Acting
Monte Collins
Biography
From Wikipedia
Monte Collins (also credited as Monty Collins; December 3,
1898 – June 1, 1951) was an American film actor and screenwriter. He appeared
in 167 films between 1920 and 1948. He also wrote for 32 films between 1930 and
1951.
Dapper, pencil-mustached Collins starred in silent short
comedies in the late 1920s. These were produced by Educational Pictures and
often directed by Jules White. The coming of sound in movies had no ill effect
on Collins's career; he was not as big a name as Buster Keaton or Laurel and
Hardy, so Collins had no preconceived screen image that could be shattered by
talkies. Although Collins took to talkies easily (he and Vernon Dent sing
together in the early sound short Ticklish Business), he never established
himself as a major comedy star. Throughout the 1930s he appeared in secondary
roles (businessmen, butlers, soldiers, salesmen, etc.) in both feature films
and short subjects.
One of his last credits was supplying material for Laurel
and Hardy's final film, Atoll K (1951). Filmed in France by French and Italian
cast and crew members, the production was hectic and chaotic for the
English-speaking stars. The finished film carries the unique credit, "Gags
by Monty Collins."
Collins was about to launch a career in television when he
died of a heart attack in 1951, at age 52.
