Biography

Samuel Cooper Seale was born to John Cooper and Sara Yates Seale in Waichinu, Kauai, Hawaii. He met Cecil B. DeMille on the beach at Waikiki in 1915, and took his advice to go to Hollywood where he appeared in at least two of DeMille's movies. He enlisted in the Army with the outbreak of World War I and was shipped to France. He received an injury and was medically discharged and returned to the United States before the war's end. He may have been slightly injured while tied to a stake being carried by an elephant during the filming of The Son of Tarzan in 1920. For years rumors persisted that he died shortly after the film was completed from injuries received during the filming. In 1921 Searle gave up acting to become a sculptor and painter. His career as an artist was cut short by disease. He died of cancer at the age of 33 in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 14, 1924.