Monte Blue, a stalwart and durable romantic leading man of the silent days, was born Gerard Monte Blue on January 11, 1887. Some sources indicate his birth year as 1890, but his mother's application for his admission to the Soldier's and Sailor's Orphan's Home lists his birth date as January 11, 1887.
His first name has been reported as George or Gerald, but in his mother's application, it is spelled Gerard. Monte's father was killed in a railroad accident when he was eight years old, and his mother could not support four children. He was admitted to the orphanage along with his brother Morris, where he built up his physique playing football.
Before entering the film industry, Monte worked as a railroader, a fireman, a coal miner, a cowpuncher, a ranch hand, a circus rider, and a lumberjack. He eventually became a day laborer for D.W. Griffith's Biograph Studios, where he worked his way up to become a stuntman and extra in films.
His breakthrough role came as "Danton" in Griffith's Orphans of the Storm (1921),alongside sisters Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish. He rose to stardom as a rugged romantic lead opposite Hollywood's top silent stars, including Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow, and Norma Shearer.
Monte made a relatively easy transition into talkies, thanks to his fine, cultivated voice. However, he lost most of his investments when the stock market crashed in 1929. By the 1930s, the aging star had moved back into small, often unbilled parts, but he remained continuously employed by his old friend Cecil B. DeMille and Warner Bros.
At the end of his life, Monte was working as an advance man for the Hamid-Morton Circus in Milwaukee. He died of a coronary attack complicated by influenza on January 20, 1963.
