Josef Swickard

Josef Swickard
Swickard in 1921
Born	Peter Josef Schwickerath (1866-06-26)June 26, 1866 Alf, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	March 1, 1940(1940-03-01) (aged 73) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States
Spouse	Margaret Campbell ​ (m. 1928)​

Josef Swickard (26 June 1866 – 1 March 1940) was a Prussian-born German stage and screen character actor, who had toured with stock companies in Europe, South Africa, and South America.

Career

Swickard emigrated to the United States from the German Empire in 1882. He was a stage actor for several years before entering films with D.W. Griffith in 1912 and by 1914 was playing supporting roles for Mack Sennett. He appeared in Charles Chaplin's Laughing Gas and Caught in a Cabaret. He remained with Sennett until 1917, when he settled into his prolific career of playing mostly aristocratic characters.

Modern audiences are perhaps most familiar with his role of Marcelo Desnoyers, the well-intentioned but impractical French upper class father in Rex Ingram's 1921 film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His career in sound films was somewhat limited and he played in low-budget and action serial type films. He played the villainous Prime Minister Kruel in the 1925 film version of The Wizard of Oz.

Swickard as Marcelo Desnoyers in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)

Family life and death

Born in the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866 to Peter Schwecherath and Geniveve Steffens, Swickard was the brother of actor Charles Swickard. After arriving in the United States in November 1882, Schwecherath changed his name to Swickard and married a Scottish woman named Queeny in 1896. In 1902, Swickard applied for citizenship in the Eastern District of New York under the name Joseph P. Schwickerath. Records also show Swickard submitted a petition for naturalization in Los Angeles, California in February 1936 under the name of Peter Joseph Schwickerath. Sometime around 1928 Swickard married Broadway actress Margaret Campbell. The union was short-lived and the couple divorced on January 15, 1929. Swickard's last known residence was the Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles where he lived after his divorce from Campbell. Tragedy befell his ex-wife on June 27, 1939 when she was brutally murdered. Her son, Campbell McDonald, was the initial suspect. He was also suspected of having bludgeoned to death a Russian dancer, Anya Sosoyeva, as well as having assaulted the young actress Delia Bogard, who survived.LA police eventually arrested DeWitt Clinton Cook, who confessed and was sent to San Quentin, where he died in the gas chamber in 1941. Swickard died in 1940 from natural causes. He was falsely rumored to have jumped from the Hollywood sign.

The Evening Independent June 29, 1939. Nearly seven months to-the-day after his ex-wife's murder, Swickard died on February 29, 1940. He was 73.

