LAURENCE AUSTIN DIES - The Washington Post

LOS ANGELES -- Laurence Austin, the owner of the only theater in the United States devoted solely to silent films, was robbed and fatally shot Jan. 18 at his Silent Movie Showcase before the start of the night's main feature.

After the shooting, the killer fled through the theater full of frightened moviegoers and escaped out the back exit. Police said they have no suspects. The theater's organist found Mr. Austin's body in the theater office. A 19-year-old employee was seriously wounded but survived the shooting.

Mr. Austin, who was believed to be in his late sixties or early seventies, was highly visible at the theater, where such old-time stars as Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks reclaimed their place on the silver screen.

He would stand before audiences to introduce long-lost films he had helped preserve, then wait by the door to shake hands with patrons on their way out after the showing.

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Word of the death of Mr. Austin spread almost instantly over the Internet. The theater has been closed indefinitely.

His mother was a tailor for legendary director Cecil B. DeMille; his father appeared in silent films; and his uncle, Albert Austin, was a character actor in many of Chaplin's films.

The theater opened in the early 1940s but was shuttered when its owner, John Hampton, died more than 10 years ago. Mr. Austin, a longtime friend of Hampton's, reopened it in 1991, having replaced seats and the sound system and hung portraits of silent film stars on the walls.

In addition to his predecessor's collection, Mr. Austin tapped a network of archives that gave him access to films that hadn't been seen in 80 years.

He showed films the way they were originally presented.

Standing at the front of his theater, he gave a brief background on the movie, then showed a cartoon, a couple of shorts and then the feature film, accompanied by live organ music. Aging silent film stars sometimes attended special screenings.

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