- Hart, William S.
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born Dec. 6, 1870, Newburgh, N.Y., U.S.died June 23, 1946, Newhall, Calif.U.S. stage and film actor.He made his stage debut in 1889 and portrayed a series of western heroes in the plays The Squaw Man (1905), The Virginian (1907), and The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1912). In 1914 he went to Hollywood, where his stern, taciturn performances made him a star and the first cowboy hero. Among his numerous films, many of which he wrote and directed, were The Passing of Two-Gun Hicks (1914–15), The Square-Deal Man (1917), Wild Bill Hickok (1923), and A Lighter of Flames (1923).
William S. Hart in The Gun Fighter, 1916–17.Museum of Modern ArtFilm Stills Archive* * *
▪ American actorin full William Surrey Hartborn Dec. 6, 1870, Newburgh, N.Y., U.S.died June 23, 1946, Newhall, Calif.American stage and silent motion-picture actor, who was the leading hero of the early westerns.Hart was brought up in the Dakotas, where he lived until he was 16. He made his first appearance on the stage in 1889 and soon made a name for himself, especially for his performances in Shakespearean plays. In 1905 his role in the play The Squaw Man made him a western hero. After acting in the stage productions of The Virginian (1907) and The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1912/14), he went to Hollywood, where his portrayals of stern, taciturn Westerners became enormously successful. He directed and starred in a number of films for Thomas H. Ince (Ince, Thomas H)'s movie company, creating harshly realistic films of frontier life that were popular throughout the world. Among his pictures were Hell's Hinges (1916), The Dawn Maker (1916), Truthful Tulliver (1916), and The Square Deal Man (1917). Hart also wrote and produced many of his movies.Hart's later films include Wild Bill Hickok (1923), Singer Jim McKee (1924), and Tumbleweeds (1925). He also penned several volumes of fiction, including A Lighter of Flames (1923) and Hoofbeats (1933), and an autobiography, My Life East and West (1929).* * *
Universalium. 2010.
