William S. Hart(1864-1946)
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
A storybook hero, the original screen cowboy, ever forthright and
honest, even when (as was often the case) he played a villain, William
S. Hart lived for a while in the Dakota Territory, then worked as a
postal clerk in New York City. In 1888 he began to study acting. In
1899 he created the role of Messala in "Ben-Hur", and received
excellent reviews for his lead part in "The Virginian" (1907). His
first film was a two-reeler,
His Hour of Manhood (1914).
In 1915 he signed a contract with
Thomas H. Ince and joined Ince's Triangle
Film Company. Two years later he followed Ince to Famous Players-Lasky
and received a very lucrative contract from
Adolph Zukor. His career began to dwindle
in the early 1920s due to the publicity surrounding a paternity suit
against him, which was eventually dismissed. He made his last film,
Le fils de la prairie (1925), for United
Artists and retired to a ranch in Newhall, CA. By that time audiences
were more interested in the antics of a Tom Mix
or Hoot Gibson than the Victorian moralizing
of Hart. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, NY.
