Leonidas Frank Chaney was born on April 1, 1883, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was the son of Frank and Emma Chaney, both of whom were deaf and mute. Growing up in this unique environment, Lon developed an early mastery of expressive pantomime and sign language—skills that would later define his silent film career.

His childhood was marked by responsibility and sacrifice. At a young age, he left school to care for his ailing mother and younger siblings. During this time, he honed his dramatic abilities by recounting daily events through mime and movement. This immersion in non-verbal communication deeply influenced his artistry, making him one of the most compelling and expressive actors of his time.

After working as a tour guide and then as a carpet layer, he finally followed his passion for theatre and joined as a full-time stage hand at the Opera House in Colorado Springs. It was his older brother John, working as a stage hand and later as a stage manager at the same opera house in 18 N Tejon street, who got him a job as a prop boy. Chaney also took up ocassional roles as an extra. For the first time, his name was publicly listed as "Lon" in the 1902 Colorado Springs Gazette review of the play titled The Little Tycoon, in which he debuted as an actor. He also co-wrote the play along with his brother John. The show travelled around the country and Lon was a part of the troupe. In December it was announced that members of the local Stage Employees Union, which included Lon and his brother John, were going to perform a series of comic operas at the Opera House. One of the plays they performed was called Pirates of Penzance. In June 1903, Chaney performed with the Casino Opera Company at the Opera House in a production of Said Pasha. Chaney's performance earned him a special mention by the critics in the local newspaper. On 13th July, 1903, a one-week stand at the Opera House of the comic opera titled The Chimes of Normandy opened with Chaney playing the significant role of "The Assessor"

In 1904, Lon got his profession enlisted in the city directory as an "actor". Later that year, Lon, along with his first cousin and close friend Hugh Harbert, went to San Francisco and Los Angeles in search of work doing stage shows with big touring companies. He did not find much success there and returned to his hometown to rejoin Columbia Opera Company in order to tour the midwest. Lon spent the year touring various places in the country such as Arkansas, Texas, Missouri and Kansas with Columbia Opera Company. During the spring in Oklahoma City, he met Cleva Creighton during auditions for chorus girls. Cleva soon became his wife. They left the touring company in December of 1905 and returned to Oklahoma City in order to prepare for the birth of their child. On 10th February, 1906, his first and only child, Creighton Tull Chaney, was born. The child grrew up to become an actor like his father and even adapted the stage name "Lon Chaney Jr.". Lon Chaney Jr. followed in his father's footsteps, inheriting a legacy of transformative performances in horror.

Lon married his first wife, Cleva Creighton, with the blessings of Thomas H. Harper, pastor of the People's Temple Church. Unofficial claims, however, reveal that they got married a year prior. In the same month, Lon also quit his job at the furniture shop to join the Columbia Comic Opera Company which was going to begin production of several musical comedies such as Said Pasha, Pinafore and La Mascotte in Oklahoma City's Delmar Gardens. At the time, older brother John was organizing a home talent production in their hometown of Colorado Springs. The show eventually toured the Southwest before finding a base on Grand Avenue in Oklahoma City—later renamed Sheridan, and for years known as the city's Honky Tonk Row. Cleva Creighton soon became the featured attraction of their performances. At just 15 years old, she was billed as "the girl with a golden voice," captivating audiences nightly with her heartfelt rendition of Kathleen Mavoureen.

Lon and Cleva started working at a theatre called The Olympic in Los Angeles, California. They received $35 as weekly salary. After about six months, they joined the Ferris Hartman Company at the Grand Opera House. Other prominent members working there included Roscoe "Fattie" Arbuckle, who would go on to be known for his rollicking comedy roles in films, and Robert Zigler Leonard, who would direct Chaney alongside his wife, May Murray in a film for Universal Pictures titled Danger-Go Slow (1918). When the company was not touring, Lon also worked for other theatre companies. Between tours, once he worked under the renowned comedy star Fred Stone as well. Lon lived and worked in Los Angeles during the first half of 1911. During the second half of the year, Lon was in San Francisco working with Max Dill and his theatre company in The Rich Mr. Hoggenheimer at the Savoy Theatre.

Despite garnering positive reviews for his performances, it was a time of sporadic struggle for Chaney. He would either be busy working for months or be unable to find anything. With the closure of Fischer's Follies, Lon went to San Francisco to work with Kolb and Dill. There, he worked as an actor, stage manager and choreographer. The first play he worked on with Kolb and Dill was Peck O' Pickles, followed by four more productions: In Dutch, The Motor Girl, Algeria and Hoity-Toity.

