- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGerard Montgomery Blue
- Height6′ 3″ (1.91 m)
- Stalwart, durable Monte Blue, a romantic leading man of the silent days, was born January 11, 1887, as Gerard Monte Blue (some sources indicate 1890, but his mother's application for his admission to the Soldier's and Sailor's Orphan's Home lists his birth date as January 11, 1887). Various sources have reported his first name as George or Gerald, but, again, in his mother's application, it is spelled Gerard. His father was killed in a railroad accident when Monte was eight and his mother could not support four children. He was admitted (along with another brother, Morris) to the orphanage at that time. There he built up his physique playing football. At one time or another the able-bodied gent was a railroader, a fireman, a coal miner, a cowpuncher, a ranch hand, a circus rider, a lumberjack and, finally, trekking west, he became a day laborer for D.W. Griffith's Biograph Studios.
Blue eventually became a stuntman for Griffith and an extra in The Birth of a Nation (1915), which was his first film. Griffith took him in and made him an assistant on his classic epic Intolerance (1916), where he earned another small part. Gradually moving to support roles for both Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, Blue earned his breakthrough role as "Danton" in Griffith's Orphans of the Storm (1921) with sisters Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish. He rose to stardom as a rugged romantic lead opposite Hollywood's top silent stars, among them Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow and Norma Shearer. He made a relatively easy transition into talkies as he had a fine, cultivated voice, but, at the same time, lost most of his investments when the stock market crashed in 1929. By the 1930s the aging star had moved back into small, often unbilled parts, continuously employed, however, by his old friend DeMille and Warner Bros. At the end of his life he was working as an advance man for the Hamid-Morton Circus in Milwaukee. He died of a coronary attack complicated by influenza in 1963.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpousesBetty Jean Munson Mess(October 17, 1959 - February 18, 1963) (his death)Tove Janson(November 11, 1924 - March 23, 1956) (her death, 2 children)Erma Gladys(? - 1923) (divorced)
- RelativesTove Blue Valentine(Grandchild)
- In the movie "Key Largo" Monte Blue played the part of 'Sheriff Ben Wade' and the late, great Jay Silverheels played the uncredited part of, 'Tom Osceola', one of two Indian brothers on the run from the law. Monte and Jay would soon cross paths again a year later, although under different circumstances. Jay Silverheels, became immortalized in the role of "Tonto" in 'The Lone Ranger' television show and Monte guest starred on the show for a total of 6 times between 1949-1953, five times playing a sheriff and one time as an Indian chief.
- Once saved a chorus girl (Wanda Stewart) from serious injury by tearing her gown off after it had accidentally caught on fire during a stage performance in Seattle.
- He was raised in a home for orphans, along with one of his brothers, (The Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home in Knightstown, Indiana). His father, a Civil War veteran in the Union army who had once served as a scout for famed frontiersman Buffalo Bill Cody, was killed in an automobile accident when he was eight years old and his mother could not raise Monte and her four children by herself.
- Monte Blue came to my elementary school in the Los Angeles area in 1945 or 1946. He told a few cheerful stories and did a few rope tricks, which impressed the all of the children. I made an effort to learn "roping", and practiced quite a bit over the ensuing ten years or so. After his appearance at school, when I told my parents about the show, they both knew of Monte Blue and smiled about my good luck.
- Entered films as an assistant director and stuntman working with famed director D.W. Griffith.
- Intolerance (1916) - $5 /day
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