Title supplied by cataloger.; Original photograph is slightly warped. Douglas Shearer was born on November 17, 1899 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the brother of actress Norma Shearer. He was a pioneer sound designer and recording director who played a key role in the advancement of sound technology for motion pictures. In the early 1920s. He was a significant innovator in the advancement of sound technology in film, including the development of a sophisticated recording system that eliminated unwanted background noise during sound recording. Shearer held several patents. He was nominated for Academy Awards 21 times, winning 7 times for sound and special effects. He died on January 5, 1971.; Lee de Forest was born on August 26, 1873 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was an American inventor interested in wireless telegraphy and invented the Audion, an electronic amplifying vacuum tube in 1906. He later developed an improved wireless telegraph receiver and was granted over 180 patents, but became involved in many radio-related patent disputes. On July 18, 1907, De Forest broadcast the first ship-to-shore message and he named himself the "Father of Radio," disliking the term "wireless." In 1919 and 1920 de Forest filed his first patents on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines, an improvement on the work of Finnish inventor Eric Tigerstedt. The process was used for short films, but was initially rejected by the major Hollywood studios. He was, however, honored with an honorary Academy Award in 1960 for his contributions to sound in film. Pictured are sound designer Douglas Shearer (left), brother of star Norma Shearer, and inventor Lee de Forest. The men are admiring Shearer's Academy Award for Best Sound Effects for the 1936 film San Francisco. Photograph dated March 9, 1937.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;26 x 21 cm. Photographic prints
Shearer, Douglas,--1899-1971 Shearer, Douglas,--1899-1971--Awards De Forest, Lee,--1873-1961 Shearer, Norma,--1902-1983--Family Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Millennium Biltmore Hotel (Los Angeles, Calif.) Academy Awards (Motion pictures) Motion picture actors and actresses--United States Inventors--California--Los Angeles Men--California--Los Angeles Hotels--California--Los Angeles Sofas--California--Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.) Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
