From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Farnum (July 4, 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts – June 5, 1953 in Hollywood, California) was a major movie actor. One of three brothers, Farnum grew up in a family of actors. He made his acting debut at the age of ten in Richmond, Virginia in a production of Julius Caesar, with Edwin Booth playing the title character. His first major success was as the title character of Ben-Hur in 1900 though replacing the original actor Edward Morgan who premiered the character in 1899. Later plays Farnum appeared in were the costume epic The Prince of India (1906), The White Sister (1909) starring Viola Allen, The Littlest Rebel (1911) co-starring his brother Dustin and a child actress named Mary Miles Minter(then nine years old) & Arizona (1913) with Dustin and stage beauty Elsie Ferguson. In The Spoilers in 1914, Farnum and Tom Santschi staged a classic movie fight which lasted for a full reel. In 1930, Farnum and Stantschi coached Gary Cooper and William Boyd in the fight scene for the 1930 version of The Spoilers. Other actors influenced by the Farnum scene were Milton Sills and Noah Beery in 1922 and Randolph Scott and John Wayne in 1942. From 1915 to 1925, Farnum devoted his life to motion pictures. When becoming one of the biggest sensations in Hollywood, he also became one of the highest-paid actors, earning $10,000 a week. Farnum's silent pictures the western Drag Harlan(1920) and the drama-adventure If I Were King(1921) survive from his years contracted to Fox Films. Farnum has a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was the younger brother of actor Dustin Farnum. He had another brother, Marshall Farnum, who was a silent film director and died in 1917. Description above from the Wikipedia article William Farnum, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movie | Jack and the Beanstalk | The King | 1952-04-07 |
Movie | Lone Star | Tom Crockett | 1952-10-24 |
Movie | Hollywood Story | Himself | 1951-06-01 |
Movie | Trail of Robin Hood | Bill Franum | 1950-12-15 |
Movie | Daughter of the West | Father Vallejo | 1949-02-15 |
Movie | Bride of Vengeance | Conti Peruzzi | 1949-04-07 |
Movie | Samson and Delilah | Tubal | 1949-12-21 |
Movie | Gun Cargo | Board of Inquiry Chairman | 1949-10-05 |
Movie | The Perils of Pauline | Western Saloon Set Hero | 1947-07-04 |
Movie | God's Country | Sandy McTavish | 1946-03-15 |
Movie | My Dog Shep | Carter J. Latham Jr. | 1946-11-01 |
Movie | Rolling Home | Rodeo Official | 1946-11-01 |
Movie | Wildfire | Judge Polson | 1945-07-18 |
Movie | Captain Kidd | Capt. Rawson | 1945-11-22 |
Movie | The Mummy's Curse | The Sacristan | 1944-12-22 |
Movie | Frontier Badmen | Dad Courtwright | 1943-08-05 |
Movie | Men of Texas | General Sam Houston | 1942-07-03 |
Movie | The Spoilers | Wheaton | 1942-06-11 |
Movie | Today I Hang | Warden Burke | 1942-01-09 |
Movie | The Silver Bullet | Dr. Thad Morgan | 1942-08-05 |
Movie | Lone Star Ranger | Texas Ranger Major McNeil | 1942-03-20 |
Movie | Boss of Hangtown Mesa | Judge Ezra Binns | 1942-08-21 |
Movie | Tennessee Johnson | Senator Huyler | 1942-12-01 |
Movie | American Empire | Louisiana Judge | 1942-12-11 |
Movie | Deep in the Heart of Texas | Colonel Mallory | 1942-09-25 |
Movie | A Woman's Face | Court Attendant | 1941-05-09 |
Movie | Gangs of Sonora | Ward Beecham | 1941-07-10 |
Movie | Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2 | 1941-12-05 | |
Movie | The Corsican Brothers | Priest | 1941-11-28 |
Movie | Convicted Woman | Commissioner McNeill | 1940-01-31 |
Movie | Hi-Yo Silver | Father McKim | 1940-04-10 |
Movie | Adventures of Red Ryder | Colonel Tom Ryder | 1940-06-28 |
Movie | Kit Carson | Don Miguel Murphy | 1940-08-30 |
