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The Man of a Thousand Faces was born simply Leonidas Chaney in Colorado Springs, 1883. The son of deaf mute parents, Chaney began entertaining at a young age both at home and at his father's barber shop. Relying heavily on pantomime and sign language, Chaney's skills of silent communication bloomed early.

He hit the acting road at the age of nineteen and performed in his first touring play, The Little Tycoon, a piece co-written by he and his brother John.

In 1905, Chaney found his first wife in the form of young singing beauty Cleva Creighton, who was auditioning for a part in the traveling revue in which Lon worked. After Cleva became pregnant, the couple quit the show and returned to her hometown of Oklahoma to raise the child.

But performing came naturally to the Chaneys and, after a rough stint touring the midwest in oft broken-down barnstorming shows, the three found themselves in California. There, Lon found work as a stage manager and actor, most notably for Kolb and Dill.

Chaney's first film role was technically in 1912's The Blood Red Tape of Charity. During this time, Cleva survived a breakdown and suicide attempt, but unfortunately the marriage of the Chaneys had suffered too much damage to persevere and the couple were divorced in 1915.

He continued to work in film steadily, receiving critical acclaim for his roles in 1918's Riddle Gawne and Miracle Man (1919).

In 1923, Chaney filmed The Hunchback of Notre Dame, immortalizing the infamous Quasimodo. The master of makeup and his own special effects, Chaney wore a fifty-pound hump and bag to realistically portray the doomed bell ringer.

Of course, Chaney's true immortality was sealed with his screen performance as Erik, the horrible and sympathetic opera house ghost in 1925's The Phantom of the Opera. Chaney's ingenious makeup and facial expressions perfectly captured Leroux's villain for all time.

In 1927, Chaney filmed the horror-drama London after Midnight, a 'ghost detective story' in which he played the Inspector charged with investigating the mysterious goings-on and strange phantom figures at a house where the owner has supposedly committed suicide.

After a career spanning eighteen years and more than 150 appearances on film, the silent star gave his first spoken performance in 1930's The Unholy Three, a remake of the 1925 Tod Browning film.

Having officially (and reluctantly) entered the world of the talkies, 47-year old Chaney succumbed to throat cancer soon thereafter. The legacy of The Man of a Thousand Faces is an immovable thing.