Despite rumors that Swickard committed suicide by jumping from the Hollywood sign, his death was from natural causes. Swickard was buried under a simple headstone at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1913	Cupid in a Dental Parlor	Ethel's Father	Short
1914	Twenty Minutes of Love	Pickpocket's Victim	Short
	Caught in a Cabaret	Mabel's Father	Short, Uncredited
	A Rowboat Romance		Short
	Laughing Gas	Patient	Short
	The Property Man	Old Stagehand	Short, Uncredited
	The Face on the Bar Room Floor	Drinker	Short, Uncredited
	Lover's Luck	The Girl's Father	Short
	Hello, Mabel	Man in Lobby	Short, Uncredited
	Tillie's Punctured Romance	Cinema spectator	Uncredited
	Fatty and Minnie He-Haw	Minta's father	Short
1915	Mabel and Fatty's Simple Life	Mabel's father	Short
	Mabel, Fatty and the Law	Desk Sergeant	Short
	Mabel and Fatty's Married Life	Minor Role	Short, Uncredited
	Hogan's Romance Upset	The Rival	Uncredited
	Love, Loot and Crash	Mary's Father, a Banker	Short
1916	A Social Cub	The Knight of Old	Short
	Haystacks and Steeples	The Minister	Short
1917	A Tale of Two Cities	Dr. Alexandre Manette
	American Methods	Baron de Prefont
	The Book Agent	Dr. Newdope
	To Honor and Obey	James Hollis
	The Soul of Satan	Chicago Stone
	Because of a Woman	Col. Gwynne
	His Mother's Boy	Tom Glenny
1918	Keys of the Righteous	Paul Manning
	Treasure of the Sea	Thomas Elkins
	The White Man's Law	Suliman Ghengis
	When a Woman Sins	Mortimer West
	The Light of Western Stars	Padre Marcos
1919	A Trick of Fate	Raoul Garson
	The Lady of Red Butte	Delicate Hanson
	Pretty Smooth	Judge
	Snares of Paris	De Brionne
	A Girl in Bohemia	Professor Bryce
	A Woman of Pleasure	Rev. Mr. Goddard
	The Last of His People	Baron Bonart
1920	The Beggar Prince	Nodo
	The Third Generation	Colonel Alden Van Dusen
	Blind Youth	Pierre Monnier
	Moon Madness	Latour
	Trumpet Island	Jacques de Merincourt
1921	The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse	Marcelo Desnoyers
	Sowing the Wind	Petworth
	Beach of Dreams	Monsieur de Brie
	Who Am I?	Jacques Marbot
	Serenade	Domingo Maticas
	Opened Shutters	Sam Lacey
	No Woman Knows	The Great Schabelitz
	Cheated Hearts	Colonel Fairfax Gordon
1922	Across the Dead-Line	Abel
	Oh, Mabel Behave	Townsman	Uncredited
	The Golden Gift	Leonati
	The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe		Serial
	The Storm	Jacques Fachard
	Another Man's Shoes	Gouret
	The Young Rajah	Narada – the Mystic
	Pawned	Paul Veniza
	My American Wife	Don Fernando DeContas
1923	Mr. Billings Spends His Dime	Estaban Juárez
	Bavu	Prince Markoff
	Daughters of the Rich	Maud's Father
	The Cricket on the Hearth	Caleb Plummer
	Mothers-in-Law	Newton Wingate
	Forgive and Forget	John Standing
	The Age of Desire	Marcio
	The Eternal Struggle	Pierre Grange
	A Prince of a King	Urbano
	Maytime	Colonel Van Zandt
1924	The Shadow of the Desert	John Locke
	North of Nevada	Mark Ridgeway
	Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo	Professor Durand
	Pal o' Mine	Verdugo Montford
	A Boy of Flanders	Jan Van Dullan
	Men	Cleo's Father
	Untamed Youth	Pietro
	Defying the Law	Michelo Brescia
	Dante's Inferno	The Victim – Eugene Craig
1925	Easy Money
	The Sign of the Cactus	Old Man Hayes
	Wizard of Oz	Prime Minister Kruel
	The Verdict	Pierre Ronsard
	She Wolves	De Goncourt
	Fifth Avenue Models	Josef Ludant
	Playing with Souls	Monsieur Jomier
	The Mysterious Stranger	Raoul Lesage
	The Three Way Trail
	Off the Highway	Master
	The Keeper of the Bees	Bee master
	Northern Code	Père Le Blanc
1926	Stop, Look and Listen	Old Actor
	Three Pals	Col. Girard
	The Night Watch	John Pendleton
	Desert Gold	Sebastian Castaneda
	Whispering Canyon	Eben Beauregard
	Senor Daredevil	Juan Estrada
	Don Juan	Duke Della Varnese
	Officer Jim	The President of the Bank
	The High Flyer
	Kentucky Handicap
	Devil's Dice	Judge Casper Paine
	The Unknown Cavalier	Lingo
	The Border Whirlwind	Señor Jose Cordova
1927	Hotel Imperial	Austrian General	Uncredited
	One Increasing Purpose	Old Gand
	The Golden Stallion	John Forsythe
	The King of Kings		Uncredited
	False Morals
	Senorita	Don Francisco Hernandez
	Time to Love	Elvire's father
	Old San Francisco	Don Hernandez de Vasquez
	Get Your Man	Duke of Albin
	Compassion	Judge Henning
1928	Sharp Shooters	Grandpère
	Comrades	John Burton
	Turn Back the Hours	Colonel Torreon
	Eagle of the Night
	The Toy Shop	The toymaker	Short
	Dreary House
1929	The Bachelor's Club
	The Devil's Chaplain	The King
	The Eternal Woman	Ovaldo
	The Veiled Woman	Col. De Selincourt
	Frozen River	Hazy
	The Phantom of the North	Colonel Rayburn
	Street Corner		Short
	Times Square	Professor Carrillo
	Dark Skies	Señor Moreno
1930	The Lone Defender	Juan Valdez	Serial, [Chs. 1–2]
	Mamba	Count von Linden	Uncredited
	Song of the Caballero	Manuel
	The Phantom of the Desert	Col. Van Horn
1933	The Narrow Corner	Dutch Constable	Uncredited
	Narcotic	Federal Narcotics Agent
	The Perils of Pauline	Haggins, Foreign Consul	Serial, [Ch. 9]
1934	Beloved	Revolutionist
	All Men Are Enemies	Katha's Father	Uncredited
	Cross Streets	Dean Todd
	The Return of Chandu	Tyba – The White Magician	Serial, [Chs. 8–12]
	The Man Who Reclaimed His Head	French Citizen	Uncredited
1935	A Notorious Gentleman	Minor Role	Uncredited
	The Lost City	Dr. Manyus
	A Dog of Flanders	Monsieur de LaTour	(replaced by Henry Kolker) (scenes deleted)
	Love Me Forever	Bonini	Uncredited
	The Crusades	Buyer	Uncredited
1936	Custer's Last Stand	Major Henry Trent MD	Serial
	The Millionaire Kid	The Tutor
	Caryl of the Mountains	Jean Foray
	Lash of the Penitentes	Dr. Andrew Robert Taylor
	The Black Coin	Don Pedro Navarro	Serial, [Chs. 2–4, 13–15]
	Under Your Spell	Amigo	Uncredited
	The Boss Rider of Gun Creek	Lafe Turner
1937	Sandflow	Banker Porter
	Fit for a King	Sanitarium Director	Uncredited
	The Sheik Steps Out	Mohammedan Priest	Uncredited
	The Girl Said No	Jonesy
	Zorro Rides Again	Dam Watchman	Serial, [Ch. 8], Uncredited
1938	The Secret of Treasure Island	Passenger Ship Doctor	Chapter 1, Uncredited
	You Can't Take It with You	Professor
	Say It in French	Old Man	Uncredited
1939	Mexicali Rose	Gonzales	Uncredited
	Dick Tracy's G-Men	Presidente Huenemo Mendoza	Serial, Chapter 3, Uncredited
	$1,000 a Touchdown	Hamilton McGlen Sr.	Uncredited
	The Pal from Texas	Texas Malden
	The Great Victor Herbert	Newspaper Reporter	Uncredited
	The Mad Empress	Mexican Statesman with Father Fisher	Uncredited, (final film role)

External links

• Josef Swickard at IMDb
• Josef Swickard at the Internet Broadway Database
• Josef Swickard at Find a Grave