Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Jul 1929)

56 Tke Story of Sonny Boy Photo by Hoover Frankie made movie history when he appeared as the cripple in "The Miracle Man." tears from the corners of their eyes and muttered huskily, "Darn fine kid !" "Who is this David Lee?" you ask. Here's the story. David is the brother of Frankie Lee, who played the crippled boy in "The Miracle Man," which was filmed in 1918 and created a sensation. Is there any one of mature years who doesn't remember that wistful-eyed, pain-racked youngster on crutches, his face turned longingly toward the mount, as he slowly plodded up the hill to what he hoped would be emancipation from his pitifully twisted legs? And could any one forget the beautiful, exalted look which came into his face as he threw away those crutches and walked alone ? It was an epochal moment in the movies. Frankie Lee is sixteen now. After "The Miracle Man" he had a long series of roles with Pauline Frederick, Dorothy Dalton, Bessie Love, Mary Miles Minter, and other stars of a decade ago, until he began to grow up, and a slight fuzz appeared on his upper lip and chin. Whereupon his mother said, "Frankie, it's time for you to quit pictures and start going to school. I want you to have an education, so that when you get older all your old fans will be proud of you. I want them to say, 'Why, there's Frankie Lee again !' and be glad. So get ready for books." Thus for ten years, the unforgetable little boy of "The Miracle Man" has been off the screen. This spring he will be graduated from the Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, and the movies will no doubt see him in juvenile roles within the year. Frankie is coming back. In the meantime, old Doctor Stork hovered over the Lee home on Fountain Avenue, in Hollywood, and one night left a squirming little bundle of activity. If the bundle could have talked it would have said, "Never mind about Frankie, David's here and he'll rule the roost !" Temperamental, talented, restless, eager — a suppressed volcano of emotion — David Lee is the dream child so many mothers have pictured. While he was scarcely able to crawl, he began prying into boxes which contained stills of Frankie, and each time he recognized his big brother's likeness, his face would beam with appreciation. One of his first remarks was, "Budder cryin'!" "Mother Goose," and the nursery stories never interested him. He wanted to see photographs of Frankie in dramatic moments. "And, in time," says Mrs. Lee, "he began imitating Frankie's expressions in the stills. He'd put on a show all by himself, doing Frankie's stuff. He liked doing that better than anything." That's how David Lee got his tutoring as an actor. His mother took him over to the Warner studio when "The Singing Fool" was being cast. He hung onto her skirts. When a big, shiny car came in and Al Jolson alighted, he saw David staring, wide-eyed, at his equipage. The comedian paused. " 'At's a purty tar," said David. "It's mine," replied Al. It took about nine seconds for the two to get on intimate terms. Then Jolson said, "Never mind the tests. Here's the child for 'The Singing Fool' ! Here's Sonny Boy." When rushes of the child's scenes with Jolson were shown, he went under contract to the Warners' inside of ten minutes. Al Jolson strutted about the lot saying, "Leave it to mc to pick 'em!" Continued on page 115 Frankie, who is now sixteen, is the example David has followed since babyhood, so it's no wonder the little fellow knows how to act. Photo by Whittington V.