
T. Roy Barnes
Acting
Biography
Barnes appeared in over 50 films between 1920 and 1935, primarily in comedies. Barnes started his show career in vaudeville later turning to stage and film acting. During the 1920s, he often played "brash young go-getters" in supporting and leading roles. He’s best known for his roles as Buster Keaton's business partner Billy Meekin in Seven Chances (1925) and in W. C. Fields' comedy It's a Gift (1934), portraying an inquisitive Insurance Salesman. He retired from movies in 1935 and died two years later.
Known For

Struggling stockbroker Jimmie Shannon learns that, if he gets married by 7 p.m. on his 27th birthday -- which is today -- he'll inherit $7 million from an eccentric relative.
Seven Chances

Universal star Laura LaPlante stars in this lighthearted comedy based on Sophie Kerr's magazine story, Relative Values. Octavia Lowden (LaPlante) has virtually become a drudge in order to support her sponging relatives -- flapper sister Eloise (Lucille Ricksen), hypochondriac Aunt Minnie (Lydia Yeamans Titus), and storytelling Uncle Eph (James O. Barrows). Only Octavia's frail grandmother (Jennie Lee) really needs help. When Octavia's sweetheart, photographer Pritchett Spence (T. Roy Barnes), discovers the toll these bloodsuckers are exacting, he plots with the family doctor to rescue her.
Young Ideas

The insidious typical talk of a small town makes a young man and the married woman he is in love very unhappy.
Village Tale

A husband makes fun of his wife's theatrical aspirations when she agrees to appear in a local production. When she begins to neglect him, he decides to retaliate by also going on stage.
Doubting Thomas

Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa. She leaves an Aunt, a brother, Grandma, and her longtime boyfriend back in Centerville. Despite seeing major movie stars around every corner, and knocking on every casting office door in town, at the end of her first day she is still unemployed. To her horror, when she arrives back at their hotel, she finds that Grandpa has been cast in a movie by William DeMille and quickly becomes a star during the ensuing weeks. Her family, worried that Angela and Grandpa are getting into trouble, come to Hollywood to drag them back home. In short order Aunt, Grandma, brother, boyfriend and even the parrot become superstars, but Angela is still unemployed...
Hollywood

In the South Seas, a half-caste island girl refuses to follow tradition and marry a fellow islander, instead falling in love with a white man and heir to an American fortune.
Aloha

"Chick" Thompson is a puppet-master in a traveling carnival whose wife dies in childbirth and leaves him with an infant son he names "Poochy." His father-in-law and the baby's grandfather sues him for custody of the baby and Chick takes his son and hides out for a couple of years. He joins his former assistants, Daisy and "Fingers", in a circus act only to find that the persistent grandfather is still on his trail.
Carnival

Ambitious press agent Jack Murray introduces two of his clients, Follies dancer Mabel Vandegrift and prize fighter Joe Cain, to each other and they fall in love. After Brock Morton, the owner of the show, says that he will bring down the curtain on the show in the middle of opening night unless Mabel renounces Joe, the latter goes on the stage and announces that, in spite of his prior refusal, that he will fight the English boxing champion. With the money he gets from boxing promoter Tex Rickard, he buys out Morton and the show goes on. Prior to the fight, Morton dopes Joe, but he is brought around so that he is able to fight and eventually wins the match. Joe's father comes east and then brings Joe and Mabel back west with him. A lost film.
The Great White Way

A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.
Souls for Sale

Patricia Parker, on the advice of her father, leaves her life as a chorus girl for the bucolic surroundings of Silas Wainwright, an old friend of her father's.
Don't Get Personal

Based on a true story, two-timing boozing wife Roxie Hart kills her lover in cold blood after he leaves her, and finagles her way out being indicted.
Chicago

An eccentric, fluttery bachelor is dismayed to discover an undressed woman in his apartment.
Wide Open

A young bareback rider in a circus is in love with a trapeze artist, but he has two problems: he drinks too much and he's fallen under the spell of a "vamp" who's nothing but trouble for him.
Dangerous Curves

Rich, spoiled Marian pressures Eric to marry her. Her brother is in love with her friend Mamie, but a scheming ex-husband tries to blackmail her. Mamie is saved from suicide by Eric, who's in a compromising position when he brings her home.
Ladies of Leisure

Silent drama film based upon the play of the same name by Denman Thompson.
The Old Homestead

Marion Shipley is happily devoted to her husband, John, until Mrs. Willy Strong, a society "vampire," succeeds in capturing his affections. A jewelry salesman informs Marion of the affair, after John and Mrs. Strong enter his store together. Marion follows her husband to a restaurant, where she witnesses Mrs. Strong give John the key to her apartment. Gaining entrance to her rival's home, Marion transforms herself with the vamp's clothes and makeup, rendering herself unrecognizable to John in the dim light. Marion is in John's arms when Mrs. Strong arrives, and he denounces her for his wife.
Exit the Vamp

Chorus girl Peggy Malone, supporting her father and brother, marries press agent Jimmy Parsons. They settle into a quiet life until her "shiftless" relatives move in, causing marital strain and financial pressure. To escape the domestic chaos and support her family, Peggy returns to the stage and eventually joins a motion picture company in Los Angeles. She quickly becomes a famous film star, continuing to provide for her ungrateful family while Jimmy moves to Arizona to recuperate from failing health. While filming a dangerous stunt, Peggy is seriously injured. During her recovery, she is forced to choose between the wealthy admirer Martin Fox and her husband Jimmy, who travels to Los Angeles to win her back. Peggy chooses love over wealth, reuniting with Jimmy (now a successful scenarist) and finally finding true happiness.
Her Face Value

After he inherits some money, Harold Bissonette ("pronounced bis-on-ay") decides to give up the grocery business, move to California and run an orange grove. Despite his family's objections and the news that the land he bought is worthless, Bissonette packs up and drives out to California with his nagging wife Amelia and children.
It's a Gift

Documentary short film depicting the filmmaking activity at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood, featuring dozens of stars captured candidly and at work.
A Trip to Paramountown
Jerry Warner (Barnes) and Edith Somers (Breamer) are in love, but her father Judge Somers (Marshall) will not allow them to marry because he sees Jerry as a poor prospect. When Jerry's uncle sends him ten thousand dollars to set up a business Judge Somers tells him if he has that money at the end of six months, he can marry Edith. After several close calls all turns out all right for the lovebirds.