date_of_birth thomas bentley
Theodore Willard Case ( December ___MASK71___ , ___MASK95___  May 13 , 1944 ) was an American chemist , physicist and inventor known for the invention of the Movietone sound - on - film sound film system . Thomas Bentley ( 1880 -- 1950 ) was a British film director . He directed 68 films between 1912 and 1941 . He directed three films in the early DeForest Phonofilm sound - on - film process , The Man in the Street ( 1926 ) , The Antidote ( 1927 ) , and Acci - Dental Treatment ( 1928 ) . Bentley was born in London and originally trained as an engineer , but went on to become a vaudeville performer well known for impersonating the characters from the novels of Charles Dickens on stage . His directing career in silent films began in 1910 with his adaptations of a number of Dickens ' novels to film . After his retirement from directing in 1941 he became technical advisor to the British Film Council . Lee de Forest ( ___MASK37___ , 1873  June 30 , 1961 ) was an American inventor , self - described " Father of Radio ", and a pioneer in the development of sound - on - film recording used for motion pictures . He had over 180 patents , but also a tumultuous career  he boasted that he made , then lost , four fortunes . He was also involved in several major patent lawsuits , spent a substantial part of his income on legal bills , and was even tried ( and acquitted ) for mail fraud . His most famous invention , in ___MASK18___ , was the three - element " Audion " ( triode ) vacuum tube , the first practical amplification device . Although De Forest had only a limited understanding of how it worked , it was the foundation of the field of electronics , making possible radio broadcasting , long distance telephone lines , and talking motion pictures , among countless other applications . Phonofilm is an optical sound - on - film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the 1920s .