As early as the year 1912, he started working in minor roles in motion pictures under the banner of Universal Studios. In the early years of his career, Chaney worked in bit and character parts while also using novel makeup techniques. He befriended the director team of Joe De Grasse and Ida May Park, who gave him substantial roles in their films.

On May 26, 1913, Lon and Cleva separated. He eventually filed for divorce on 27th January, 1914. Their child, Creighton, initially lived with the mother but soon Lon got his custody. Marital troubles arose, culminating on April 30, 1913, when Cleva went to the Majestic Theater in downtown Los Angeles, where Lon was managing the Kolb and Dill show, and attempted suicide by ingesting mercuric chloride. Though the attempt was unsuccessful, it irreparably damaged her singing career. The scandal that followed, along with their subsequent divorce, forced Chaney to leave the theater world and transition into a career in film. Her name would never appear in Chaney's lifetime except his last will, where he left her only $1 to inherit, which was, in his own words, "all the obligation owed her to fulfill any and all claims."

Chaney appeared unbilled in Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley's Suspense that came out in June of 1913. However, there are claims that it was not Chaney but another actor who resembled Chaney that appeared in the aforementioned film. The first known billed appearance of him was in the one-reeler comedy by Allan Dwan titled Poor Jake's Demise, released on 16th August, 1913. Before this, Chaney had already appeared in four other motion pictures without screen credit. He continuted to work with Universal without a contract until he departed after a salary dispute in 1918.

The filmmaking couple of director Joseph De Grasse and screenwriter Ida May Park saw Chaney's potential and encouraged him to play mainly character roles in the 64 films they made between 1914 and 1918.

On this day, his mother, Emma, died of a heart attack in his hometown, Colorado Springs. His father, Frank, moved to Berkley to live with his daughter Carrie and her family.

Chaney himself directed six films for the Victor Company at Universal this year, along with acting and writing scenarios for some of them. They were The Stool Pigeon, For Cash, The Oyster Dredger, The Violin Maker, The Trust, and The Chimney's Secret. By this time of the year, he was earning a weekly salary of $45 in Universal without a steady contract.

On 26th November, 1915, Chaney got married to Hazel Hastings, an old acqaintance of his during the Ferris Hartman Troupe days.

By the end of this year, Chaney had appeared in 79 films, having made his mark at playing an eclectic set of characters ranging from cowboy to crippled villains. He was anointed by film magazines as a masterful artist who did his own make-up.

Hell Morgan's Girl, starring Dorothy Phillips, William Stowell and Lon Chaney was released in March with critical acclaim for Chaney's performance as a villainous gangster who plots revenge. As his popularity catapulted in USA, he established fandom in the international arena as well, through the Bluebird features that had late releases in Japan.

Even after garnering immense recognition in the eyes of critics and public alike, Chaney was working contract-less at Universal Studios for a meagre amount of $75 a week. When he asked the studio manager, William Sistrom, for a raise to $125 a week and a five-year contract, he was vehemently refused after being told that he would never ever be worth $100 a week. Chaney's self-esteem had been hurt by Sistrom's remarks and he left Universal to find work elsewhere. This was a hard time for Chaney as he was unable to find work for months and his savings decreased, despite his having earned a good reputation as an actor. Fortunately, he found work with William S. Hart, who was a leading star of western films and had his own production company. Chaney landed the role of the villain Hame Bozzam in Hart's film Riddle Gawne. For this role, he received his desired salary of $125. After his spectacular performance in Hart's film, Chaney returned to Universal Studio to feature in many Universal films. One of the remarkable films were Danger-Go Slow! under the direction of Robert Zigler Leonard, who used to be a member of Ferris Hartman Troupe along with Chaney. The film also starred Leonard's wife at that time, Mae Murray.

1919 was a pivotal year in the career trajectory of Lon Chaney. The film The Wicked Darling, starring Priscilla Dean and Chaney, marked the beginning of a decade long collaboration between Chaney and Tod Browning, the director of the film. Their association was not only instrumental in catapulting their individual careers but also in the evolution of horror cinema during the early 20th century. Browning, known for his fascination with the macabre, and Chaney, the Man of a Thousand Faces, combined their unique talents to create unforgettable characters that pushed the boundaries of storytelling.

