[on how he got his start in films] I came out to Hollywood from Indian Territory in 1912 with a consignment of horses and cattle for the
Thomas H. Ince movie outfit. The studio was located on the beachfront at the foot of Santa Inez Canyon, four miles north of Santa Monica. There were just a few sets, and interiors were built outdoors just the same as exteriors. Transportation from the end of the trolley line was the stagecoach and ranch wagon we used in the pictures. And it wasn't the smoothest riding in the world. We found it took too much time traveling back and forth from Santa Monica so Ince decided to build a tent city at the studio. I put up the 24 tents, including a cook and mess tent. The place became known as Inceville. And I became an actor. Our bathtub was the Pacific. Our recreation hall was the beach. When we went on location we used horses and stagecoaches and wagons. We had sandwiches and cold coffee for lunch. In the old days, we didn't draw salaries. We got wages. Five dollars a day. Leading men and women sometimes got $60 a week. And no limit on working hours. Overtime? Everything was overtime. But there were compensations. You could get a room at the swank Hollywood Hotel for three dollars a week. A good meal from soup to nuts cost two bits. A drink was a dime instead of a dollar.
