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IMDbPro

Crane Wilbur(1886-1973)

  • Writer
  • Actor
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Crane Wilbur in The Perils of Pauline (1914)
Actor, screenwriter and director Crane Wilbur was born Erwin Crane Wilbur on November 17, 1886, in Athens, NY. The nephew of the great stage actor Tyrone Power Sr., Wilbur first took to the boards as an actor, making his Broadway debut billed as Erwin Crane Wilbur on June 3, 1903, in a trilogy of William Butler Yeats plays, "A Pot of Broth" / "Kathleen ni Houlihan" / "The Land of Heart's Desire", put on by the Irish Literary Society at the Carnegie Lyceum.

He began appearing in films in 1910, but he made his name as a cinema actor as the male lead in The Perils of Pauline (1914), the enormously popular serial starring Pearl White. A star during the 1910s, Wilbur's career as a movie actor began petering out after he appeared as the eponymous hero of Breezy Jim (1919). As the Roaring Twenties made their debut, Wilbur went back to the stage. Between 1920-34 he had seven plays presented on Broadway: "The Ouija Board" (1920); "The Monster" (1922; revived 1933); "Easy Terms" (1925); "The Song Wtiter" (1928); "Border-Land" (1932); "Halfway to Hell" (1933); and "Are You Decent" (1934). He also staged "Halfway to Hell" and directed Donald Kirkley and Howard Burman's "Happily Ever After" in 1945. Crane also performed in "The Ouija Board", "Easy Terms" and nine other Broadway shows from 1927-32, including "A Farewell to Arms" (1930) and "Mourning Becomes Electra" (1932).

Wilbur had directed several silent pictures, but he made his sound debut as a director with the controversial Tomorrow's Children (1935), touted as "The Most Daring, Sensational Drama Ever Filmed!" The movie is an expose of the "science" of eugenics, tied to a story about the attempted forced sterilization of a married couple by the Welfare Bureau. "Tomorrow's Children" exposed the fact that many people were sterilized against their will and even without recourse to due process of law. The movie was banned in New York state on the grounds that it was "immoral", that it would "tend to corrupt morals" and that it was an incitement to crime. The ban was challenged but was upheld in the courts and on appeal as it was found to disseminate information about birth control, which was illegal at the time.

After this controversy Wilbur went on to a long and productive career, particularly in the mystery-thriller genre, as both a director and a screenwriter. He had a hand in the production of such genre classics as House of Wax (1953), The Bat (1959) (which he also directed) and Mysterious Island (1961).

Wilbur died on October 18, 1973, in Toluca Lake, CA, of complications following a stroke.
BornNovember 17, 1886
DiedOctober 18, 1973(86)
BornNovember 17, 1886
DiedOctober 18, 1973(86)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

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Known for

Vincent Price in The Bat (1959)
The Bat
6.1
  • Writer
  • 1959
Scott Brady in Canon City (1948)
Canon City
6.5
  • Writer
  • 1948
Lili Damita, Francisco Flores del Campo, and Fred Keating in The Devil on Horseback (1936)
The Devil on Horseback
5.0
  • Writer
  • 1936
Eleanor Hunt and Conrad Nagel in Navy Spy (1937)
Navy Spy
5.2
  • Writer
  • 1937

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Writer



  • House of Women (1962)
    House of Women
    6.1
    • Writer
    • 1962
  • Neville Brand, Barrie Chase, Ray Danton, Brad Dexter, Frank Gorshin, Julie London, Jayne Mansfield, Margo Moore, and Barbara Nichols in The George Raft Story (1961)
    The George Raft Story
    5.7
    • screenplay
    • 1961
  • Mysterious Island (1961)
    Mysterious Island
    6.7
    • screenplay
    • 1961
  • The Texan (1958)
    The Texan
    7.6
    TV Series
    • story
    • 1960
  • Solomon and Sheba (1959)
    Solomon and Sheba
    6.2
    • story
    • 1959
  • Vincent Price in The Bat (1959)
    The Bat
    6.1
    • screen story by
    • screenplay by
    • 1959
  • Alan Hale Jr. and Bobby Clark in Casey Jones (1957)
    Casey Jones
    7.4
    TV Series
    • writer
    • 1958
  • Sugarfoot (1957)
    Sugarfoot
    7.4
    TV Series
    • screenplay
    • 1957
  • Dianne Foster and Cameron Mitchell in Monkey on My Back (1957)
    Monkey on My Back
    6.9
    • written by
    • 1957
  • William Bendix, Richard Boone, Keefe Brasselle, William Leslie, and John Lund in Battle Stations (1956)
    Battle Stations
    6.1
    • screen play
    • 1956
  • The Phenix City Story (1955)
    The Phenix City Story
    7.2
    • screenplay by
    • 1955
  • Jan Sterling, Ida Lupino, and Cleo Moore in Women's Prison (1955)
    Women's Prison
    6.5
    • screenplay
    • 1955
  • The Mad Magician (1954)
    The Mad Magician
    6.5
    • screen play
    • story
    • 1954
  • Sterling Hayden, Phyllis Kirk, and Gene Nelson in Crime Wave (1953)
    Crime Wave
    7.3
    • screen play
    • 1953
  • House of Wax (1953)
    House of Wax
    7.0
    • screenplay
    • 1953

