Karl was one of the most notorious victims of the traumatic transition from silence to sound. He could not survive the indignity, and the accompanying plunge into poverty, and he committed suicide in 1934. Hearing his voice now for the first time made me recall that sad story, one I originally read about years before in Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon II. I liked Karl's voice. It was sweet, endearing, and it matched his physical persona. Most importantly, despite the creakiness of the film, and the fact that it was more than a bit dated, I loved his performance. He was by far the best actor in the serial. Even better than Bela! Admittedly, Karl's Danish accent was thick, and certain words were hard to understand, but the fact that a distinguished career could be so completely destroyed because of this reason struck me as terribly unfair.

After watching the serial I decided to read more about him, searching first for a biography. None had ever been written, and the passages about him in the many books I searched were fragmentary at best. I quickly discovered that hardly anything had ever been written about Karl's life. So I started doing some digging myself, not knowing where it would lead. With the help of many wonderful people (see My Research for details) I began locating important pieces of information, like pieces of a puzzle, of a story that had never been told. I discover more information every day.

So where has it all led? Life can certainly take some ironic twists. The journey that began when I searched for a biography of Karl Dane has progressed into me actually writing the biography I had searched for! If you are interested, please keep checking back here on my progress. And if you have any information on Karl that might be useful in any way, by all means please contact me.

He was direct, friendly, totally unpretentious, and sometimes naïve, preferring to spend his spare time in his backyard wood shop or at his little house on the beach in Malibu, which he built himself. He loved to be physically active, and enjoyed swimming, golf, and tennis, and his studio bios said he actually was a physical education instructor while in his military unit in Denmark. He also adored women, and was a big flirt, usually greeting a lady he just met with a big hug and kiss on the lips. Because he was so sweet and endearing, though, such forwardness did not turn them off, but rather charmed both women and men alike. Despite his friendliness, he was actually rather a solitary, shy, and awkward person, and preferred to spend time alone, sometimes feeling that he did not fully fit into the social scene in Hollywood. This was due in part to his poor English skills: he readily comprehended what others said, but had a hard time finding the right words to make himself understood, and sometimes people got the wrong impression of him. He was a real animal-lover, and adopted some sled dogs that needed homes after the making of one of his films, The Trail of 98, a gold rush adventure.

• Karl was born Rasmus Karl Therkelsen Gottlieb on October 12, 1886 in Copenhagen (his name was misspelled as "Thekelsen" or reported in other places as "Daen." His father was Rasmus Marius Gottlieb and his mother was Anna Kathrine Simonsen. He had an older brother named Reinold Marius, an electrician.
• Karl was a trained machinist and carpenter.
• It has been reported that his father either owned a theatre in Copenhagen or worked as a stagehand or electrician in a theatre and Karl made regular appearances throughout his childhood. Confirmation regarding this can be found nowhere, and according to family members there is no truth to this. Karl's father was a glovemaker.
• The studio reported that Karl was a member of the Danish Flying Corp but there is no record in Denmark of him being a member.
• Karl was married to Carla Dagmar Hagen in 1910 in Copenhagen, and had two children: a son Ejlert Carl, born 1911, and a daughter Ingeborg Helene, born 1912.
• Karl came to the US on February 11, 1916 and lived and worked in Brooklyn as a machinist at the Robert Gair Company.
• Karl started out in films doing extra and stunt work in Fort Lee, NJ and Brooklyn, NY. His first appearance was in a Vitagraph film, title unknown. Robert McIntyre, the future MGM Casting Director, gave Karl his first job in films.
• Karl was not a studio carpenter when he was discovered for the role of "Slim" in The Big Parade. He was actually running a chicken farm in the San Fernando Hills. Robert McIntyre had remained friends with Karl over the years and recommended Karl to King Vidor for the role.
• Karl was married two more times while in the US, but never to actress Thais Valdemar, as was widely and incorrectly reported.