Lew Cody

Lew Cody (February 22, 1884 – May 31, 1934) was a prominent American actor known for his contributions to both stage and film during the transition from silent to sound cinema. He rose to fame in the late 1910s, particularly recognized for his portrayals of "male vamps" in popular films such as *Don't Change Your Husband*.

Born Louis Joseph Côté in Waterville, Maine, to Joseph and Elizabeth Côté, Lew was raised in a family that moved to Berlin, New Hampshire, where his father operated a drugstore. During his youth, Cody worked as a soda jerk in his father's establishment. Initially aspiring to pursue medicine, he shifted gears after enrolling at McGill University in Montreal, ultimately joining a theater stock company in North Carolina.

Cody made his stage debut in New York in *Pierre of the Plains* and soon transitioned to film in Los Angeles, working with notable filmmaker Thomas Ince. Over a prolific two-decade career, he accumulated nearly 100 credits between 1914 and 1934, solidifying his status as a versatile performer.

In his personal life, Cody was married three times, including two unions with actress Dorothy Dalton and a later marriage to actress Mabel Normand in 1926, which lasted until Normand's untimely death in 1930. Cody passed away from a heart attack on May 31, 1934, in Beverly Hills, California, and was laid to rest in St. Peter's Cemetery in Lewiston, Maine, among family.