King Baggot
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1879-11-06
Day of Death
1948-07-11 (68 years old)
Place of Birth
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
King Baggot
Biography
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.
Known For
Acting
(2011)
Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films
as Himself (archive footage)
(1947)
Merton of the Movies
as Man in Audience (uncredited)
(1947)
My Brother Talks to Horses
as Bank Employee (uncredited)
(1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
(1946)
The Secret Heart
as Man at Graduation Ceremony
(1945)
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
as Barbershop Patron (uncredited)
(1945)
Dangerous Partners
as Lunch Room Customer (uncredited)
(1943)
Swing Fever
as Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
(1942)
Rio Rita
as Hotel Guest (uncredited)
(1942)
Her Cardboard Lover
as Police Officer in Courtroom (uncredited)
(1942)
Fingers at the Window
as Psychiatrist at Lecture (uncredited)
(1942)
Jackass Mail
as Old Miner
(1941)
Ziegfeld Girl
as Man in Audience (uncredited)
(1941)
The Big Store
as Store Employee (uncredited)
(1941)
Honky Tonk
as Townsman
(1941)
Come Live with Me
as Doorman
(1940)
The Philadelphia Story
as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
(1940)
Gallant Sons
as Man on Street / Man in Audience (uncredited)
(1940)
Bitter Sweet
as Cafe Patron (uncredited)
(1940)
The Ghost Comes Home
as Townsman at Banquet (uncredited)
(1940)
I Take This Woman
as Man in Subway (uncredited)
(1939)
The Ice Follies of 1939
as Man in Audience (uncredited)
(1939)
Dancing Co-Ed
as Man in Casting Office (uncredited)
(1939)
Stronger Than Desire
as Juror (uncredited)
(1938)
Boys Town
as Derelict in Mission (uncredited)
(1938)
Marie Antoinette
as Nobleman at Court (uncredited)
(1938)
Arsène Lupin Returns
as Detective (uncredited)
(1938)
That Mothers Might Live
as Passerby (uncredited)
(1938)
Stablemates
as Bettor
(1938)
Snow Gets in Your Eyes
as Department Store Customer (uncredited)
(1938)
Opening Day
as Baseball Fan
(1938)
(1937)
A Night at the Movies
as Movie Patron (uncredited)
(1937)
Parnell
as Man in Office
(1937)
The Emperor's Candlesticks
as Customs Official (uncredited)
(1937)
Torture Money
as False Accident Witness (uncredited)
(1937)
It May Happen to You
as Man in Hospital (uncredited)
(1936)
San Francisco
as Earthquake Survivor (uncredited)
(1936)
The Devil-Doll
as Detective Pierre (uncredited)
(1936)
Sworn Enemy
as Accident Witness (uncredited)
(1936)
Mad Holiday
as Film Director (uncredited)
(1936)
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
as Chemistry Professor
(1935)
A Night at the Opera
as Dignitary (uncredited)
(1935)
3 Kids and a Queen
as Druggist
(1935)
Mississippi
as Gambler (uncredited)
(1935)
Chinatown Squad
as Patrol Wagon Guard
(1935)
Sweepstake Annie
as Motion Picture Studio Executive (uncredited)
(1935)
(1935)
The Call of the Savage
as Dr. Pierce
(1934)
The Red Rider
as Townsman
(1934)
Romance in the Rain
as Milton McGillicuddy
(1934)
Beloved
as Second Doctor
(1933)
I Loved a Woman
as Banker (uncredited)
(1932)
What Price Hollywood?
