Motion Picture Director. A comedy specialist, he is best known for his work with Laurel and Hardy. Horne directed the duo in several shorts, including "Big Business" (1929), "One Good Turn" (1931), and "Beau Hunks" (1931), and the features "Bonnie Scotland" (1935), "The Bohemian Girl" (1936), and the classic "Way Out West" (1937). He was also the credited director of Buster Keaton's "College" (1927). The serials he made for Columbia at the end of his career, among them "The Spider's Web" (1938), "The Iron Claw" (1941), "Holt of the Secret Service" (1941), and "Captain Midnight" (1942), are marked by the same slapstick sensibility as his comedies, with results so campy they verge on the surreal. They are highly regarded today by fans of the genre. James Wesley Horne was born in San Francisco. After some stage experience as an actor, he joined the Kalem film studio in 1911. He was the husband of silent screen star Cleo Ridgely, father of James Wesley Horne Jr and June Horne, and uncle of Oscar-winning director George Stevens. Had he lived, he would also have been the father-in-law of actor Jackie Cooper, who married his daughter June in 1944.
Motion Picture Director. A comedy specialist, he is best known for his work with Laurel and Hardy. Horne directed the duo in several shorts, including "Big Business" (1929), "One Good Turn" (1931), and "Beau Hunks" (1931), and the features "Bonnie Scotland" (1935), "The Bohemian Girl" (1936), and the classic "Way Out West" (1937). He was also the credited director of Buster Keaton's "College" (1927). The serials he made for Columbia at the end of his career, among them "The Spider's Web" (1938), "The Iron Claw" (1941), "Holt of the Secret Service" (1941), and "Captain Midnight" (1942), are marked by the same slapstick sensibility as his comedies, with results so campy they verge on the surreal. They are highly regarded today by fans of the genre. James Wesley Horne was born in San Francisco. After some stage experience as an actor, he joined the Kalem film studio in 1911. He was the husband of silent screen star Cleo Ridgely, father of James Wesley Horne Jr and June Horne, and uncle of Oscar-winning director George Stevens. Had he lived, he would also have been the father-in-law of actor Jackie Cooper, who married his daughter June in 1944.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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