Figure 1.--HBC thought this might be a studio shot of Philippe in his own suit rather than a film costume. It looks, however, rather like his costume in "Mairrage Playground". It is, however, a suit that an American boy from an affluent family might have worn in the 1920s.

HBC still has only limited information on Philippe. We know that he was born in Nancy, France on July 25, 1917. He was a World War I war orphan, but a lot luckier than most. He was born during an air raid in which his mother was traicallu killed. He was adopted by am Americam war aid worker--Mrs. Edith DeLacy. She was in France working with the Woman's Overseas Hospital. After the war, Mrs. DeLacy brought Philippe to America. It was not long before the boy's hansome appeal made him a natural for first advertisements and then the movies. In fact he may well have been the most handsome child star from the Golden Years of Hollywood. He also seems to have been a very natty dresser. His first films were silent pictures and thus Philippe and his films are not very well-known today.

Birth

We know that he was born in Nancy, France on July 25, 1917.

Childhood

HBC still has only limited information on Philippe. He was a World War I war orphan, but a lot luckier than most. He was born during an air raid in which his mother was traicallu killed. He was adopted by am Americam war aid worker--Mrs. Edith DeLacy. She was in France working with the Woman's Overseas Hospital. After the war, Mrs. DeLacy brought Philippe to America.

Clothing

We are not sure how Philippe was dressed when not in costume.

Career

It was not long before the boy's hansome appeal made him a natural for first advertisements and then the movies. In fact he may well have been the most handsome child star from the Golden Years of Hollywood. He also seems to have been a very natty dresser. He made films just a the talkies were coming in to vogue. I'm not sure how effective an actor he was. He is not as well known as some of the other child stars of the era.

Films

We have very limited information on Philippe's films. His first films were silent pictures and thus Philippe and his films are not very well-known today. Talkies did not begin to appear until 1929 when he was 12 years old. Silent films are not very popular for commerciual exhibition. They are sometimes shown in art theaters and Turner Classic Films has a weekly showing of a few silent films. Some of his films are "Peter Pan" (1924), "Blue Boy" (1926), "The Mairrage Playground" (1929), and Sarah and Son (1930).

Costumes

The films we have seen generally have Philippe dressed in natty short pants suit. He was in one costume drams, "Blue Boy" in which he wore the costume depicted in the famous Gainsborough painting. He wore a sailor suit in "Peter Pan" and another as an older boy in "Sarah and Son".

Created: January 2, 2000
Last updated: December 28, 2003