Baggot biography filmography first king king movie

American actor and director (–)

King Baggot
Baggot in
Born	William King Baggot ()November 7, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Died	July 11, () (aged&#;68) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
Years&#;active	–
Spouse	Ruth Constantine &#; &#; (m.&#;; div.&#;)&#;

William King Baggot (November 7, &#; July 11, ) was an American actor, film director and screenwriter.

He was an internationally famous movie star of the silent film era. The first individually publicizedleading man in America, Baggot was referred to as "King of the Movies," "The Most Photographed Man in the World" and "The Guy Whose Face Is As Familiar As The Man In The Moon."

Baggot appeared in over motion pictures from to ; wrote 18 screenplays; and directed 45 movies from to , including The Lie (), Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman () and The House of Scandal ().

He also directed William S. Hart in his most notable western, Tumbleweeds ().

Among his film appearances, he was optimal known for The Scarlet Letter (), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (), and Ivanhoe (), which was filmed on location in Wales.^[1]

Early life

He was born in St.

Louis, Missouri, the son of William Baggot (–) and Harriet M. "Hattie" King (–).^[2] His siblings were Amos Taylor Baggot (–); Thomas Gantt Baggot (–); John Marmaduke Baggot (–); Arthur Lee Baggot (–?); Marion L.

Baggot (–); and Harriet D. Baggot (–). William Baggot was born in Ireland, and emigrated from County Limerick to the United States in He was a prominent St. Louis real estate agent.

Baggot attended Christian Brothers College Steep School, a prominent Catholic all-male secondary school, where he excelled at sports, was a celestial body soccer and baseball player, and became captain of the soccer team.^[3] In , King left St.

Louis and went to Chicago, where he worked as a clerk for his uncle, Edward Baggot (–), whose business sold plumbing, gas and electric fixtures.

William King Baggot (November 7, – July 11, ) was an American actor, production director and screenwriter. He was an internationally famous movie celestial body of the silent film era. The first individually publicized principal man in America, Baggot was referred to as "King of the Movies," "The Most Photographed Man in the World" and "The Man Whose.

In , he returned to St. Louis and later played on a semi-professional St. Louis soccer team and became so well recognizable that a Catholic church amateur theatrical group added him to its cast to gain prestige. He liked acting and did well.

He soon helped start another amateur theatrical group, the Players Club of St. Louis.

In the meantime, he sold tickets for the St. Louis Browns baseball team and worked as a clerk in the real estate business of his father.^[4] But acting proved so interesting that he decided to become professional.

Stage career

Baggot began his career on the stage in a Shakespeareanstock company and toured throughout the U.S. Monitoring his first engagement, he performed under the management of Liebler and Company, one of the foremost producing companies at that time.

He also toured under the management of Frohman, and the Shuberts, and played five weeks in New York in The Queen of the Highway. Other plays in which he appeared include the comedyrevivalMrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, which had a run on Broadway in , Salomy Jane and In the Bishop's Carriage.

While acting in stock in St. Louis, in the summer of , Baggot worked with Marguerite Clark in Peter Pan and The Golden Garter. In the two weeks that remained of the season, he played miniature roles in Frou Frou and Jenny, which both starred Countess Venturini.

When the season closed, he was cast as supporting player with Marguerite Clark in the Schubert touring production of The Wishing Ring, which was adapted by Owen Davis from a Dorothea Deakin story. Another cast member, Cecil B. DeMille, also staged the play.

When The Wishing Ring closed in Chicago, Baggot returned to Recent York to join another corporation. Upon a chance meeting with Harry Solter, who was directing movies for Carl Laemmle at Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), he was persuaded to depart with Solter to the studio.

Movies were then looked down on by the dramatic profession as a mere recording of stunts, but Baggot went along.

King Baggot: A Biography and Filmography of the First King of ...: King Baggot began making films for Carl Laemmle in and was a major star from to Baggot then gained renown as a director in the s and as a character actor in the s and s, but perhaps most notably, he was the first publicized leading man in America.

He was amused at the violent gestures and jumping around of the players, taking none of it seriously. Baggot, however, became interested in the fledgling industry and later decided to give it a experiment and turn picture player. ^{[citation needed]}

Film career

Baggot's first film was the romanceshortThe Awakening of Bess () 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.

View Larger Image. From Arnold M. AbeBooks Seller since June 14, View this seller's items.

In April , Baggot was at home with his mother and family in St. Louis, when the U.S. Census was taken there.^[5] He starred in at least 42 movies reverse Lawrence from to In the latter year, he starred in at least 16 movies with Mary Pickford, including Pictureland ().

