Acting
King Baggot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William King Baggot (November 7, 1879 – July 11, 1948) was an American actor, film director and screenwriter. He was an internationally famous movie star of the silent film era. The first individually publicized leading man in America, Baggot was referred to as "King of the Movies", "The Most Photographed Man in the World", and "The Man Whose Face Is As Familiar As The Man In The Moon". Baggot appeared in over 300 motion pictures from 1909 to 1947, wrote 18 screenplays, and directed 45 movies from 1912 to 1928, including The Lie (1912), Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (1925), and The House of Scandal (1928). He also directed William S. Hart in his most famous western, Tumbleweeds (1925). Among his film appearances, Baggot was best known for The Scarlet Letter (1911), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913), and Ivanhoe (1913). Baggot began his career on the stage, in a Shakespearean stock company, and toured throughout the U.S. While acting in stock in St. Louis in 1909, he was cast as supporting player in the Schubert touring production of The Wishing Ring. When The Wishing Ring closed in Chicago, Baggot returned to New York to join another company. Upon a chance meeting with Harry Solter, who was directing movies for Carl Laemmle at Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), he was persuaded to go with Solter to the studio. Baggot became interested in the fledgling industry and decided to turn picture player. His first film was the romance short The Awakening of Bess (1909) opposite Florence Lawrence. It was directed by Harry Solter, her husband, at IMP in Fort Lee, New Jersey. At a time when screen actors worked anonymously, Baggot and Lawrence became the first "movie stars" to be given billing, a marquee, and promotion in advertising. Baggot starred in at least 42 movies opposite Lawrence from 1909 to 1911. In the latter year, he starred in at least 16 movies with Mary Pickford. He also began writing screenplays and directing, all the while becoming a major star internationally. When he appeared "in person" at theatres he was mobbed at stage doors. By 1912, he was so famous that when he took the leading part in forming the prestigious Screen Club in New York, the first organization of its kind strictly for movie people, he was the natural choice for its first president. King Baggot died in Los Angeles, California in 1948, age 68. For his contributions to the film industry, Baggot received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. His star is located at 6312 Hollywood Boulevard.
Filmography
Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films
Film · 2011
My Brother Talks to Horses
Film · 1947
Merton of the Movies
Film · 1947
The Secret Heart
Film · 1946
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Film · 1946
Holiday in Mexico
Film · 1946
Dangerous Partners
Film · 1945
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
Film · 1945
Swing Fever
Film · 1943
Her Cardboard Lover
Film · 1942
Jackass Mail
Film · 1942
Fingers at the Window
Film · 1942
Rio Rita
Film · 1942
Come Live with Me
Film · 1941
The Big Store
Film · 1941
Honky Tonk
Film · 1941
Ziegfeld Girl
Film · 1941
I Take This Woman
Film · 1940
Gallant Sons
Film · 1940
The Philadelphia Story
Film · 1940
Bitter Sweet
Film · 1940
The Ghost Comes Home
Film · 1940
Stronger Than Desire
Film · 1939
Dancing Co-Ed
Film · 1939
The Ice Follies of 1939
Film · 1939
Think It Over
Film · 1938
Snow Gets in Your Eyes
Film · 1938
That Mothers Might Live
Film · 1938
Arsène Lupin Returns
Film · 1938
Stablemates
Film · 1938
Opening Day
Film · 1938
Boys Town
Film · 1938
Marie Antoinette
Film · 1938
Too Hot to Handle
Film · 1938
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Film · 1937
It May Happen to You
Film · 1937
A Night at the Movies
Film · 1937
Torture Money
Film · 1937
Parnell
Film · 1937
The Devil-Doll
Film · 1936
Sworn Enemy
Film · 1936
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
Film · 1936
San Francisco
Film · 1936
Mad Holiday
Film · 1936
A Night at the Opera
Film · 1935
A Notorious Gentleman
Film · 1935
Mississippi
Film · 1935
The Call of the Savage
Film · 1935
Chinatown Squad
Film · 1935
3 Kids and a Queen
Film · 1935
Sweepstake Annie
Film · 1935
The Red Rider
Film · 1934
Romance in the Rain
Film · 1934
Beloved
Film · 1934
Father Brown, Detective
Film · 1934
Cheating Cheaters
Film · 1934
I Loved a Woman
Film · 1933
Girl of the Rio
Film · 1932
The Big Flash
Film · 1932
Police Court
Film · 1932
Afraid to Talk
Film · 1932
What Price Hollywood?
