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John Ott (II)
1850-1931 | 
United States of America
Actor
A longstanding friend and a devoted employee, John Ott was one of the most important individuals to work with Edison on most of his inventions, including the kinetoscope. With over a dozen patents under his name, he established himself as an inventor, despite attributing most of them to Edison. However, his skills were best employed as a craftsman, as proven by his position as principal model and instrument maker between 1876-1887 and as superintendent of the machine shop between 1887-1895.
In film history, he is mainly known for his appearance in Dickson’s Blacksmith Scene (1893) as one of the three workers. Having the central role in the frame, Ott establishes the mood and speed of the action. What is important about his appearance is that he is not merely a subject that is being filmed, but rather an active actor. One can safely say that film acting was ‘invented’ in that instance. The mere fact that each of the individuals performs a role by engaging into an act that is staged for the camera was novel at the time of the shooting. What is interesting is that Ott was offered to mark this historic moment, despite the fact that at the time this was still planned as an experiment.
Ott said that "part of the invention process is learning from all experiments". His involvement in the development of the motion picture industry at Edison Manufacturing Company can thus be seen as an expression of that interest for experimentation. Film acting, although crude in those early days, was a new form of acting, as it removed the essential element of stage acting, namely the audience. During a film shoot, the audience had to be reconstructed in the actor’s mind. Given the technological environment in which Ott worked, it is easy to see where the temptation to appear in front of Dickson’s camera was rooted.
An accident in 1895 has incapacitated John Ott for the rest of his life, yet his dedication for the company he worked all his life never waned. It is thus unsurprising why Mina Edison, the company owner’s widow, chose to place Ott wheelchair and crutches by Edison’s casket.
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Feb 15, 2010 | Share Article 