Tod Browning, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1962)
Tod Browning (born Charles Albert Browning Jr.; July 12, 1880 – October 6, 1962) was an American film director, film actor, screenwriter, vaudeville performer, and carnival sideshow and circus entertainer, he directed a number of films of various genre between 1915 and 1939, but was primarily known for horror films. He was often cited in the trade press as the Edgar Allan Poe of cinema.
Browning's career spanned the silent film and sound film eras. Browning is known as the director of Dracula (1931), Freaks (1932), and his silent film collaborations with Lon Chaney and Priscilla Dean.