Film · 1932
The Death Kiss
Film · 1932
Sweepstakes
Film · 1931
The Bad Sister
Film · 1931
Graft
Film · 1931
Once a Gentleman
Film · 1930
The Czar of Broadway
Film · 1930
The Thrill Chaser
Film · 1923
The Girl in the Taxi
Film · 1921
The Butterfly Girl
Film · 1921
The Cheater
Film · 1920
Life's Twist
Film · 1920
The Forbidden Thing
Film · 1920
The Dwelling Place of Light
Film · 1920
The Shadow of Lightning Ridge
Film · 1920
The Hawk's Trail
Film · 1919
The Man Who Stayed at Home
Film · 1919
Mission of the War Chest
Film · 1918
The Eagle's Eye
Film · 1918
Building for Democracy
Film · 1918
Kildare of Storm
Film · 1918
The Silent Stranger
Film · 1916
Half a Rogue
Film · 1916
The Man from Nowhere
Film · 1916
The Marble Heart
Film · 1915
The Suburban
Film · 1915
Absinthe
Film · 1914
The Great Universal Mystery
Film · 1914
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Film · 1913
The Wanderer
Film · 1913
Ivanhoe
Film · 1913
Shamus O'Brien
Film · 1912
A Cave Man Wooing
Film · 1912
Up Against It
Film · 1912
The Temptress
Film · 1911
Sweet Memories
Film · 1911
The Mirror
Film · 1911
The Scarlet Letter
Film · 1911
The Wife’s Awakening
Film · 1911
The Master and the Man
Film · 1911
For the Queen's Honor
Film · 1911
In the Sultan's Garden
Film · 1911
At a Quarter of Two
Film · 1911
Science
Film · 1911
Pictureland
Film · 1911
The Secret of the Palm
Film · 1911
Tracked
Film · 1911
While There is hope, There is Life
Film · 1911
Second Sight
Film · 1911
The Call of the Song
Film · 1911
The Fair Dentist
Film · 1911
The Better Way
Film · 1911
The Rose's Story
Film · 1911
Over the Hills
Film · 1911
At the Duke's Command
Film · 1911
A Game of Deception
Film · 1911
The Call of the Circus
Film · 1910
Debt
Film · 1910
Jane and the Stranger
Film · 1910
The Count of Montebello
Film · 1910
A Game for Two
Film · 1910
His Second Wife
Film · 1910
Irony of Fate
Film · 1910
The Eternal Triangle
Film · 1910
The Blind Man’s Tact
Film · 1910
Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens
Film · 1910
The Taming of Jane
Film · 1910
The Maelstrom
Film · 1910
The Miser’s Daughter
Film · 1910
Old Heads and Young Hearts
Film · 1910
The Right of Love
Film · 1910
Once Upon a Time
Film · 1910
Pressed Roses
Film · 1910
A Reno Romance
Film · 1910
The New Shawl
Film · 1910
Two Men
Film · 1910
The Winning Punch
Film · 1910
Transfusion
Film · 1910
The Doctor's Perfidy
Film · 1910
All the World’s a Stage
Film · 1910
The Time-Lock Safe
Film · 1910
Justice in the Far North
Film · 1910
Mother Love
Film · 1910
The Tide of Fortune
Film · 1910
The Governor’s Pardon
Film · 1910
The Stage Note
Film · 1910
The Rosary
Film · 1910
The Broken Oath
Film · 1910
The Awakening of Bess
Film · 1909
Love's Stratagem
Film · 1909