Academy Founders 19a

19. Harry Rapf (1882-1949) of the Producers Branch, second from left next to Buster Keaton (and with Louis B. Mayer third from right), at a house party at William Randolph Hearst’s “El Cuesta Encantada” in San Simeon, California, ca. 1927. 

Harry Rapf has 81 producer credits at IMDb, among them BROWN OF HARVARD (1926), THE BROADWAY MELODY (1929), MIN AND BILL (1930), and Robert Benchley’s short HOW TO SLEEP (1935). His last film was SCENE OF THE CRIME (1949).

In the photo, left to right: Buster Keaton (Joseph Frank Keaton Jr., 1895-1966); Harry Rapf; Irving Thalberg (# 21); and Nicholas M. Schenck (1881-1969). There are so many names in this post that I will have to continue in a second part.

Academy Founders 18a

N.B. The member numbers follow The Internet Movie Database's list order announcing the Academy in January 1927. 

18. Louis B. Mayer (Lazar/Ezemiel Mair, 1884?-1957; third from right) and 19. Harry Rapf (1882-1949; next to Buster Keaton) of the Producers Branch, at a house party at William Randolph Hearst’s “El Cuesta Encantada” in San Simeon, California, ca. 1927. 

Academy Founders 4

N.B. The member numbers follow The Internet Movie Database's list order announcing the Academy in January 1927.

4. Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) of the Actors Branch, in a photo attributed to Russell Ball (1891-1942).

A comedy star of the same wattage as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Lloyd specialized in a comedy of dangerous pratfalls — he was the “normal” youth in every group, the one whose disasters were both funny and educational.

The long sunset of his career was marked by continuing relevance in industry and Hollywood society circles; the Lloyds’ “Greenacres” was, like the Fairbankses’ “Pickfair,” a local showplace. 

He married his co-star Mildred Davis (1901-1969) in 1923.