Cast

King Baggot

Acting

Cast

King Baggot

Known for

Acting

Born

1879-11-06

From

Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Died

1948-07-11

Also known as William King Baggot, King Baggott

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.

King Baggot

King Baggot

Biography

The Philadelphia Story

Boys Town

The Bad Sister

A Night at the Opera

Ziegfeld Girl

The Shadow of Lightning Ridge

Swing Fever

Rio Rita

The Emperor's Candlesticks

Parnell

The Postman Always Rings Twice

Marie Antoinette

Sweepstakes

Cheating Cheaters

Opening Day

Honky Tonk

Over the Hills

It May Happen to You

Come Live with Me

San Francisco

Science

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Big Flash

Fingers at the Window

Absinthe

The Devil-Doll

I Loved a Woman

Sweepstake Annie

What Price Hollywood?

Arsène Lupin Returns

Too Hot to Handle

The Big Store

The Man Who Stayed at Home

The Ghost Comes Home

Mississippi

Her Cardboard Lover

The Secret Heart

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood

Up Against It

The Silent Stranger

Kildare of Storm

His Second Wife

Bitter Sweet

Building for Democracy

Torture Money

For the Queen's Honor

Gallant Sons

Dancing Co-Ed

Chinatown Squad

The Red Rider

The Suburban

The Forbidden Thing

Graft

Half a Rogue

Old Heads and Young Hearts

The Ice Follies of 1939

I Take This Woman

The Call of the Savage

Sworn Enemy

Dangerous Partners

The Death Kiss

Love's Stratagem

Jackass Mail

Merton of the Movies

Afraid to Talk

The Adventures of Frank Merriwell

3 Kids and a Queen

Father Brown, Detective

The Doctor's Perfidy

Think It Over

The Scarlet Letter

The Butterfly Girl

That Mothers Might Live

The Thrill Chaser

Stablemates

A Cave Man Wooing

Romance in the Rain