas B. Ricketts (January 15, 1853 - January 19, 1939), often credited as Tom Ricketts, was an English stage and film actor and director who was a pioneer in the film industry. He portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in the first American film adaptation of A Christmas Carol (1908), and directed one of the first motion pictures ever made in Hollywood. After directing scores of silent films, including the first film to be released by Universal Pictures, Ricketts became a prominent character actor.

Biography

Thomas B. Ricketts was born in London January 15, 1853, and began his career on the stage. When he was 17 years old he emigrated to the United States, and directed plays on Broadway for Charles Frohman. He was a stage manager for the Shubert family, sang baritone with the Carleton Opera Company, and starred in his own play, Henri Duvar.

In 1906, after he had been with the Shuberts for four years, Ricketts was persuaded by a friend to join Essanay Studios in Chicago. He played Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1908), the first American film adaption of the Dickens classic, then starred in The Old Curiosity Shop (1909). When Ricketts said he had toured with a comedy he had written, A Cure for Gout, the company asked him to make a 600-foot film of it—the length limit for a comedy at that time.

Ricketts became a director, taking over comedies and melodramas from Broncho Billy Anderson, who in turn took over Westerns. Ethel Clayton, Jack Conway, J. Warren Kerrigan and Bryant Washburn were among Ricketts's discoveries—along with Josephine Ditt, "the best-dressed woman on the screen", to whom Ricketts was married. Chief dramatic and general producer for two years at Essanay, he helped organize the American Film Manufacturing Company in 1910. He made six films for the Flying "A" before withdrawing and seeking another opportunity.

Thomas Ricketts (front row, right) in a group photo with the Nestor Motion Picture Company (1911)

In 1911 Ricketts moved to California, together with Canadian film pioneer Al Christie, with thoughts of creating a new film company. "We arrived in Los Angeles with no idea of where to establish our studio," Ricketts remembered. "A real estate man who happened to overhear our discussion of a studio site suggested Hollywood. The next day we found our way out to Sunset and Gower, to a defunct roadhouse. The owner, a woman, wanted $60 a month rent for the entire block. We thought it was too much, but we signed a lease." The Nestor Film Company opened its studio October 27, 1911.

Ricketts directed one of the first Hollywood-made motion pictures, The Best Man Wins (1911), photographed by Charles Rosher. Its stars were juvenile leading man Harold Lockwood, ingenue Dorothy Davenport, vamp Josephine Ditt, juvenile ingenue Victoria Forde, male heavy Gordon Sackville, and character actresses Eugenie Forde and Alice Davenport. Allan Dwan was Ricketts's assistant.

Nestor made between 50 and 60 films—half of them directed by Ricketts—over the next 18 months. On May 20, 1912, the company merged with the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Nestor's distributor beginning with The Dawn of Netta (1912), directed by Ricketts.

In 1914, on an independent contract, Ricketts directed Richard Bennett in Damaged Goods. When flower girls were needed for a wedding scene, Bennett's three daughters—Joan Bennett, Constance Bennett and Barbara Bennett—began their film careers. "Its success made me a little egotistical," Ricketts recalled. "It cost about $25,000 to make and brought in a million and a half on its first run. I naturally thought it would put me in great demand as a director. But it didn't. I had to start all over again, this time going back to my old trade as an actor."

Returning to acting in 1919, in his mid-60s, Ricketts was almost always in demand for character parts. By 1935 he was described as "white-haired and bent with age … content with an occasional film role". His later films included Top Hat (1935), After the Thin Man (1936), Pennies from Heaven (1936), The Young in Heart (1938) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). He was regarded as the oldest working actor in Hollywood.

Ricketts died at Hollywood Hospital January 19, 1939, aged 86, of pneumonia, contracted the previous week when he went to work at Universal Studios despite a cold. "Mr. Ricketts left no funds," reported The New York Times, "and expenses of his funeral will be paid by the Motion Picture Relief Society." Josephine Ricketts, hospitalized in Santa Monica since suffering a stroke at Christmas, was not informed of her husband's death; it was reported that she would be told sometime before his funeral. Ricketts was buried in an unmarked grave at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Select filmography

Director

Herald for Damaged Goods (1914) Ad for The House of a Thousand Scandals (1915)

