King Baggot
Known For: Acting
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: November 6, 1879
Day of Death: July 11, 1948 (69 years old)
Place of Birth: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
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.
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Actor
Think It Over
Actor Department Store Customer (uncredited)
Snow Gets in Your Eyes
Actor Passerby (uncredited)
That Mothers Might Live
Actor Detective (uncredited)
Arsène Lupin Returns
Actor Bettor
Stablemates
Actor Baseball Fan
Opening Day
Actor Derelict in Mission (uncredited)
Boys Town
Actor Nobleman at Court (uncredited)
Marie Antoinette
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1911
Actor Gilbert Irving
The Temptress
Actor Edward Jackson
Sweet Memories
Actor
The Mirror
Actor Reverend Dimmesdale
The Scarlet Letter
Actor Enoch Harrington
The Wife’s Awakening
Actor Basil King
The Master and the Man
Actor The King
For the Queen's Honor
Actor Lt. Robbins
In the Sultan's Garden
Actor Dan Nolan - the Burglar
At a Quarter of Two
Actor Dr. Crawford
Science
Actor Pablo
Pictureland
Actor Cecil Abbott
The Secret of the Palm
Actor Roger Densmore
Tracked
Actor Alfred King
While There is hope, There is Life
Actor Tom Mooreland
Second Sight
Actor Hugh Norton
The Call of the Song
Actor Dental Patient
The Fair Dentist
Actor Louis Perry - a Reformed Crook
The Better Way
Actor Gerald Kinney
The Rose's Story
Actor Wayne Holland
Over the Hills
Actor Edward, the Duke's Nephew
At the Duke's Command
Scenario Writer
The Rose's Story
1910
Actor
The Call of the Circus
Actor
Debt
Actor The Stranger
Jane and the Stranger
Actor Percy
The Count of Montebello
Actor Clark, the Best Friend
A Game for Two
Actor
His Second Wife
Actor
The Irony of Fate
Actor The Dashing Young Count
The Eternal Triangle
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The Blind Man’s Tact
Actor George Rand
Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens
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The Taming of Jane
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The Maelstrom
Actor
The Miser’s Daughter
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Old Heads and Young Hearts
Actor
The Right of Love
Actor
Once Upon a Time
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Pressed Roses
Actor Jack
A Reno Romance
Actor Jacques
The New Shawl
Actor The Tenderfoot
Two Men
Actor
The Winning Punch
Actor
Transfusion
Actor
The Doctor's Perfidy
Actor
All the World’s a Stage