Here’s a true mystery photo, sent along by a member of the Brain Trust. The young girl in this photo is Leatrice Gilbert, the daughter of Leatrice Joy and John Gilbert. The question is whether anyone can identify the man in the photo.
Note: Leatrice Gilbert was born in 1924 and I would guess she is no more than 4 years old in this picture, which would make it about 1928.
He looks a little bit like Edgar Kennedy
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Joe Penner?
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I looked up all the directors Leatrice Joy worked with ca. 1925-28, and he doesn’t seem to be any of them. He looks so infuriatingly familiar, though!
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Allen Jenkins
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I’m guessing it’s the monkey trainer; maybe identifying the monkey will lead to the man. It doesn’t quite look like Josephine, who starred in 1928’s “The Cameraman” (Buster Keaton), but maybe that’s just lighting. Here are a couple pix of Josephine: https://dcairns.wordpress.com/2009/12/26/positively-the-same-monkey/
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I forgot to add that Josephine and John Gilbert both worked for MGM in 1928 (right, Eve?).
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I found out that Josephine’s trainer–or one of her trainers–was named Tony Campanaro, but I can’t find any pictures of him. He worked with Hal Roach, and also a bunch of other animals. Josephine also appeared in “The Kid Brother” with Harold Lloyd and “The Circus” with Charlie Chaplin. In “Limousine Love,” with Charley Chase (1928), she reportedly wears a kilt (per here: https://dcairns.wordpress.com/tag/josephine-the-monkey/), so maybe this shot was taken during the making of that film–if it is her.
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Interesting. Thanks!
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I finally found a reported picture of Tony Campanero, and it looks like the nose is wrong. Mystery ongoing!
http://ourgang.wikia.com/wiki/Anthony_Campanaro_Fruit_And_Vegetables
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(Login issues–hopefully this comment doesn’t get repeated)
I finally found a reported picture of Tony Campanero, and it looks like the nose is wrong. The mystery goes on! http://ourgang.wikia.com/wiki/Anthony_Campanaro_Fruit_And_Vegetables
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John Gilbert worked for MGM, but Leatrice for Paramount, and little Leatrice lived with her mother. One of the sons suspects he MAY just be an organ grinder dragged in for a photo op–it’s just that he looks so familiar! This photo would have been taken ca. 1926-ish.
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would that be Clark Gable?
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The monkey on the far left? Not impossible, I suppose . . .
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Vito Corelone?
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I have no idea but that is one awesome photograph. The monkey alone is worth it.
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