Year	Title	Notes
1909	Cure for Gout, AA Cure for Gout
1909	Game, TheThe Game
1909	Gratitude
1909	Justified
1909	Maud Muller
1909	Woman's Wit, AA Woman's Wit
1910	Adventuress, TheThe Adventuress
1910	Advertisement Answered, AnAn Advertisement Answered
1910	Fair Exchange, AA Fair Exchange
1910	Hand of Uncle Sam, TheThe Hand of Uncle Sam
1910	His Only Child
1910	Lure of the City, TheThe Lure of the City
1910	Stolen Fortune, TheThe Stolen Fortune
1910	Thief, TheThe Thief
1910	Vera, the Gypsy Girl
1911	Best Man Wins, TheThe Best Man Wins	First motion picture made in Hollywood
1912	Dawn of Netta, TheThe Dawn of Netta	First film distributed by Universal Pictures
1914	Damaged Goods
1915	Buzzard's Shadow, TheThe Buzzard's Shadow
1915	House of a Thousand Scandals, TheThe House of a Thousand Scandals
1915	End of the Road, TheThe End of the Road
1915	Lure of the Mask, TheThe Lure of the Mask
1915	Secretary of Frivolous Affairs
1915	Wily Chaperon, TheThe Wily Chaperon
1916	Other Side of the Door, TheThe Other Side of the Door
1916	Single Code, TheThe Single Code
1916	Secret Marriage
1918	Crime of the Hour, TheThe Crime of the Hour

