Quick Facts
Biography
Kenneth Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types.
Early years
Harlan was born Kenneth Daniel Harlan in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of George W. Harlan and actress Rita W. Harlan. He was a graduate of Saint Francis High School in Brooklyn, New York, and Fordham University in New York City.
Career
At age 7, Harlan began acting on stage and working in Vaudeville. His first film was A Black Sheep (1915).
He spent much of 1916 touring with a company of dancers that headlined future Ziegfeld performer Evan-Burrows Fontaine. His career spanned 25 years and included 200 features and serials, Harlan first entered the motion picture world in 1916 as the leading man under D.W. Griffith. Harlan later played with Constance Talmadge, Lois Weber, Mary Pickford, Katherine MacDonald, Anna May Wong, and others. Harlan was skilled at drama and comedy, and made several westerns.
Harlan had the leading role in two film serials, Finger Prints (1931) and Danger Island (1931).
He made a smooth transition to talkies, even singing in a few films, but his film roles remained minor throughout his later career. Harlan worked until the 1940s and retired in 1963.
Family
Harlan was married nine times, including a marriage to silent screen star Marie Prevost. He was the nephew of long-time actor and comedian Otis Harlan.
Death
Harlan died of an acute aneurysm on March 6, 1967, in Sacramento, California. He was 71.
Complete filmography
- Betsy's Burglar (1917)
- Cheerful Givers (1917)
- The Flame of the Yukon (1917)
- The Price of a Good Time (1917)
- The Lash of Power (1917)
- A Man's Man (1918)
- My Unmarried Wife (1918)
- The Wife He Bought (1918)
- The Wine Girl (1918)
- The Marriage Lie (1918)
- A Model's Confession (1918)
- Midnight Madness (1918)
- Her Body in Bond (1918)
- Bread (1918)
- The Law That Divides (1918)
- The Microbe (1919)
- The Hoodlum (1919)
- The Trembling Hour (1919)
- The Turning Point (1920)
- Dollars and Sense (1920)
- Going Some (1920)
- The Penalty (1920)
- Love, Honor and Obey (1920)
- Dangerous Business (1920)
- Mama's Affair (1921)
- Lessons in Love (1921)
- Nobody (1921)
- Dawn of the East (1921)
- The Barricade (1921)
- Woman's Place (1921)
- Received Payment (1922)
- Polly of the Follies (1922)
- The Primitive Lover (1922)
- I Am the Law (1922)
- The Married Flapper (1922)
- The World's a Stage (1922)
- The Toll of the Sea (1922)
- Thorns and Orange Blossoms (1922)
- The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
- The Girl Who Came Back (1923)
- Little Church Around the Corner (1923)
- Temporary Marriage (1923)
- East Side - West Side (1923)
- A Man's Man (1923)
- The Virginian (1923)
- April Showers (1923)
- The Broken Wing (1923)
- Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo (1924)
- The Virgin (1924)
- The Man Without a Heart (1924)
- Butterfly (1924)
- White Man (1924)
- For Another Woman (1924)
- On the Stroke of Three (1924)
- Two Shall Be Born (1924)
- Learning to Love (1925) (uncredited)
- The Re-Creation of Brian Kent (1925)
- The Crowded Hour (1925)
- Drusilla with a Million (1925)
- The Marriage Whirl (1925)
- Ranger of the Big Pines (1925)
- Bobbed Hair (1925)
- Soiled (1925)
- The Golden Strain (1925)
- The Fighting Edge (1926)
- The King of the Turf (1926)
- The Sap (1926)
- The Virgin Wife (1926)
- The Ice Flood (1926)
- Twinkletoes (1926)
- Easy Pickings (1927)
- Stage Kisses (1927)
- Cheating Cheaters (1927)
- Streets of Shanghai (1927)
- Willful Youth (1927)
- Midnight Rose (1928)
- United States Smith (1928)
- Code of the Air (1928)
- Man, Woman and Wife (1929)
- The Alibi (1929 short)
- Paradise Island (1930)
- Under Montana Skies (1930)
- Women Men Marry (1931)
- Finger Prints (1931)
- Air Police (1931)
- Danger Island (1931 serial)
- The Shadow of the Eagle (1932)
- Foiled Again (1932 short)
