Lynne Overman
Actor
(1887-1943)
EARLY LIFE
Lynne Overman was born on September 19, 1887 in Maryville, Missouri. He was the only child of William James Overman and Dora Alice Johnson Overman who came to Maryville in the grocery business on South Main Street. He was described by his teacher, Ada Albert, as "... a dandy little speaker." He would perform in many church socials during this time. The family would move when Lynne was about ten years old to Siloam Springs, Arkansas and later Laredo (Grundy County), Missouri where his father would die shortly after arriving. Lynne and Dora would move once more to Trenton, Missouri where he found his love of racing and horses. He would continue racing horses until he had grown too large to be a jockey. During the winter months, Lynne attended Blees Military Academy in Macon County, Missouri where he would graduate and move on to the University of Missouri, Columbia.
Photo credit
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Photo credit
Some Notable Theater Appearances
Early Acting Career &
Military Service
Lynne would go to Denver, Colorado where he studied the dramatics under Maude Fealy. She quickly told Dora Overman that he had no business studying acting as he was a natural born actor. He would go to New York to attend drama school. On November 4th, 1907 he made his first professional stage appearance in Milwaukee in the play, "Out of the Fold" where he played Toby. He would go on to play in the stage shows, "One a Minute" and "Every Woman" with the Garrick players in Washington D.C. Overman would go on to tour Ward and Wade minstrels for two years until ultimately ending up in Seattle, nearly broke. After failing to make ends meet in Alaska, Lynne enlisted in the Navy in 1917. He was stationed at Cape May for a time where he later became an ensign, serving aboard the Sybilla III (SP 104), a coastal patrol vessel. After his service, Overman would return to the New York stage where he would split his time between New York and London.
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Academy of Music, Milwaukee, 4 Nov. 1907, as Toby in "Out of the Fold."
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Toured with Ward and Wade Minstrels.
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Toured with Chick Sewell in "The Boys of Company A."
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Toured with "The Wolf."
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Toured with Robert Edeson in "Classmates."
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Played stock engagements at New Haven, Milwaukee, Providence, Denver, San Francisco, Jersey City, Brooklyn, etc.
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Made first appearance in New York, Harris Theatre, 1916, as Billy Bartlett in "Fair and Warmer."
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Played in "A Prince of Tonight," "The Honeymoon Trail," "A Stubborn Cinderella," and "Oh Boy."
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[Military Service, 1917]
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At Forty-eighth Street Theatre, April, 1919, played Charley Carter in "Come on, Charlie."
Later Career & Hollywood
By 1926, Dora Overman had fallen ill. Lynne returned to the States where he could be in close contact with her in her last days. During that time, Overman decided to go to Hollywood "just to se what was was doing." He made a studio test, but was unable to land a movie job. Lynne returned to New York where upon entering his home, his phone rang and an executive from Paramount told Lynne that he wanted to sign him. He packed his bags once more and set out to Hollywood where he went to work at once.
Lynne appeared in a few shorts prior to landing a feature length film by the name of Little Miss Marker (1934) with none other than Shirley Temple. Lynne was at time the store, but mostly settled for a supporting role. He was described as a "good and dependable light character player, cynical but friendly," usually an amiable type. He would often play men who were low-key, dour but kind. Lynne found good success in Hollywood, appearing in nearly 50 motion pictures. Some notable appearances include Union Pacific (1939), Reap the Wild Wind (1942), She Loves Me Not (1934).
RESOURCES
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Stairway of Stars Booklet, Nodaway County Historical Society.
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Bob Bohlken, Famous People of Nodaway County (Instant Publisher, 2010).
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IMDB
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Wikipedia