Paul Sablon

Biography

Paul Sablon was a Belgian cameraman, born in Schaerbeek. He had an adventurous spirit, and worked as a cook, maitre d'hôtel, and realtor (in Chicago).

In 1911, he worked as a cameraman for Pathé Frères. That same year, he travelled to the Netherlands with director Alfred Machin in order to shoot a number of short films in and around Volendam for Hollandsche Film, the Dutch production subsidiary of Pathé Frères.

In one of these films, Het vervloekte geld, Sablon also appears as an actor.

After a brief stopover in France, Sablon left for the United States in 1913. There he worked as a cameraman, and directed several films under the name Paul Bourgeois. In these films, he played the lead role himself. During the First World War, he was drafted into the Belgian Army, but received permission to remain in the United States to continue work on an invention involving metal alloys. After the war, he remained active in the American steel industry.

In the 1930s, he moved to Britain, where he worked in the electronics industry. After a short stay in Africa, Sablon returned to Belgium soon before he died.