The first Chaney film to be released this year and the second collaboration between Chaney and Browning was released this year under the title of Outside the Law, starring Priscilla Dean alongside Chaney. Leo McCarey, who would go on to make a name for himself later by directing films such as Duck Soup and Make Way For Tomorrow, worked as an assistant director on this film. In this crime-drama film, Chaney yet again plays a challenging dual role of an American and a Chinese man. Chaney gathered praise for his performance, notably for the trick photography sequence involving double exposure where Chaney as the Chinese man murders the American character played by him.

In 1925, Tod Browning also joined MGM and along with Lon Chaney, he made a series of fantastic films that would go down in history as some of the most remarkable films of Chaney and Browning's career. Their first film for MGM together, titled The Unholy Three, is about a gang of sideshow performers made up of a little man (Harry Earles), ventriloquist (Lon Chaney) and a strong man (Victor McLagen) who devise a scheme to rob a socialite. It has a sinister undertone and features Tod Browning's affinity to construct the film around the physicality of the characters, with Chaney and Earles fleshing out brilliant dual roles. The film was remade in 1930 by director Jack Conway, being the only sound film that Chaney featured in.

After the remarkable success of The Unholy Three, Chaney and Browning teamed up again for The Blackbird, a film about conniving and dupery involving two thieves who are in love with the same girl and try to outdo one another in order to gain her love. Chaney does a fantastic job playing dual roles of The Blackbird and The Bishop, garnering unanimous praise, despite the film's low box-office returns.

The next film was, again, a collaboration between Chaney and Browning called The Road to Mandalay. Here, Chaney plays the role of a blind man who goes by the name of Singapore Joe. The film is, unfortunately, existent only as an abridged version of the original. Chaney follows up with a surprising role in his next film titled Tell It To The Marines, where he appears with no makeup. This serious subversion proved Chaney's mettle as a strong actor who did not rely on external appearances to act out complex roles, increasing his status as a dramatic actor.

The Unknown is widely celebrated as a masterpiece of the late silent film era and is considered one of the finest of the ten fruitful collaborations between Browning and Chaney, eight of which were produced at MGM. In the film, Chaney delivers one of his most remarkable performances as Alonzo the Armless, a circus performer who fakes having no arms to conceal his identity as a wanted criminal. Chaney embodies Alonzo's complex blend of physicality and psychological torment, using his extraordinary facial expressions and body language to convey the character's desperation and dark obsession.

London After Midnight was the most commercially successful collaboration between director Tod Browning and actor Lon Chaney. In this atmospheric horror film, Chaney delivers a haunting dual performance as both Inspector Burke and his eerie vampire-like disguise, complete with sharpened teeth and wide, unsettling eyes. Known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces," Chaney used elaborate makeup and costume techniques to create an unforgettable character that added to the film's mystique and horror. Tragically, London After Midnight was lost in the fire at MGM's vault in 1965, making it one of the most sought-after and mourned lost films of the silent era. Only the photographic stills of the film survive, and have been edited into a cohesive narrative form with intertitles and orchestral score.

In the next film directed by Tod Browning and penned by Waldemar Young, The Big City, Chaney garnered acclaim for a humanist portrayal of a tough gangster. Sadly, this was another Browning-Chaney film to be lost along with London After Midnight and The Tower of Lies. Only the photographic stills and a short trailer survives today.

On June 25, 1928, Lon Chaney and Tod Browning began production on West of Zanzibar, adapted from the stage play Kongo by Charles de Vonde and Kilbourn Gordon. Supporting him in the ninth and one of the most brilliant Chaney-Browning collaborations were Lionel Barrymore, Warner Baxter, and Mary Nolan.The film holds special intrigue among the cult fandom due to lost or potentially removed scenes that director Tod Browning is believed to have filmed but that no longer exist. Among these are sequences featuring the magician Phroso, played by Chaney, dressed as "The Human Duck" in a freak show act, as well as scenes showing Phroso and his troupe arriving in Africa. While stills of Chaney in the duck costume survive, it remains unclear whether these scenes were actually filmed or if they were only planned, with publicity photos taken in advance.

Where East is East was the penultimate silent film starring Chaney and last collaboration between the legendary duo of Tod Browning and Lon Chaney. The failure of the film to garner critical as well as commerical acclaim could be the diminishing demand for silent-film format as talkies came to the fore. Lon Chaney had long avoided the shift to sound films, though the exact reason remains a topic of speculation. Some believe he was unsure how his voice would come across in the new medium, while others suggest he felt that sound would strip films of a certain magic. Another theory posits that, since speaking roles weren't part of his current contract, Chaney's reluctance to talk on screen was a strategic move to negotiate a better deal with the studio.

