William Farnum
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1876-07-03
Day of Death
1953-06-05 (76 years old)
Place of Birth
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
William Farnum
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Farnum (July 4, 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts – June 5, 1953 in Hollywood, California) was a major movie actor. One of three brothers, Farnum grew up in a family of actors. He made his acting debut at the age of ten in Richmond, Virginia in a production of Julius Caesar, with Edwin Booth playing the title character. His first major success was as the title character of Ben-Hur in 1900 though replacing the original actor Edward Morgan who premiered the character in 1899. Later plays Farnum appeared in were the costume epic The Prince of India (1906), The White Sister (1909) starring Viola Allen, The Littlest Rebel (1911) co-starring his brother Dustin and a child actress named Mary Miles Minter(then nine years old) & Arizona (1913) with Dustin and stage beauty Elsie Ferguson.
In The Spoilers in 1914, Farnum and Tom Santschi staged a classic movie fight which lasted for a full reel. In 1930, Farnum and Stantschi coached Gary Cooper and William Boyd in the fight scene for the 1930 version of The Spoilers. Other actors influenced by the Farnum scene were Milton Sills and Noah Beery in 1922 and Randolph Scott and John Wayne in 1942.
From 1915 to 1925, Farnum devoted his life to motion pictures. When becoming one of the biggest sensations in Hollywood, he also became one of the highest-paid actors, earning $10,000 a week. Farnum's silent pictures the western Drag Harlan(1920) and the drama-adventure If I Were King(1921) survive from his years contracted to Fox Films.
Farnum has a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was the younger brother of actor Dustin Farnum. He had another brother, Marshall Farnum, who was a silent film director and died in 1917.
Description above from the Wikipedia article William Farnum, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acting
(1952)
Lone Star
as Tom Crockett
(1952)
Jack and the Beanstalk
as The King
(1951)
Hollywood Story
as Himself
(1950)
Trail of Robin Hood
as Bill Franum
(1949)
Samson and Delilah
as Tubal
(1949)
Daughter of the West
as Father Vallejo
(1949)
Bride of Vengeance
as Conti Peruzzi
(1949)
Gun Cargo
as Board of Inquiry Chairman
(1947)
The Perils of Pauline
as Western Saloon Set Hero
(1946)
Rolling Home
as Rodeo Official
(1946)
My Dog Shep
as Carter J. Latham Jr.
(1946)
God's Country
as Sandy McTavish
(1945)
Captain Kidd
as Capt. Rawson
(1945)
Wildfire
as Judge Polson
(1944)
The Mummy's Curse
as The Sacristan
(1943)
Frontier Badmen
as Dad Courtwright
(1942)
The Spoilers
as Wheaton
(1942)
American Empire
as Louisiana Judge
(1942)
Tennessee Johnson
as Senator Huyler
(1942)
Men of Texas
as General Sam Houston
(1942)
The Silver Bullet
as Dr. Thad Morgan
(1942)
Lone Star Ranger
as Texas Ranger Major McNeil
(1942)
Today I Hang
as Warden Burke
(1942)
Deep in the Heart of Texas
as Colonel Mallory
(1942)
Boss of Hangtown Mesa
as Judge Ezra Binns
(1941)
A Woman's Face
as Court Attendant
(1941)
The Corsican Brothers
as Priest
(1941)
Last of the Duanes
as Texas Ranger Major McNeill
(1941)
(1941)
Gangs of Sonora
as Ward Beecham
(1940)
Kit Carson
as Don Miguel Murphy
(1940)
Adventures of Red Ryder
