Billy Van Heads Company

Billy B. Van, the inimitable comedian, has at last been prevailed upon to enter the ranks of motion picture players. After receiving offers from some of the most prominent moving picture manufacturers, to appear in one and two-reel comedies, Mr. Van decided to embark in the producing line himself, and has organized the Equity Motion Picture Company, of which he is president, and intends to appear in comedies such as he is capable of producing, and releasing the same weekly. It seems quite unnecessary to introduce Mr. Van to the amusement-going public, as he has been before them as a comedy star for the past twenty years, appearing in a great number of Broadway successes. Mr. Van’s comedy is broadly humorous. He is one of those comedians who do not require lines to get a laugh. His facial expressions, his gestures, and his comic antics, are sufficient in themselves to keep an audience thoroughly amused. He is a natural born pantomimist, and has a nobility of countenance possessed by very few comedians, and a way of emphasizing all his points with facial characterizations.

The beautiful and talented Beaumont sisters, Rose and Nellie, will also appear in these comedies, in conjunction with Mr. Van. The Equity Motion Picture Company has taken offices in the Strand theater building, New York City, and its studio, which is in course of erection, will be located at Van Harbor, Sunapee Lake, New Hampshire, in the heart of the White mountains. The magnificent rural scenery in this vicinity offers great opportunities for exterior effects.

Associated with Mr. Van, in the Equity Motion Picture Company, as vice-president and secretary, is Bob Russell, the energetic and hustling distributor of feature films.

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