Another significant film starring Chaney that released later this year was The Miracle Man, directed by George Loane Tucker. Tucker wished to cast a real contortionist in the role but to his disappointment, none of the people he interviewed were good actors. Chaney, during his years travelling with troupes, had no prior experience of contortion, and neither was he doubly jointed in the limbs. He employed a trick he had learned in childhood, double crossing his legs and then looping his left foot behind his right ankle. Seeing his performance, Tucker could only muster up one word in his astonishment, "God!". This was the first major role Chaney played that involved bodily disfigurement. Several of his later films, including arguably the most popular Chaney-Browning collaboration, also featured him playing the role of an amputee who was deft with his legs. Later in the year, he appeared in Maurice Tourneur's Victory, an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's novel of the same name. There, he played yet another villainous character which was hailed unanimously.

Chaney reunited with Maurice Tourneur in the Paramount film titled Treasure Island, based on the novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson. Chaney played the double role of a blind pirate Pew and a bad-tempered pirate Merry. In order to stay true to the character, Chaney would go to lengths to discuss the physical descriptions of his character with the director and then devise his own unique make-up. The third and final collaboration between Chaney and Tourneur was made later this year, under the working title The Glory of Love. Due to some problems which are unknown, the film's release was stalled till 1923 when it was released under the title While Paris Sleeps. Another significant role he played in this year was a negative character in the social drama called The Gift Supreme, directed by Ollie L. Sellers. Only the first reel out of the total six survives so far. Other notable films that came out this year include: For Those We Love, Bits of Life and Ace of Hearts.

The Penalty, directed by Wallace Worsley marked Chaney's next top-billed performance as "Blizzard", a vengeful man whose legs have been amputated by a novice doctor. The film showcases Chaney's unparalleled ability to embody complex and troubled characters without any hint of overacting that plagued the era.His performance adds a nuanced depth to the film which is elevated beyond mere villainy to evoke both terror and tragic sympathy for his character. For the role, Chaney received $500 a week. This was the time when Chaney himself was unaware of his worth as a a sought-after actor as the studio was ready to pay him upto $1500 weekly, but he had already agreed upon a third of this amount.

Chaney returned to Universal Studios to gear up for his starring performance in director Robert Thornby's The Trap. It was one of the earliest films and Chaney's first to use panchromatic film stock, which is suitable for capturing subtle details and tonal variations in scenes, resulting in richer and more nuanced black-and-white images. The film initially features Chaney in a positive role as Gasper The Good, a French-Canadian miner. Soon, however, this subversion is put to rest as Gasper finds a grudge to nurse which culminates into vengeful violence. The film's story was co-written by Chaney himself and features his son Creighton's screen debut in a minor role. In March 1922, Photoplay published an article titled “Lon Chaney's Make-Up,” marking the only occasion Chaney shared a set of four images illustrating how he created some of his makeup effects. It was also one of the rare instances he permitted his makeup case to be displayed for publicity purposes. This feature was captured during the filming of A Blind Bargain, which was Chaney's fourth film directed by Wallace Worsley.Featuring Chaney in a double role of an obsessive Dr. Lamb and his creation, a hunchback ape-man. Despite being known as a horror actor, Chaney did only some films that can be attributed as out and out horror, and this film is one of them. He did grotesque make-up for his roles and the innovative techniques he applied in creating the ape-man became a prototype in many films to come in the future. The next role played by Chaney was in an Irving Cummings' independent production titled Flesh and Blood. He was cast as an escaped convict living under a disguise of a disabled person who wishes to see his daughter. In his next film, Voices of the City (a.k.a. The Night Rose), he played the role of a suave gangster hatching a plan to kill a couple who has witnessed his gang committing a crime. It was Chaney's third film with the director Wallace Worsley and produced under the banner of Goldwyn. Although Chaney's ruthless performance was appreciated, the film attracted controversy due to certain scenes and was banned by New York censors. After cutting the scenes and gaining approval for exhibition in New York, the film was re-released.

