In his youth , as an undergraduate , before World War One he acted in Dublin 's Abbey Theatre . In the 1914-1919 war he was wounded thrice and was at one time reported dead . He temporarily lost his voice in a German mustard gas attack , and was given six months to live if he moved to a dry climate . He arrived in Hollywood , California , with his wife in 1920 where he acted in silent films before recovering his voice . He also directed plays and was in an early Hollywood Bowl production of '' The Pied Piper '' , taking the title role . He had changed his name to O'Davoren on arriving in America , on applying for U.S. Citizenship , perhaps aware of the romanticism of the Clann O'Dabhoireann and the American fondness for things Irish . Between 1927 and 1957 , he appeared in circa 67 films , mostly as butlers . '' ' Ivy Flossie ' Madame ' de Verley ' '' , ( Kingston , Jamaica , 27 July 1879 - LA , December 27 , 1963 , aged 84 ) , daughter of Jamaican merchant Louis Francois Verley ( 1817-1901 ) . She survived the November 1907 Kingston earthquake , though her first husband ( she had married Richard Walter Bradley in 1905 ) was killed , they lived at lived at Bamboo Cottage , Kingston . A portrait painter . She was photographed by James McBey
1907 Kingston earthquake
1907 Kingston earthquake
Vesey Alfred Davoren