John Bengtson, 1957 – 2026

Silent-film historian and author John Bengtson, 68, died of ALS on Jan. 29. Bengston wrote Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin, Silent Visions: Discovering Early Hollywood and New York Through the Films of Harold Lloyd, and Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton, tracing locations where famous films were shot in today’s L.A. I love those “Then and Now” city books, so these are fascinating to me (even more so now that YouTube lets us see so many of those clips)—though it’s depressing and infuriating that L.A. has done an even worse job than New York of historic architectural preservation. I used to work across the street from the 1896 Biograph rooftop studio at 841 Broadway, which I would point out to disinterested coworkers. Bengston was a lawyer by day, and spent his spare time prowling around Los Angeles: People might get the sense of a kook,” he said. “Some people do crossword puzzles. Some people veg out in front of the TV.”