In October of that year, Chaney appeared in an adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, directed by Frank Lloyd. In the film, he played the role of the conniving and manipulative Fagin, the man who leads a group of child thieves. Chaney explains his portrayal of Fagin in an interview for Motion Picture film magazine: "I'm not playing him essentially as a Jew, but as a character of more universal appeal- a man of wits who has no particular racial limitations. This will, I think, be my best piece of work."

Next, Chaney was signed by producer B.P. Schulberg to star in an adaption of Wilbur Daniel Steele's novel Ching, Ching, Chinaman. It stands as a landmark of silent cinema as during this period, Asian characters were frequently portrayed through a lens of ironic exoticism, villainy, or as sidekicks to Western protagonists, reinforcing colonial attitudes and misconceptions. This religious melodrama, on the other hand, through the nuanced portrayal of a Chinese man by Lon Chaney navigating the struggles of being perceived as "other" in a racially divided society, stands as a sensitive anomaly. The major theatre chains, however, were reluctant to exhibit this film, even with the title changed to Shadows. The film was then screened at various independent theatres and it garnered recognition and acclaim after it got featured in the year-end list of best pictures of the year by screenwriter Robert E. Sherwood.

The portrayal of Asians as what might be perceived as "buffoons" by the West in many of Hollywood's most acclaimed films has often relied on the mocking of Asian accents, physical features, and accompanied by the use of racial slurs and yellowface— Fu Manchu films, Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Good Earth, to name a few. Times seem to have changed, but unfortunately, to this day, the caricaturisation of Asian characters remains. The study “I Am Not a Fetish or Model Minority” from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Gold House, reviewed the top 10 grossing films each year from 2010 to 2019. They found that nearly half of the Asian characters were there as the punchline; one laughed at them, not with them. One study found that nearly half of Asian and Pacific Islander characters in top grossing films from 2010-2019 were the punchline. Unfortunately, the venomous racism of Asian representation goes beyond harmless gags. Such depictions fuel the fire of xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment that has increased since the COVID pandemic. It comes as no surprise that the vile hatred that the Asians have been on the receiving end of in the wake of the pandemic finds its vocabulary (squinting eyes with fingers, name-calling and paranoia of their presence among other countless ways) in the various forms of mediatic representation of them— whether it be 19th century cartoons depicting Yellow Peril or relatively modern cinematic iterations like, say, Mr. Chow in the Hangover franchise.

In 1923, Chaney made his return to Universal Studios to star in Lambert Hillyer's The Shock. The film features Chaney in yet another role that requires physical commitment as he walks with a limp gait and plays a tortured but benevolent gangster. Although the film begins in the usual dreadful Chaney fashion- notorious gangsters pervading the underbelly of Chinatown- the film soon shifts gears to reveal a poignant melodrama, making it one of the few films where Chaney's tragic character gets redemption and does not cave in to the self-destructive world of villainy.

In the year prior, Universal stalwart Irving Thalberg, a close aide of Chaney, had tried to convince the co-founder of Universal, Carl Laemmle, for green-lighting a grand adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame— a feat that would require a budget exceeding a million dollars, a largely unheard-of amount in film production. Chaney himself can be seen as the driving force of this spectacular Universal "jewel", as he had already acquired the rights to the novel more than a year prior to the studio discussions. Therefore, Chaney, with his proclivity for bizarre make-up and roles, came aboard the project to play the significant role of Quasimodo. For the film, he received a hefty paycheck of $2,500 per week. The director finalised by the studio was Wallace Worsley, assisted by ten other directors; among them was William Wyler, who made a name for himself later in Hollywood by directing films such as the 1959 remake of Ben-Hur and The Best Years of Our Lives. Chaney devised various innovative mechanisms and make-up techniques to prepare for the role of Quasimodo. He reportedly spent three hours everyday prior to the shoot to prepare for the role by doing elaborate make-up all by himself.