as Colonel Tom Ryder
(1940)
Convicted Woman
as Commissioner McNeill
(1940)
Hi-Yo Silver
as Father McKim
(1939)
Rovin' Tumbleweeds
as Senator Timothy Nolan
(1939)
Colorado Sunset
as Sheriff George Glenn
(1939)
Mexicali Rose
as Padre Dominic
(1939)
South of the Border
as Padre
(1938)
If I Were King
as General Barbezier
(1938)
Santa Fe Stampede
as Dave Carson
(1938)
The Lone Ranger
as Father McKim
(1938)
The Secret of Treasure Island
as George Brennan Westmore (Editor)
(1938)
Shine On Harvest Moon
as Milt Brower
(1937)
Maid of Salem
as Crown Justice Sewall
(1937)
Git Along Little Dogies
as Banker Maxwell
(1937)
Public Cowboy No. 1
as Sheriff Matt Doniphon
(1936)
Sharad of Atlantis
as Sharad
(1936)
Custer's Last Stand
as James Fitzpatrick
(1936)
Custer's Last Stand
as James Fitzpatrick
(1936)
The Kid Ranger
as Bill Mason
(1936)
The Vigilantes Are Coming
as Father José
(1936)
The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand
as Gordon Gaunt
(1935)
The Crusades
as Hugo, Duke of Burgundy
(1935)
Powdersmoke Range
as Sam Oreham - Banker
(1935)
The Eagle's Brood
as El Toro
(1935)
Between Men
as John Wellington / Rand
(1935)
Million Dollar Haul
as Mr. Mallory - Sheila's Dad
(1935)
The Irish Gringo
as Pop Wiley
(1935)
Hollywood Extra Girl
as Crusades Actor (uncredited)
(1934)
Cleopatra
as Lepidus
(1934)
The Silver Streak
as B.J. Dexter
(1934)
The Scarlet Letter
as Gov. Bellingham
(1934)
School for Girls
as Charles Waltham
(1934)
The Brand of Hate
as Joe Larkins
(1934)
Happy Landing
as Col. Curtis
(1934)
Good Dame
as Judge Flynn
(1934)
Are We Civilized?
as Paul Franklin, Sr.
(1933)
Supernatural
as Nicky Hammond
(1933)
Reckless Decision
as Rev. John MacDougall
(1933)
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles
as Squire Beamish
(1932)
The Drifter
as The Drifter
(1932)
Mr. Robinson Crusoe
as William Belmont
(1932)
Flaming Guns
as Henry Ramsey
(1931)
The Painted Desert
as Cash Holbrook
(1931)
Ten Nights in a Bar-room
as Joe Morgan
(1931)
A Connecticut Yankee
as King Arthur / Inventor
(1931)
Law of the Sea
as Captain Len Andrews
(1931)
The Pagan Lady
as Malcolm 'Mal' Todd
(1931)
The Wide Open Spaces
as U.S. Marshal
(1930)
Du Barry, Woman of Passion
as Louis XV
(1928)
(1924)
The Man Who Fights Alone
as John Marble
(1923)
The Gunfighter
as Billy Buell
(1923)
Brass Commandments
as Stephen 'Flash' Lanning
(1922)
Shackles of Gold
as John Gibbs
(1922)
A Stage Romance
as Edmund Kean
(1922)
Without Compromise
as Dick Leighton
(1922)
Moonshine Valley
as Ned Connors
(1921)
His Greatest Sacrifice
as Richard Hall
(1921)
Perjury
as Robert Moore
(1920)
If I Were King
as François Villon
(1920)
Drag Harlan
as Drag Harlan
(1919)
The Last of the Duanes
as Buck Duane
(1919)
The Lone Star Ranger
as Steele
(1918)
The Rainbow Trail
as Lassiter / Shefford
(1918)
Riders of the Purple Sage
as Lassiter
(1918)
True Blue
as Bob McKeever
(1918)
Rough and Ready
as Bill Stratton
(1917)
A Tale of Two Cities
as Charles Darnay / Sydney Carton
(1917)
Les Misérables
as Jean Valjean
(1917)
The Conqueror
as Sam Houston
(1917)
When a Man Sees Red
as Larry Smith
(1917)
(1917)
The Heart of a Lion
as Barney Kemper
(1916)
The Bondman
as Stephen Orry/Jason Orry
(1916)
Fires of Conscience
as George Baxter
(1915)
Samson
as Maurice Brachard
(1915)
The Wonderful Adventure
as Martin Stanley
(1914)
The Spoilers
as Roy Glenister
(1914)
The Sign of the Cross
as Marcus Superbus