King Baggot
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Film
The Philadelphia Story
Wedding Guest (uncredited)
1940
Film
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
1946
Film
A Night at the Opera
Dignitary (uncredited)
1935
Film
Ziegfeld Girl
Man in Audience (uncredited)
1941
Film
Honky Tonk
Townsman (uncredited)
1941
Film
San Francisco
Earthquake Survivor (uncredited)
1936
Film
Boys Town
Derelict in Mission (uncredited)
1938
Film
The Bad Sister
Policeman on Street (uncredited)
1931
Film
Rio Rita
Hotel Guest (uncredited)
1942
Film
The Big Store
Store Employee (uncredited)
1941
Film
Swing Fever
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
1943
Film
Marie Antoinette
Nobleman at Court (uncredited)
1938
Film
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Customs Official (uncredited)
1937
Film
Parnell
Man in Office
1937
Film
The Secret Heart
Man at Graduation Ceremony
1946
Film
The Shadow of Lightning Ridge
1920
Film
Cheating Cheaters
Official (uncredited)
1934
Film
The Devil-Doll
Detective Pierre (uncredited)
1936
Film
What Price Hollywood?
Department Head (uncredited)
1932
Film
Too Hot to Handle
Reporter (uncredited)
1938
Film
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
Barbershop Patron (uncredited)
1945
Film
Sweepstakes
Mike - Weber's Trainer
1931
Film
The Death Kiss
Al Payne
1932
Film
Come Live with Me
Doorman
1941
Sweepstake Annie
Motion Picture Studio Executive (uncredited)
1935
Over the Hills
Wayne Holland
1911
Film
Absinthe
Jean Dumas
1914
Film
Fingers at the Window
Psychiatrist at Lecture (uncredited)
1942
Film
3 Kids and a Queen
Druggist
1935
Science
Dr. Crawford
1911
Film
Romance in the Rain
Milton McGillicuddy
1934
Film
Beloved
Second Doctor
1934
Film
The Thrill Chaser
Himself - Cameo
1923
Film
Gallant Sons
Man on Street / Man in Audience (uncredited)
1940
Film
That Mothers Might Live
Passerby (uncredited)
1938
Film
Mississippi
Gambler (uncredited)
1935
Film
The Ghost Comes Home
Townsman at Banquet (uncredited)
1940
Film
Her Cardboard Lover
Police Officer in Courtroom (uncredited)
1942
Film
Opening Day
Baseball Fan
1938
Film
I Take This Woman
Man in Subway (uncredited)
1940
Film
It May Happen to You
Man in Hospital (uncredited)
1937
Film
Graft
Ship's Captain
1931
Film
Jackass Mail
Old Miner
1942
Film
The Red Rider
Townsman
1934
Film
Half a Rogue
Richard Warrington
1916
Film
The Ice Follies of 1939
Man in Audience (uncredited)
1939
Film
The Call of the Savage
Dr. Pierce
1935
Film
The Man Who Stayed at Home
Christopher Brent
1919
Film
Arsène Lupin Returns
Detective (uncredited)
1938
Film
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
Chemistry Professor
1936
Film
Merton of the Movies
Man in Audience (uncredited)
1947
Film
Bitter Sweet
Cafe Patron (uncredited)
1940
Film
The Suburban
Donald Gordon
1915
Film
Holiday in Mexico
1946
Film
Afraid to Talk
Police Officer (uncredited)
1932
Film
I Loved a Woman
Banker (uncredited)
1933
Film
For the Queen's Honor
The King
1911
Film
Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films
Himself (archive footage)
2011
Film
Sworn Enemy
Accident Witness (uncredited)
1936
The Wanderer
The Shepherd
1913
Film
Snow Gets in Your Eyes
Department Store Customer (uncredited)
1938
Film
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
1913
Film