The filming began in the month of December in 1922 and finished on 3rd of June, 1923, with a crew of more than 750 people that toiled day and night to shoot the film in the sets that covered 19 acres of the studio lot. The film proved to be a box-office hit, appearing on several Top 10 films of the year lists end and becoming Universal's highest-grossing film of the year. By this time, Lon Chaney had achieved international fame, and throughout the film's theatrical exhibition, numerous theaters held contests to see who could most closely replicate his iconic portrayal of Quasimodo. Chaney had been a dynamic presence at Universal since its early years, starting as an extra before rising to featured roles, occasionally branching out as a writer and director. Chaney's biographer Michael F. Blake wrote, "It took Lon three hours a day to apply all the make-up necessary to become Quasimodo. To distort his cheekbokes, Lon did not use nose putty or plasto wax, but built-up cotton and flexible collodion […] For the wart on the eye, Lon covered his right eye with adhesive tape and applied nose putty. (This, incidentally, strained his eyesight to such a degree that he had to wear glasses off-camera for the rest of his life.) Crepe-wool hair was used for bushy eyebrows, and nose putty changed the shape of the tip of his nose. The nose was further accentuated by the use of cigar-holder ends placed in the nostrils. The effect of jagged teeth was made with the use of guttapercha, and an additional piece of this material was placed in the lower jaw to create a protruding effect. Understandably, this made talking very difficult, and Lon rarely engaged in conversation on the set while made-up."

His next film was a romantic melodrama titled The Next Corner which featured Chaney in a minor role. This was one of the last films Chaney did as a freelancing actor before signing a major contract with MGM.

Lon Chaney-starrer He Who Gets Slapped was released this year, making it the first film produced by the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio and marked the start of Chaney's six-year commitment with the studio. It was also the first film to use the emblematic lion as the mascot at the beginning of MGM films. It was shot in 37 days under the direction of Victor Sjöström who himself hailed Chaney as "the finest actor in the history of the screen or the stage". George Davis, a renowned European clown, trained Chaney for his role as He(the clown), in which Lon adopted the traditional whitefaced clown makeup. In contrast, for his portrayal of the struggling scientist, Chaney wore a goatee to create a more aristocratic appearance.

Circus had been one of the defining pillars of 18th and 19th-century popular culture, so its immediate appropriation into the newly developed and highly technological cinematic medium does not come as a surprise. Their amalgamation speaks volumes about both the artistic mediums— the magnificent spectacle of circus acts and cinema's brilliant affinity to function as a convergence point for a multitude of art forms. From the start, cinema has enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with circus and vaudeville with several significant personalities with prior experience in circus, vaudeville and other travelling troupe acts— Charlie Chaplin, Lon Chaney, Tod Browning, Buster Keaton and Broncho Billy Anderson among others— shaping the cinematic language through their prior experience with travelling troupes. The early phase of representation of circus in silent cinema was marked by an exhibitionist approach where trick shots and marvellous stunts of circus performers enchanted the public. Gradually, by the 1910s, the performance acts took a back seat to incorporate other genres such as romance and crime. Surely the spectacle was something that the audience enjoyed wholeheartedly so there were several such acts within these films, but by this point the space of circus started functioning more as the means than an end to push the plot forward. By the time Lon Chaney stepped in with his innovative make-up techniques, the circus films had long gone beyond the vibrant world of wonder and stepped into the abyss of self-reflection. The world of circus in the later silent films functioned as the microcosm of the world outside with complex characters dealing with conflicts that the audience in theatres identified with. Tod Browning's The Unknown, while set completely in circus, has the universal story of a man going to unimaginably tragic extent in order win his love. Laugh, Clown, Laugh is another tale set in circus but is a tale of betrayal, self-hatred and failed revenge. While in these later films, the circus played second fiddle to the larger plot, they earnestly tried to capture the living conditions and psyche of the artists, functioning as a document of their lives in a certain sense.

In the month of October, he returned to Universal Studio to appear in The Phantom of the Opera, in which he plays the titular role, which would later be considered as his most iconic performance.

Chaney next appears in Roland West's horror-comedy film titled The Monster as the villain against Johnny Arthur. Chaney's performance as the menacing Dr. Ziska, who is a man consumed by both his intellect and his twisted desires, is a fantastic early employment of the mad scientist trope in cinema.

The Tower of Lies, directed by Victor Sjöström was the next film Chaney featured in. It was a strong drama in which Chaney played the role of a Swedish farmer. In this film, extensive makeup of Chaney was done to make him look like a sixty year old man.