Movie | Mexicali Rose | Padre Dominic | 1939-03-26 |
Movie | Colorado Sunset | Sheriff George Glenn | 1939-07-30 |
Movie | Rovin' Tumbleweeds | Senator Timothy Nolan | 1939-11-16 |
Movie | South of the Border | Padre | 1939-12-15 |
Movie | The Secret of Treasure Island | George Brennan Westmore (Editor) | 1938-03-17 |
Movie | If I Were King | General Barbezier | 1938-09-28 |
Movie | The Lone Ranger | Father McKim | 1938-02-13 |
Movie | Santa Fe Stampede | Dave Carson | 1938-11-18 |
Movie | Shine On Harvest Moon | Milt Brower | 1938-12-30 |
Movie | Maid of Salem | Crown Justice Sewall | 1937-02-12 |
Movie | Git Along Little Dogies | Banker Maxwell | 1937-03-27 |
Movie | Public Cowboy No. 1 | Sheriff Matt Doniphon | 1937-06-11 |
Movie | Custer's Last Stand | James Fitzpatrick | 1936-04-02 |
Movie | Custer's Last Stand | James Fitzpatrick | 1936-01-02 |
Movie | The Kid Ranger | Bill Mason | 1936-02-05 |
Movie | The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand | Gordon Gaunt | 1936-04-17 |
Movie | The Vigilantes Are Coming | Father José | 1936-08-21 |
Movie | Sharad of Atlantis | Sharad | 1936-05-30 |
Movie | The Crusades | Hugo, Duke of Burgundy | 1935-08-21 |
Movie | Million Dollar Haul | Mr. Mallory - Sheila's Dad | 1935-04-02 |
Movie | Hollywood Extra Girl | Crusades Actor (uncredited) | 1935-08-22 |
Movie | Powdersmoke Range | Sam Oreham - Banker | 1935-09-27 |
Movie | The Irish Gringo | Pop Wiley | 1935-12-01 |
Movie | Between Men | John Wellington / Rand | 1935-10-29 |
Movie | The Eagle's Brood | El Toro | 1935-10-25 |
Movie | Are We Civilized? | Paul Franklin, Sr. | 1934-06-05 |
Movie | Good Dame | Judge Flynn | 1934-03-16 |
Movie | Happy Landing | Col. Curtis | 1934-09-01 |
Movie | Cleopatra | Lepidus | 1934-10-05 |
Movie | The Scarlet Letter | Gov. Bellingham | 1934-09-18 |
Movie | The Brand of Hate | Joe Larkins | 1934-11-02 |
Movie | The Silver Streak | B.J. Dexter | 1934-12-21 |
Movie | Supernatural | Nicky Hammond | 1933-04-21 |
Movie | Reckless Decision | Rev. John MacDougall | 1933-01-01 |
Movie | Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles | Squire Beamish | 1933-07-13 |
Movie | The Drifter | The Drifter | 1932-01-10 |
Movie | Mr. Robinson Crusoe | William Belmont | 1932-08-19 |
Movie | Flaming Guns | Henry Ramsey | 1932-12-22 |
Movie | The Painted Desert | Cash Holbrook | 1931-01-18 |
Movie | Ten Nights in a Bar-room | Joe Morgan | 1931-03-01 |
Movie | The Pagan Lady | Malcolm 'Mal' Todd | 1931-09-07 |
Movie | A Connecticut Yankee | King Arthur / Inventor | 1931-04-06 |
Movie | Du Barry, Woman of Passion | Louis XV | 1930-10-10 |
Movie | The Man Who Fights Alone | John Marble | 1924-09-15 |
Movie | Brass Commandments | Stephen 'Flash' Lanning | 1923-01-28 |
Movie | The Gunfighter | Billy Buell | 1923-09-02 |
Movie | His Greatest Sacrifice | Richard Hall | 1921-04-17 |
Movie | The Scuttlers | Jim Landers | 1920-12-12 |
Movie | If I Were King | François Villon | 1920-08-09 |
Movie | Drag Harlan | Drag Harlan | 1920-10-24 |
Movie | The Last of the Duanes | Buck Duane | 1919-09-14 |
Movie | Rough and Ready | Bill Stratton | 1918-03-24 |
Movie | True Blue | Bob McKeever | 1918-05-05 |
Movie | The Rainbow Trail | Lassiter / Shefford | 1918-10-27 |
Movie | Riders of the Purple Sage | Lassiter | 1918-09-01 |
Movie | A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Darnay / Sydney Carton | 1917-03-10 |
Movie | The Conqueror | Sam Houston | 1917-09-16 |
Movie | Les Misérables | Jean Valjean | 1917-12-03 |
Movie | When a Man Sees Red | Larry Smith | 1917-10-28 |
Movie | The Bondman | Stephen Orry/Jason Orry | 1916-03-20 |
Movie | The Spoilers | Roy Glenister | 1914-04-10 |
Movie | The Sign of the Cross | Marcus Superbus | 1914-12-21 |