The Disappearance of Louis Le Prince: The First Filmmaker Who Vanished

Louis Le Prince created some of the earliest motion pictures in the 1880s, years before Edison or the Lumière brothers. In 1890, just as he was preparing to present his work publicly, he boarded a train in France and disappeared. He was neverseen again.

Source MaterialsPaul Fischer, The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies

Nat Segnit, “Who Killed Louis Le Prince? On the Forgotten Father of Film,” Harper’s Magazine (April 2022)

“100 Years Ago, the Father of Movies Disappeared,” The New York Times, September 16, 1990

Christopher Rawlence, The Missing Reel: The Untold Story of the Lost Inventor of Moving Pictures

Stephen Herbert, “Louis Le Prince,” Who’s Who of Victorian Cinema

National Science and Media Museum (UK), archival materials on Louis Le Prince

Leeds City Council / Leeds Museums & Galleries, local historical materials on Roundhay Garden Scene and Leeds Bridge footage

PaulFischer, The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession,Murder, and the Movies

Nat Segnit,“Who Killed Louis Le Prince? On the Forgotten Father of Film,” Harper’sMagazine (April 2022)

“100 YearsAgo, the Father of Movies Disappeared,” The New York Times, September16, 1990

ChristopherRawlence, The Missing Reel: The Untold Story of the Lost Inventor of MovingPictures

StephenHerbert, “Louis Le Prince,” Who’s Who of Victorian Cinema

NationalScience and Media Museum (UK), archival materials on Louis Le Prince

Leeds CityCouncil / Leeds Museums & Galleries, local historical materials on RoundhayGarden Scene and Leeds Bridge footage