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John Parry entered the film business in 1912, when he joined the Topical Film Company, probably to work in the darkrooms. After the outbreak of war in 1914 he served with London Scottish, but after demobilisation he returned to Topical and worked as a cameraman on the Topical Budget. Parry’s first credited story was ‘AU REVOIR TO THE PRINCE OF WALES’ in No. 447-1 of March 1920, and he continued to work regularly for about a year, ending with his inclusion in the team that filmed the ‘CUP FINAL 1921 GREATEST EVENT IN FOOTBALL HISTORY’ for Topical Budget No. 504-2 of April 1921. Parry later became a cameraman for Gainsborough Studios, and was probably the ‘Jack Parry’ who acted as a cameraman for Fox and Gaumont British, and was killed in action in 1941.

Sources

Kine Year Book 1921, p.593, ‘John A. Parry’: NFTVA, Luke McKernan’s biographical index of Topical Budget staff.