Charles Weston

Biography

A late-spring Jacksonville morning—24 May 1886—brought Charles Weston into the world, and from that Florida sunlight he sprinted straight toward the flickering dawn of American cinema. Within a handful of years he was marshalling actors and cameras, first as producer, then director, turning out one-reel sensations like *For King and Country* and *The Seventh Day*, both rushed into theaters in 1914, followed swiftly by the nerve-jangler *The Hand at the Window* in 1915. Off-set, he claimed the heart of actress Alice Inwood, and the pair forged a partnership that lasted until death cut the reel short. Weston’s final fade-out came 15 August 1919, on a New York City night that dimmed the lights of Broadway for one of its earliest behind-the-scenes visionaries.