Henry Rudolph Marquis de Fiennes (October 5, 1868 – February 18, 1944), known by the stage name Rhody Hathaway, was an American actor, publicist, and stage manager. He worked both in silent films and talkies. He was the husband of actress Jean Hathaway and the father of Oscar-nominated director Henry Hathaway.
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Early life
Hathaway was born Henry Rudolph de Fiennes on October 5, 1868, in San Francisco, California. His father Henry J. de Fiennes was born in Belgium, and his mother Mary Hanson was from the East Coast.
His title of Marquis was inherited from his grandfather Jean-Baptiste de Fiennes (or J.B. de Fiennes), a Belgian nobleman and barrister in service to King Leopold I of Belgium. When his grandfather failed in his commission to establish commercial relations between the Sandwich Islands (now Hawai'i) with Belgium, the disgraced Marquis self-exiled to San Francisco in 1850 where he worked as a lawyer.
Career
In his early career, Hathaway worked as an advance man, and as a stage manager. By 1909, he was part of the Allan Dwan's American Film Manufacturing Company, starring in films alongside his wife Jean and sometimes with their young son Henry. From 1911 until 1914, the Hathaway family worked for Thomas Ince's Inceville Studios.
In the 1920s, Rhody abandoned his family and started to act in film.
Personal life
He married Hungarian-born actress Jean Hathaway (née Lillie Bishop) in 1894 and they had four children, including film director Henry Hathaway. The family was Roman Catholic.
Death
Hathaway died on February 18, 1944, in a sanatorium in Los Angeles. He was laid to rest in the mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Filmography
Not a Drum Was Heard (1924), directed by William A. Wellman; as James Ross
Riders of the Plains (1924), directed by Jacques Jaccard
A Daughter of the Sioux (1925), directed by Ben Wilson; as Maj. John Webb
The Phantom of the Forest (1926), directed by Henry McCarty; as John Wallace
Bigger Than Barnum's (1926), directed by Ralph Ince
Into the Night (1928), directed by Duke Worne; as Jim Marden
The Old Code (1928), directed by Ben F. Wilson; as Father Le Fane
Whom the Gods Destroy (1934), directed by Walter Lang; as the doctor (uncredited)
Atlantic Adventure (1935), directed by Albert S. Rogell; as the reported (uncredited)
Fighting Shadows (1935), directed by David Selman; as the trapper or woodsman (uncredited)
Life Begins at 40 (1935), directed by George Marshall; as the townsman (uncredited)