Dangerous Partners
Lunch Room Customer (uncredited)
1945
Film
Stronger Than Desire
Juror (uncredited)
1939
Film
The Big Flash
Hinkle
1932
Film
Dancing Co-Ed
Man in Casting Office (uncredited)
1939
Film
Torture Money
False Accident Witness (uncredited)
1937
Film
A Night at the Movies
Movie Patron (uncredited)
1937
Film
The Czar of Broadway
1930
Film
The Butterfly Girl
H.H. Van Horn
1921
Film
Think It Over
1938
Building for Democracy
The Husband
1918
Film
Father Brown, Detective
Priest (uncredited)
1934
Film
Kildare of Storm
Basil Kildare
1918
Film
Up Against It
Amos Bentley
1912
Film
Chinatown Squad
Patrol Wagon Guard
1935
Film
Mad Holiday
Film Director (uncredited)
1936
Film
My Brother Talks to Horses
Bank Employee (uncredited)
1947
Film
A Cave Man Wooing
George - the 'Sissy' Hero
1912
The Silent Stranger
The Silent Stranger
1916
Film
Ivanhoe
Wilfred of Ivanhoe
1913
Film
The Scarlet Letter
Reverend Dimmesdale
1911
Film
A Notorious Gentleman
Police Sergeant
1935
Film
The Forbidden Thing
Dave
1920
Film
Police Court
Harry Field
1932
Film
Girl of the Rio
Maitre d'hotel, Purple Pigeon Cafe
1932
Film
The Eagle's Eye
Harrison Grant
1918
His Second Wife
1910
The Great Universal Mystery
Himself
1914
Film
Stablemates
Bettor
1938
The Rosary
1910
Shamus O'Brien
Shamus O'Brien
1912
Film
Love's Stratagem
The Boy
1909
The Doctor's Perfidy
1910
Mother Love
1910
Film
In the Sultan's Garden
Lt. Robbins
1911
Film
Sweet Memories
Edward Jackson
1911
The Marble Heart
Raphael / Phidias
1915
Justice in the Far North
King
1910
Two Men
The Tenderfoot
1910
The Fair Dentist
Dental Patient
1911
The Governor’s Pardon
The Man
1910
A Game of Deception
1911
Pressed Roses
1910
Film
The Hawk's Trail
Sheldon Steele/The Hawk
1919
Old Heads and Young Hearts
1910
Second Sight
Tom Mooreland
1911
Film
The Dwelling Place of Light
Brooks Insall
1920
The Taming of Jane
1910
Film
The Better Way
Louis Perry - a Reformed Crook
1911
Film
The Mirror
1911
The Winning Punch
1910
The Irony of Fate
1910
Film
Life's Twist
Jim Sargent
1920
The Time-Lock Safe
The Father
1910
A Game for Two
Clark, the Best Friend
1910
Mission of the War Chest
Self
1918
Transfusion
1910
The Maelstrom
1910
Film
The Man from Nowhere
James Herron
1916
Film
The Girl in the Taxi
Maj. Frederick Smith
1921
The Count of Montebello
Percy
1910
At a Quarter of Two
Dan Nolan - the Burglar
1911
The Right of Love
1910
The New Shawl
Jacques
1910
Film
The Cheater
Lord Asgarby
1920
Once a Gentleman
Van Warner
1930
The Call of the Song
Hugh Norton
1911
Film
The Rose's Story
Gerald Kinney
1911
The Stage Note
1910
The Tide of Fortune
1910
A Reno Romance
Jack
1910
While There is hope, There is Life
Alfred King
1911
The Secret of the Palm
Cecil Abbott
1911
Debt
1910
The Wife’s Awakening
Enoch Harrington
1911
Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens
George Rand
1910
The Master and the Man
Basil King
1911
Tracked
Roger Densmore
1911
Film
The Temptress
Gilbert Irving
1911
The Blind Man’s Tact
1910
The Eternal Triangle
The Dashing Young Count
1910
The Awakening of Bess
Bess' Sweetheart
1909
All the World’s a Stage
1910
Once Upon a Time
1910
At the Duke's Command
Edward, the Duke's Nephew
1911
The Broken Oath
1910
The Call of the Circus
1910
The Miser’s Daughter
1910
Pictureland
Pablo
1911
Jane and the Stranger
The Stranger
1910