- The Widow in Scarlet (1932)
- Wanderer of the Wasteland (1935)
- Cappy Ricks Returns (1935)
- Man Hunt (1936)
- Movie Maniacs (1936 short)
- Song of the Saddle (1936)
- The Walking Dead (1936)
- San Francisco (1936)
- Public Enemy's Wife (1936)
- China Clipper (1936)
- The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936)
- They Met in a Taxi (1936)
- Easy to Take (1936) (uncredited)
- The Accusing Finger (1936) (uncredited)
- Hideaway Girl (1936)
- Flying Hostess (1936)
- Trail Dust (1936)
- Penrod and Sam (1937)
- A Million to One (1937)
- Marked Woman (1937)
- Gunsmoke Ranch (1937)
- The Go Getter (1937) (scenes deleted)
- San Quentin (1937) (scenes deleted)
- Kid Galahad (1937) (uncredited)
- Blazing Sixes (1937)
- Topper (1937) (uncredited)
- Paradise Isle (1937)
- Wine, Women and Horses (1937)
- Renfrew of the Royal Mounted (1937)
- Something to Sing About (1937) (uncredited)
- The Shadow Strikes (1937)
- Submarine D-1 (1937) (uncredited)
- The Mysterious Pilot (1937)
- Wallaby Jim of the Islands (1937)
- Tim Tyler's Luck (1937 serial) (uncredited)
- Saleslady (1938)
- Swing It, Sailor! (1938)
- Blondes at Work (1938)
- Merrily We Live (1938) (uncredited)
- Accidents Will Happen (1938)
- Under Western Stars (1938)
- Whirlwind Horseman (1938)
- Held for Ransom (1938)
- Pride of the West (1938)
- The Wages of Sin (1938)
- Smashing the Rackets (1938) (uncredited)
- Law of the Texan (1938)
- The Headleys at Home (1938)
- The Little Adventuress (1938)
- The Duke of West Point (1938)
- Sunset Trail (1939)
- On Trial (1939)
- The Man Who Dared (1939) (uncredited)
- The Flying Irishman (1939) (uncredited)
- Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939) (uncredited)
- The Oregon Trail (1939 serial) (uncredited)
- Port of Hate (1939)
- Range War (1939)
- Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939)
- Heroes in Blue (1939) (uncredited)
- The Night of Nights (1939) (uncredited)
- The Green Hornet (1940 serial) (uncredited)
- Santa Fe Marshal (1940)
- Murder in the Air (1940)
- Millionaires in Prison (1940 (uncredited)
- Doomed to Die (1940)
- Prairie Schooners (1940)
- Junior G-Men (1940 serial) (uncredited)
- A Little Bit of Heaven (1940)
- Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940 serial) (uncredited)
- Pride of the Bowery (1940)
- The Case of the Black Parrot (1940 (uncredited)
- Secret Evidence (1941)
- Meet John Doe (1941) (uncredited)
- Sky Raiders (1941 serial) (uncredited)
- Million Dollar Baby (1941) (uncredited)
- Paper Bullets (1941)
- Desperate Cargo (1941)
- Bullets for O'Hara (1941)
- Wide Open Town (1941)
- King of Dodge City (1941)
- Dangerous Lady (1941)
- Fighting Bill Fargo (1941)
- Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc. (1941)
- Don Winslow of the Navy (1942 serial)
- Sleepytime Gal (1942) (uncredited)
- Black Dragons (1942)
- Klondike Fury (1942)
- The Dawn Express (1942)
- The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
- Perils of the Royal Mounted (1942 serial)
- Juke Girl (1942) (uncredited)
- Wings for the Eagle (1942) (uncredited)
- Deep in the Heart of Texas (1942)
- Bandit Ranger (1942)
- Phantom Killer (1942)
- Foreign Agent (1942)
- You Can't Escape Forever (1942) (uncredited)
- Hitler – Dead or Alive (1942)
- The Sundown Kid (1942) (uncredited)
- Silent Witness (1943)
- G-Men vs. the Black Dragon (1943 serial) (uncredited)
- You Can't Beat the Law (1943)
- A Stranger in Town (1943) (uncredited)
- Wild Horse Stampede (1943)
- Daredevils of the West (1943 serial)
- Girls in Chains (1943) (uncredited)
- The Masked Marvel (1943)
- The Law Rides Again (1943)
- Melody Parade (1943)
- Adventures of the Flying Cadets (1943) (uncredited)
- The Underdog (1943)
- Nearly Eighteen (1943)
Death
Harlan died from an aneurysm in Sacramento, California and is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.