William S. Hart
Photoplayd Industry Rating
Not enough rated films yet to compute a weighted score.
Roles are weighted by involvement: director 1.0, screenwriter 0.7, lead 0.8, supporting 0.4, crew 0.1.
The first Western superstar, the taciturn Hart actually was a successful Shakespearean actor who played Messala in “Ben-Hur” on Broadway in 1899 before riding the range in movies. A longtime fan of the Old West, Hart was friends with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. His film career began in 1914. After two supporting roles he gained fame as the lead in the feature-length western “The Bargain” shot on location at the Grand Canyon. Hart strove to make his westerns realistic with detailed attention played to costumes and props. Though Hart could be cast as a villain, he imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity. After making western shorts for producer Thomas Ince, he went to Famous Players-Lasky, which merged with Paramount Pictures in 1917. At Paramount he made such gritty feature westerns as “Square Deal Sanderson” and “The Toll Gate.” His star began to fade in the early 1920s when audiences grew tired of his moralistic Western tales. Not helping his career was his 1923 divorce from his wife, Winifred, who accused him of having two children by another woman. He made one last film, 1925’s “Tumbleweeds, which he financed himself. In 1939, the film was reissued this time with a prologue featuring a 75-year-old Hart shot on location at his ranch in Newhall talking about the West and his days in films. He died in 1946 at age 81. His home and ranch were turned into William S. Hart Park in Newhall.
Known for
Credits
Show People (1928)
as Self (uncredited)
The House That Shadows Built (1931)
as (archive footage)
Shark Monroe (1918)
as Shark Monroe
It's Showtime (1976)
as Self (archive footage)
The Hollywood Gad-About (1934)
as Self (uncredited)
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino (1961)
as Self (archive footage)
Hello, 'Frisco (1924)
as William S. Hart
Riddle Gawne (1918)
as Jefferson 'Riddle' Gawne
Jim Cameron's Wife (1914)
as Andy Stiles
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 1 (1941)
as Self (uncredited)
The Return of Draw Egan (1916)
as 'Draw' Egan aka William Blake
Hollywood (1923)
as William S. Hart
Decasia: The State of Decay (2002)
as Self - Cowboy (archive footage)
The Devil's Double (1916)
as 'Bowie' Blake
Pinto Ben (1915)
as Boss Rider
Hell's Hinges (1916)
as Blaze Tracy
The Conversion of Frosty Blake (1915)
as Frosty Blake
On the Night Stage (1915)
as Texas
A Lion of the Hills (1918)
Actor
The Cradle of Courage (1920)
as 'Square' Kelly
O'Malley of the Mounted (1921)
as Sergeant O'Malley
The Square Deal Man (1917)
as Jack O'Diamonds
Wolves of the Rail (1918)
as 'Buck' Andrade
Knight of the Trail (1915)
as Jim Treen
In the Sage Brush Country (1914)
as Jim Brandon
The Poppy Girl's Husband (1919)
as Hairpin Harry Dutton
The Scourge of the Desert (1915)
as Bill Evers
Yesterday and Today (1953)
as (archive footage)
His Hour of Manhood (1914)
as Pete Larson
Bad Buck of Santa Ynez (1915)
as Bad Buck Peters
All-Star Production of Patriotic Episodes for the Second Liberty Loan (1917)
Actor
The Man from Nowhere (1915)
as "Buck" Farley
The Silent Man (1917)
as Budd Marr
The Apostle of Vengeance (1916)
as David Hudson
Selfish Yates (1918)
as 'Selfish' Yates
Breed of Men (1919)
as Careless Carmody
The Disciple (1915)
as Jim Houston
The Ruse (1915)
as 'Bat' Peters
Variety Time (1948)
as Texas Tex (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Sheriff's Streak of Yellow (1915)
as Sheriff Hale
Singer Jim Mckee (1924)
as 'Singer' Jim McKee
Ben Hur (1907)
as Messala
Cash Parrish's Pal (1915)
as Cash Parrish
Tumbleweeds (1925)
as Don Carver
The Great Chase (1962)
Actor
'Blue Blazes' Rawden (1918)
as Blue Blazes Rawden
The Aryan (1916)
as Steve Denton
The Taking of Luke McVane (1915)
as Luke McVane
Between Men (1916)
as Bob White
The Bargain (1914)
as Jim Stokes
Travelin' On (1922)
as J.B., The Stranger
Wild Bill Hickok (1923)
as Wild Bill Hickok
John Petticoats (1919)
as 'Hardwood' John Haynes
The Narrow Trail (1917)
as Ice Harding
Stars of Yesterday (1931)
as Self
Wagon Tracks (1919)
as Buckskin Hamilton
The Captive God (1916)
as Chiapa
The Desert Man (1917)
as Jim Alton
Three Word Brand (1921)
as Three Word Brand / Governor Marsden / Ben Trego
The Dawn Maker (1916)
as Joe Elk
The Toll Gate (1920)
as Black Deering
Square Deal Sanderson (1919)
as Square Deal Sanderson
Mr. 'Silent' Haskins (1915)
as Lon Haskins
The Whistle (1921)
as Robert Evans
The Border Wireless (1918)
as Steve Ransom
Sand (1920)
as Dan Kurrie
The Darkening Trail (1915)
as Yukon Ed
Wolf Lowry (1917)
as Tom 'Wolf' Lowry
The Tiger Man (1918)
as Hawk Parsons
The Primal Lure (1916)
as Angus McConnell
The Testing Block (1920)
as 'Sierra' Bill
The Grudge (1915)
as Rio Ed
White Oak (1921)
as Oak Miller, a gambling man
The Cold Deck (1917)
as Jefferson "On the Level" Leigh
Keno Bates, Liar (1915)
as Keno Bates
The Patriot (1916)
as Bob Wiley
Tools of Providence (1915)
as Steve Blake
Staking His Life (1918)
as Bud Randall
The Roughneck (1915)
as Dave Page
Branding Broadway (1918)
as Robert Sands
The Gun Fighter (1917)
as Cliff Hudspeth
The Money Corral (1919)
as Lem Beason
Two-Gun Hicks (1914)
as Two-Gun Hicks
Truthful Tulliver (1917)
as Truthful Tulliver
Grit (1915)
as Rio Ed