as Department Head (uncredited)
(1932)
Afraid to Talk
as Police Officer (uncredited)
(1932)
The Death Kiss
as Al Payne
(1932)
Police Court
as Harry Field
(1932)
Girl of the Rio
as Maitre d'hotel, Purple Pigeon Cafe
(1932)
The Big Flash
as Hinkle
(1931)
Graft
as Ship's Captain
(1931)
The Bad Sister
as Policeman on Street (uncredited)
(1931)
Sweepstakes
as Mike - Weber's Trainer
(1930)
(1930)
Once a Gentleman
as Van Warner
(1923)
The Thrill Chaser
as Himself - Cameo
(1921)
The Girl in the Taxi
as Maj. Frederick Smith
(1920)
The Cheater
as Lord Asgarby
(1920)
The Forbidden Thing
as Dave
(1920)
Life's Twist
as Jim Sargent
(1919)
(1918)
Kildare of Storm
as Basil Kildare
(1918)
The Eagle's Eye
as Harrison Grant
(1918)
Building for Democracy
as The Husband
(1918)
(1916)
The Man from Nowhere
as James Herron
(1916)
(1916)
The Silent Stranger
as The Silent Stranger
(1915)
The Suburban
as Donald Gordon
(1915)
The Marble Heart
as Raphael / Phidias
(1914)
Absinthe
as Jean Dumas
(1914)
The Great Universal Mystery
as Himself
(1913)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
(1913)
Ivanhoe
as Wilfred of Ivanhoe
(1913)
The Wanderer
as The Shepherd
(1912)
A Cave Man Wooing
as George - the 'Sissy' Hero
(1912)
Shamus O'Brien
as Shamus O'Brien
(1912)
Up Against It
as Amos Bentley
(1911)
(1911)
The Fair Dentist
as Dental Patient
(1911)
Over the Hills
as Wayne Holland
(1911)
The Call of the Song
as Hugh Norton
(1911)
The Scarlet Letter
as Reverend Dimmesdale
(1911)
The Temptress
as Gilbert Irving
(1911)
Second Sight
as Tom Mooreland
(1911)
Science
as Dr. Crawford
(1911)
Tracked
as Roger Densmore
(1911)
For the Queen's Honor
as The King
(1911)
The Rose's Story
as Gerald Kinney
(1911)
The Master and the Man
as Basil King
(1911)
Sweet Memories
as Edward Jackson
(1911)
At a Quarter of Two
as Dan Nolan - the Burglar
(1911)
The Better Way
as Louis Perry - a Reformed Crook
(1911)
In the Sultan's Garden
as Lt. Robbins
(1911)
At the Duke's Command
as Edward, the Duke's Nephew
(1911)
The Secret of the Palm
as Cecil Abbott
(1911)
While There is hope, There is Life
as Alfred King
(1911)
The Wife’s Awakening
as Enoch Harrington
(1911)
Pictureland
as Pablo
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
Jane and the Stranger
as The Stranger
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
A Reno Romance
as Jack
(1910)
The Time-Lock Safe
as The Father
(1910)
(1910)
The Count of Montebello
as Percy
(1910)
A Game for Two
as Clark, the Best Friend
(1910)
(1910)
Two Men
as The Tenderfoot
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
The Eternal Triangle
as The Dashing Young Count
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens
as George Rand
(1910)
(1910)
The New Shawl
as Jacques
(1910)
(1910)
(1909)
The Awakening of Bess
as Bess' Sweetheart
(1909)
Love's Stratagem
as The Boy
Crew
(1981)
Beatlemania
Director of Photography
(1931)
Sporting Chance
Story
(1928)
Romance of a Rogue
Director
(1927)
The Notorious Lady
Director
(1927)
Perch of the Devil
Director
(1926)
Lovey Mary
Director
(1925)
Tumbleweeds
Director
(1925)
Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman
Director
(1925)
The Home Maker
Director
(1925)
The Tornado
Director
(1924)
The Whispered Name
Director
(1923)
The Darling of New York
Director, Story
(1923)
The Love Letter
Director
(1923)
Gossip
Director
(1922)
The Kentucky Derby
Director
(1922)
Human Hearts
Director
(1922)
A Dangerous Game
Director
(1922)
The Lavender Bath Lady
Director
(1922)
Kissed
Director
(1921)
Moonlight Follies
Director
(1921)
Cheated Love
Director
(1921)
Nobody's Fool
Director
(1916)
The Silent Stranger
Director
(1911)
The Rose's Story
Scenario Writer