Frederick Alan Crosland
Crosland in 1921
Born	Frederick Alan Crosland[1] (1894-08-10)August 10, 1894 New York City, U.S.
Died	July 16, 1936(1936-07-16) (aged 41) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Years active	1916–1936
Spouse(s)	Juanita Fletcher(m.1917–div.1921) Natalie Moorhead(m.1930–div.1935)
Children	1,Alan Crosland Jr.

Frederick Alan Crosland (August 10, 1894 – July 16, 1936) was an American stage actor and film director. He is noted for having directed the first feature film using spoken dialogue,The Jazz Singer (1927) and the first feature movie with synchronization soundtrack,Don Juan (1926).

Born inNew York City,New York to a well-to-doJewish family,^[2] Crosland attendedDartmouth College. After graduation, he took a job as a writer with theNew York Globe magazine. Interested in the theatre, he began acting on stage, appearing in several productions withShakespearian actressAnnie Russell.

Crosland began his career in themotion picture industry in 1912 atEdison Studios inThe Bronx,New York, where he worked at various jobs for two years until he had learned the business sufficiently well to begin directingshort films. By 1917, he was directing feature-length films and in 1920 directedOlive Thomas inThe Flapper, one of her final films before her death in September of that year.

In 1925, Crosland was working forJesse L. Lasky's film production companyFamous Players–Lasky (laterParamount Pictures) when he was hired byWarner Bros. to work at theirHollywood studios. He had directed severalsilent films for Warner's including directingDon Juan starringJohn Barrymore in 1926. It was the first feature-length film with synchronizedVitaphone sound effects and musicalsoundtrack, though it has no spoken dialogue. He was chosen to directAl Jolson inThe Jazz Singer (1927). The film would make him famous as the first of the newtalkies that changed the course of motion pictures.

Crosland died in 1936 at the age of 41 as a result of an automobile accident onSunset Boulevard inLos Angeles. He is interred in theHollywood Forever Cemetery. His grave remained unmarked for 67 years until aheadstone was donated by The Hollywood Underground in 2003.

His son,Alan Crosland Jr. (1918–2001), would also have a successful career as a television director. Juanita Fletcher was his mother.

• Media related toAlan Crosland at Wikimedia Commons
• Works by or aboutAlan Crosland atWikisource
• Alan Crosland atIMDb
• "Alan Crosland".Find a Grave. RetrievedSeptember 3, 2010.

• 1894 births
• 1936 deaths
• Film directors from New York City
• Film producers from New York (state)
• American male screenwriters
• American male stage actors
• Jewish American screenwriters
• Male actors from New York City
• Road incident deaths in California
• Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
• Dartmouth College alumni
• Screenwriters from New York (state)
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American screenwriters
• 20th-century American Jews

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