Actor

Clara Bow, Kate Lester and Tom Ricketts in Black Oxen (1923)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1908	Christmas Carol, AA Christmas Carol	Ebenezer Scrooge
1909	Old Curiosity Shop, TheThe Old Curiosity Shop
1919	Girls	Mr. Dennett
1919	His Official Fiancée	Major Montressor
1919	Please Get Married	Dr. Jenkins
1920	All of a Sudden Peggy	Major Archie Phipps
1920	Desperate Hero, TheThe Desperate Hero	Butler
1920	Great Lover, TheThe Great Lover	Potter
1920	Paliser Case, TheThe Paliser Case	Major Archie Phipps
1920	Parish Priest, TheThe Parish Priest	Dr. Thomas Cassidy
1920	Spenders, TheThe Spenders	Mr. Milbrey
1920	Willow Tree, TheThe Willow Tree	The Priest
1921	Beating the Game	Jules Fanchette
1922	Killer, TheThe Killer	Tim Westmore
1921	Sham	Uncle James
1922	Eternal Flame, TheThe Eternal Flame	Vidame de Pameir
1922	Fools of Fortune	Milton DePuyster
1922	Lavender Bath Lady, TheThe Lavender Bath Lady	Simon Gregory
1922	Putting It Over	Arnold Norton
1922	Shattered Idols	The Reverend Doctor Romney
1922	Tailor Made Man, AA Tailor Made Man	Anton Huber
1923	Alice Adams	J. A. Lamb
1923	Black Oxen	Charles Dinwiddie
1923	Dangerous Maid, TheThe Dangerous Maid	John Standish Lane
1923	Strangers of the Night	Lush
1923	Within the Law	General Hastings
1924	Cheap Kisses	The Old Man
1924	Circe the Enchantress	Archibald Crumm
1924	Gaiety Girl, TheThe Gaiety Girl	His Grace, the Duke
1925	Bobbed Hair	Mr. Brewster
1925	Business of Love, TheThe Business of Love	Noah Burgess
1925	Fate of a Flirt, TheThe Fate of a Flirt	Uncle John Burgess
1925	Fight to the Finish, AA Fight to the Finish	Cyrus J. Davis
1925	Girl Who Wouldn't Work, TheThe Girl Who Wouldn't Work	The Rounder
1925	My Wife and I	Valet
1925	Never the Twain Shall Meet	Andrew J. Casson
1925	Oh Doctor!	Mr. Peck
1925	Sealed Lips	Joseph Howard
1925	Secrets of the Night	Jerry Hammond
1925	Steppin' Out	Henry Brodman
1925	Wages for Wives	Judge McLean
1925	Was It Bigamy?	Judge Gaynor
1925	When Husbands Flirt	Wilbur Belcher
1926	Belle of Broadway, TheThe Belle of Broadway
1926	Cat's Pajamas, TheThe Cat's Pajamas	Mr. Briggs
1926	Dancing Days	Stubbins
1926	Going the Limit	Mortimer Harden
1926	Ladies at Play	Deacon Ezra Boody
1926	Ladies of Leisure	Wadleigh
1926	Lily, TheThe Lily	Jean
1926	Love's Blindness	Marquis of Hurlshire
1926	Nut-Cracker, TheThe Nut-Cracker	Isaac Totten
1926	Old Soak, TheThe Old Soak	Roué
1926	Poker Faces	Henry Curlew
1926	Stranded in Paris	Herr Rederson
1926	When the Wife's Away
1927	Broadway Madness	Lawrence Compton
1927	Children of Divorce	Secretary
1927	In a Moment of Temptation	Timothy Gage
1927	My Friend from India	Judge Belmore
1927	Sailor's Sweetheart, AA Sailor's Sweetheart	Professor Meekham
1927	Too Many Crooks	Butler
1927	Venus from Venice	Bride's father
1928	Dry Martini	Joseph
1928	Five and Ten Cent Annie	Adam Peck
1928	Freedom of the Press	Wicks
1928	Interference	Charles Smith
1928	Just Married	Makepeace Witter
1928	Law and the Man	Quintus Newton
1929	Glad Rag Doll, TheThe Glad Rag Doll	Admiral
1929	Light Fingers	Edward Madison
1929	Red Hot Speed
1930	Prince of Diamonds	Williams
1930	Sea Legs	Commander
1930	Vagabond King, TheThe Vagabond King	Astrologer
1931	Ambassador Bill	Littleton
1931	Man of the World	Mr. Bradkin
1931	Side Show	Tom Allison
1931	Surrender	Gottleib
1932	Farewell to Arms, AA Farewell to Arms	Count Greffi
1932	He Learned About Women
1932	If I Had a Million	Guest at Mrs. Walker's dance
1932	Stepping Sisters	"Stock Market"
1932	Thrill of Youth	Grandpa Thayer
1933	Eleventh Commandment, TheThe Eleventh Commandment	Henry
1933	Forgotten	Old crony
1933	Good-bye Love	Alimony jail inmate
1933	Mama Loves Papa	Mr. Pierrepont
1933	Power and the Glory, TheThe Power and the Glory
1933	Women Won't Tell
1934	Broadway Bill	Johnson
1934	Count of Monte Cristo, TheThe Count of Monte Cristo	Cockeye
1934	Curtain Falls, TheThe Curtain Falls	Hotel manager
1934	In Love with Life	Bookstore proprietor
1934	Forsaking All Others	Wiffens
1934	Friends of Mr. Sweeney	Old gentleman
1934	It Happened One Night	Prissy old man
1934	Man Who Reclaimed His Head, TheThe Man Who Reclaimed His Head	Curly
1934	Manhattan Love Song	Rich man
1934	No Greater Glory	Old janitor
1934	One More River	Barrister and clerk
1934	Pursued	Tourist
1934	Sons of Steel	Williams
1934	Springtime for Henry	Bookstore clerk
1934	Stolen Sweets	Stoner
1934	Viva Villa!	Grandee
1934	Whom the Gods Destroy	Charlie
1935	Clive of India	Old member
1935	Cardinal Richelieu	Agitator
1935	Escapade	Old dandy
1935	George White's 1935 Scandals	Old man
1935	Goin' to Town	Eligible bachelor
1935	Great Impersonation, TheThe Great Impersonation	Villager
1935	Hi, Gaucho!	Don Salvador
1935	Let's Live Tonight	Millionaire
1935	Music Is Magic	Dancer, elderly man
1935	Now or Never
1935	Public Menace, TheThe Public Menace	Old man
1935	Tale of Two Cities, AA Tale of Two Cities	Tellson, Jr.
1935	Top Hat	Thackeray Club waiter
1935	Vagabond Lady	Department head
1936	Case Against Mrs. Ames, TheThe Case Against Mrs. Ames	Juryman
1936	Crime of Dr. Forbes, TheThe Crime of Dr. Forbes	Faculty doctor
1936	Daniel Boone	Attorney General's associate
1936	Show Boat	Minister
1936	Gold Diggers of 1937	Reginald
1936	Little Lord Fauntleroy	Partygoer
1936	Gentle Julia	Old man at dance
1936	Human Cargo	Reporter
1936	After the Thin Man	Henry, the butler
1936	To Mary - with Love	Waiter
1936	More Than a Secretary	Henry
1936	Pennies from Heaven	Mr. Briggs
1936	Song and Dance Man	Old theatrical couple
1936	We Went to College	Pop
1937	Born Reckless	Patient
1937	Maid of Salem	Giles Cory
1937	Star Is Born, AA Star Is Born	Servant
1937	Lady Escapes, TheThe Lady Escapes	Uncle George
1937	Prince and the Pauper, TheThe Prince and the Pauper	Sexton
1937	Toast of New York, TheThe Toast of New York	Member of the board of directors
1937	Personal Property	Elderly man
1937	Parnell	Elderly man
1937	Rhythm in the Clouds	Winter
1938	Young in Heart, TheThe Young in Heart	Andrew
1938	Bluebeard's Eighth Wife	Uncle Andre
1938	Baroness and the Butler, TheThe Baroness and the Butler	Old man
1938	Young Fugitives	Tom Riggins
1938	Gateway	Old man
1938	Four Men and a Prayer	Station master
1939	Son of Frankenstein	Burgher

[ Source: Wikipedia ]