To bring the ghostly figure to life in The Phantom of the Opera, Chaney painstakingly transformed his face into a skull, using illustrations by Andre Castaigne from the original book as his guide. He heightened the contours of his cheekbones by packing wadding inside his cheeks, while an exaggerated skullcap elevated the height of his forehead, accentuating the dome of his skull. The crown remained bald, surrounded by wisps of hair pressed flat. Carefully drawn pencil lines deepened the furrows of his brow and masked the junction where the skullcap met his own forehead. His ears were also glued flat against his head, completing the haunting transformation. However, there were several barriers during the production of The Phantom of the Opera. Director of photography Charles Van Enger noted that Chaney, along with the rest of the cast and crew, had a tense relationship with director Rupert Julian. Eventually, the star and director stopped speaking to each other, prompting Van Enger to step in as a mediator between them. Additionally, after the January preview of the film in Los Angeles, Carl Laemmle was dissatisfied and demanded re-editing and additional shooting for the film and hired Edward Sedgwick to direct an alternative climax. Eventually, the film was released after further changes were made and it garnered success and acclaim, especially for Chaney's performance. His role was so menacing and convincing that during a scene where his character is unmasked, audiences were reported to have shrieked, screamed or fainted.

Lon Chaney starred as the titular character in William Nigh's drama film called Mr. Wu. In the film, Chaney portrayed a Chinese patriarchal figure seeking revenge on the Englishman who his daughter is in love with. The film was based on a stage play written by Harold Owen and Harry M. Vernon which first opened in London in the year 1913. The film's ambitious set design and lead performances were lauded, but as it uses the prevalent Yellow Peril stereotypes and yellow-face, it has been subject to criticism by modern viewers.

Lon Chaney's next film, Laugh, Clown, Laugh, directed by Herbert Brenon, had originally been a successful Broadway play starring Lionel Barrymore. The rights were purchased specifically with Chaney in mind, and filming began in late December, 1927, under the direction of Herbert Brenon, with a seven-week production schedule. This film also marked the screen debut of actress Loretta Young, who was just fourteen at the time. Drawing from his own experience as a traveling comic stage actor in his youth, Chaney was familiar with the intricacies involved in playing a clown. To prepare for this role, as well as for He Who Gets Slapped, he studied the makeup styles of circus clowns and iconic 19th-century stage clowns like Joseph Grimaldi and George L. Fox. The film received a nomination for "Best Title Writing" at the inaugural Academy Awards for the 1927-28 season. This was the only year the category was awarded, as the emergence of sound soon made it obsolete.

In Jack Conway's While the City Sleeps, Lon Chaney takes on the role of a relentless New York detective determined to bring down a career criminal who has always managed to evade conviction through carefully constructed alibis. Chaney's performance as the gritty, determined cop is widely praised, showcasing his ability to convey intense conviction and authority. Released both as a silent film and with a music and sound effects track (now lost) for theaters with new sound systems, the film is one of Chaney's most acclaimed works at MGM. Despite missing scenes, it remains an impressive and compelling part of Chaney's legacy. Produced on a budget of $259,000, the film earned substantial profits of $399,000 and was completed in just 32 days.

In the summer of 1929, Lon Chaney contracted pneumonia while filming Thunder under William Nigh in the cold environments of Illinois and Wisconsin. As his condition worsened, his contract with MGM was suspended due to his inability to work. It was later revealed that his illness had progressed into lung cancer, likely exacerbated by his heavy smoking. The severity of his condition was kept a secret, and Chaney spent much of the summer and fall of 1929 living in seclusion.

His condition further deteriorated and his upcoming projects came to a standstill, including a one-picture Universal loan-out for Tod Browning's Dracula. Chaney would go on to to star in his only talkie, a remake of The Unholy Three, with his co-actor Harry Earles, too, reprising the titular gangsters. The film revealed yet another talent that Chaney was equipped with - the ability to modulate his voice to sound like different people, a fresh take on the multiplicity of performances he had been hailed for throughout his career in silent films.

After completing the filming of The Unholy Three, Chaney and his wife, Hazel, travelled to New York, where he began intensive radium treatments. They then returned to California and stayed briefly in their cabin in the Sierra Nevadas. However, Lon's health continued to decline, and by late August, he was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital in Los Angeles. Despite a courageous fight, and resorting to sign language in his final days as speaking became increasingly difficult, he passed away on August 26, 1930, at the age of 47, a victim of throat cancer. At 3 o'clock that day, all Hollywood studios held a two-minute moment of silence to honor Lon's memory. At the MGM studios, a group of Marines lowered the studio flag and played taps. On the day of Lon's passing, nearly every customer in the studio commissary chose to order a "Lon Chaney Sandwich"- a mix of bacon, cheese, and tomato-as a tribute to their former colleague. In his memorial service, Tod Browning served as an honorary pallbearer along with several influential personalities such as Irving Thalberg, Louis B. Mayer, Fred Niblo, Lionel Barrymore and Wallace Beery.