Bob Curwood(1896-1980)
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Silent western actor Bob Curwood was born in Romania in 1899 as John
Balas Belasco. His parents were non-professionals Maria and Russen
Balas Belasco. His movie-name was changed to Bub Curwood when he was
given the lead role in a series of silent western and
Royal-Canadian-Mounted shorts at Universal Pictures Corporation, circa
1925. Curwood starred in 26 silent shorts but his strong accent and
inability to speak English bought an end to his career when Universal
started producing sound films. Some sources credit John Balas Belasco
as being a relative of either Universal-president Carl Laemmle, or Mr.
Laemmle's wife. Most likely true as no studio in the history of
American films had more relatives of the boss on its payroll than
Universal.
Photos