Pickford was hired to displace Lawrence after she and Solter broke their contracts, including the one-reel romance/dramaSweet Memories, which was directed by Thomas H. Ince.

Baggot 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.

King Baggot began in films inwas a major star from toand gained renown as a director in the s and as a character actor in the s and s. But most notably, he was the first publicized leading man in America. In his two-reel Shadows --this was a first in film history--he played ten different characters and also directed. He founded the Screen Club, the first and most prestigious club strictly for film personnel, and became a star in England with Ivanhoe and in France with Absinthe.

By , he was so famous that when he took the leading part in forming the prestigious Screen Club in New York, the first company of its kind strictly for movie people, he was the natural choice for its first president.

On December 3, , he and Ruth Considine (August 28, – December 22, )^[6] were married in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

They had one son, Robert King Baggot (July 11, – May 18, ). A cameraman, he died in Hawaii, while working on a movie. Robert King Baggot had two sons, cinematographer Stephen King Baggot (born ) and Bruce Baggot (born ).

Baggot starred as Wilfred of Ivanhoe in Ivanhoe (), a feature lengthadventure drama that was filmed on location in England and at Chepstow Castle in Wales. He played the role of Jean Dumas in the drama Absinthe (), which was filmed in Paris.

In his two-reel feature Shadows, Baggot directed as adv as played the parts of ten different characters.

When he registered for the draft of World War I, on September 12, , Baggot and his wife were living in Fresh York City.^[7] He starred in the role as Harrison Grant in the part spythrillerThe Eagle's Eye () opposite Marguerite Snow, an adaptation of former FBI Director William J.

Flynn's experiences that was produced by Leopold and Theodore Wharton,^[8] and as Sheldon Steele (The Hawk) in the crime dramaThe Hawk's Trail () opposite Grace Darmond.

As a director, he gave Marie Prevost her first starring role in the romantic comedyKissed ().

King Baggot began in films in , was a major star from to , and gained renown as a director in the s and as a character actor in the s and s. But most notably, he was the first publicized leading man in America. In his two-reel Shadows--this was a first in film history--he played ten different characters and also directed.

Baggot directed Mary Philbin and William Haines in the romance The Gaiety Girl ().

He formed his hold production company, King Baggot Productions, and produced and directed The Home Maker (), a drama starring Clive Brook and Alice Joyce about the reversal of traditional roles between a husband and wife,^[9] which was released through Universal.

That same year, Baggot directed William S. Hart in his most famous western, Tumbleweeds, a drama about the Oklahoma land rush of

Decline

Baggot and his wife, Ruth, who had separated on August 20, , were divorced in ^[10] She filed on grounds of desertion, stating in the complaint that he was a terrible example to their son.

She said he would return abode after drinking and be in a boisterous mood.^[11] When the census was taken on April 7, Baggot was lodging by himself.^[12]

His alcoholism and problems with certain studio executives eventually ended Baggot's directing career.

He turned to playing character roles, bit parts and even jobs as an extra,^[13] and appeared in scores of movies in that capacity through the s and s, including Mississippi ().

Baggot played the uncredited role as a policeman on the avenue in Bad Sister (), which starred Conrad Nagel and Sidney Fox, with Bette Davis in her first movie role.

He had the role as Henry Field, a movie director, in the Monogram Pictures drama Police Court () co-starring Henry B. Walthall, which told the story of a has-been alcoholic performer (Walthall) trying to make a comeback.

In , Baggot and former leading lady Florence Lawrence, Paul Panzer and another former great star of the silent era, Francis Ford, were given bit parts in what would be former co-star Mary Pickford's last movie, Secrets.

In her Los Angeles Timesgossip column on March 1, , Hedda Hopper wrote, "King Baggot, who used to be one of our top directors, is working as an extra in The Show-Off.^[14] While living at the Aberdeen Hotel in Venice, California, Baggot made his final movie appearance in the uncredited part of a bank employee in the comedy My Brother Talks to Horses () starring Butch Jenkins and Peter Lawford.

Illness then forced his retirement.

King Baggot died at age 68 from a stroke at a sanatorium in Los Angeles.^[15][16][17] His funeral service was conducted in the chapel of Pierce Brothers Hollywood Mortuary at 1 p.m.

on Thursday, July 15, ^[18] He is interred in Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles.

For his contributions to the film industry, Baggot received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Saunter of Fame in His celebrity is located at Hollywood Boulevard.^[19]

Filmography

As actor

As director

References

Further reading

• Dumaux, Sally A. (). King Baggot: A Biography and Filmography of the First King of the Movies. McFarland. pp.&#;ISBN&#;

External links