King Baggot

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.

Known For	Acting
Most Rating	5.649
Birthday	1879-11-06
Place of Birth	Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Also Known As	William King Baggot, King Baggott,

Come Live with Me

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Girl of the Rio

Sweet Memories

The Mirror

Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films

Sweepstakes

The Big Store

A Night at the Movies

Stronger Than Desire

Snow Gets in Your Eyes

Sworn Enemy

Dancing Co-Ed

That Mothers Might Live

The Call of the Savage

Arsène Lupin Returns

The Red Rider

The Adventures of Frank Merriwell

Merton of the Movies

I Take This Woman

Police Court

Ivanhoe

The Philadelphia Story

Gallant Sons

Bitter Sweet

The Bad Sister

A Cave Man Wooing

Up Against It

Graft

Afraid to Talk

Her Cardboard Lover

Chinatown Squad

Jackass Mail

Stablemates

Honky Tonk

Opening Day

What Price Hollywood?

The Secret of the Palm

Pictureland

Tracked

Second Sight

While There is hope, There is Life

The Fair Dentist

The Master and the Man

In the Sultan's Garden

For the Queen's Honor

Science

At a Quarter of Two

The Call of the Song

The Rose's Story

The Better Way

The Girl in the Taxi

The Death Kiss

Boys Town

The Thrill Chaser

Torture Money

The Eagle's Eye

The Czar of Broadway

Romance in the Rain

The Secret Heart

Absinthe

Fingers at the Window

3 Kids and a Queen

Rio Rita

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood

Over the Hills

Sweepstake Annie

At the Duke's Command

The Ice Follies of 1939

Marie Antoinette

San Francisco

Mad Holiday

Ziegfeld Girl

Swing Fever

The Awakening of Bess

Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens

The Blind Man’s Tact

The Doctor's Perfidy

Love's Stratagem

All the World’s a Stage