Actor



  • Eleanor Hunt and Conrad Nagel in Yellow Cargo (1936)
    Yellow Cargo
    5.2
    • Montie Brace
    • 1936
  • Vince Barnett, George Houston, Movita, and Marian Nixon in Captain Calamity (1936)
    Captain Calamity
    4.2
    • Dr. Kelkey
    • 1936
  • Donald Douglas and Diane Sinclair in Tomorrow's Children (1935)
    Tomorrow's Children
    5.6
    • Father O'Brien (uncredited)
    • 1935
  • Public Opinion (1935)
    Public Opinion
    6.4
    • Paul Arnold
    • 1935
  • Richard Cromwell and Charles C. Wilson in Name the Woman (1934)
    Name the Woman
    • Blake
    • 1934
  • High School Girl (1934)
    High School Girl
    5.1
    • Carl Bryson
    • 1934
  • Rosetta Duncan and Vivian Duncan in It's a Great Life (1929)
    It's a Great Life
    5.9
    • Bit Role (uncredited)
    • 1929
  • The Heart of Maryland (1921)
    The Heart of Maryland
    • Alan Kendrick
    • 1921
  • Something Different (1920)
    Something Different
    • Don Luis Vargas
    • 1920
  • Crane Wilbur in Stripped for a Million (1919)
    Stripped for a Million
    • Stanley Warren
    • 1919
  • Crane Wilbur in Devil McCare (1919)
    Devil McCare
    • Devil McCare
    • 1919
  • Breezy Jim
    • Breezy Jim
    • 1919
  • The Finger of Justice (1918)
    The Finger of Justice
    • Noel Delaney
    • 1918
  • Crane Wilbur in Unto the End (1917)
    Unto the End
    • Jim O'Neill
    • 1917
  • The Blood of His Fathers (1917)
    The Blood of His Fathers
    • Morgan Gray
    • Abel Gray
    • 1917

Director



  • House of Women (1962)
    House of Women
    6.1
    • Director (uncredited)
    • 1962
  • Vincent Price in The Bat (1959)
    The Bat
    6.1
    • Director (directed by)
    • 1959
  • No Pets Allowed
    Short
    • Director
    • 1952
  • Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951)
    Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison
    6.6
    • Director
    • 1951
  • Richard Basehart, Signe Hasso, and Marilyn Maxwell in Outside the Wall (1950)
    Outside the Wall
    6.7
    • Director
    • 1950
  • Dorothy Hart, June Havoc, and John Russell in The Story of Molly X (1949)
    The Story of Molly X
    6.6
    • Director
    • 1949
  • Scott Brady in Canon City (1948)
    Canon City
    6.5
    • Director
    • 1948
  • Power Behind the Nation
    Short
    • Director
    • 1947
  • Robert Arthur, James Cardwell, Sue England, Darryl Hickman, Terry Moore, and Noreen Nash in The Devil on Wheels (1947)
    The Devil on Wheels
    5.2
    • Director
    • 1947
  • It Happened in Springfield
    Short
    • Director
    • 1945
  • I Am an American (1944)
    I Am an American
    6.1
    Short
    • Director
    • 1944
  • I Won't Play (1944)
    I Won't Play
    6.8
    Short
    • Director
    • 1944
  • Proudly We Serve (1944)
    Proudly We Serve
    6.3
    Short
    • Director
    • 1944
  • The Monroe Doctrine (1939)
    The Monroe Doctrine
    5.8
    Short
    • Director
    • 1939
  • The Bill of Rights (1939)
    The Bill of Rights
    6.2
    Short
    • Director
    • 1939

Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
  • Born
    • November 17, 1886
    • Athens, New York, USA
  • Died
    • October 18, 1973
    • Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA(pulmonary embolism)
  • Spouses
      Lenita LaneApril 18, 1936 - October 18, 1973 (his death)
  • Other works
    Stage: Wrote "The Ouija Board", produced on Broadway. Drama. Directed by W.H. Gilmore. Bijou Theatre; 29 Mar 1920-May 1920 (closing date unknown/64 performances). Cast: George Dannenborg, Edward Ellis, George Gaul, Ruth Hammond, William Ingersoll, Howard Lang, Regina Wallace, Stewart E. Wilson, John Wray. Produced by A.H. Woods.
  • Publicity listings
    • 10 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    He was the nephew of Tyrone Power Sr. and cousin of Tyrone Power and Anne Power.
  • Quotes
    I'm going to give people what they want. Sensation, horror, shock. Send them out into the streets to tell their friends how wonderful it is to be scared to death.

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