Irvin Willat
cinematographer, director, writer
- Born:
- 1890-11-18, Stamford, Connecticut, USA
- Died:
- 1976-04-17, Santa Monica, California, USA
- Professions:
- cinematographer, director, writer
Biography
Born 18 November 1890 in Stamford, Connecticut, Irvin Willat traded New England quiet for the flicker of silent-film sets and soon commanded the lens on adventures that sent audiences scrambling for deck chairs: the maritime cliff-hanger On the High Seas (1922), Houdini’s death-defying The Grim Game (1919), and the ghost-ship epic The Isle of Lost Ships (1929). Off-set he claimed the heart of star Billie Dove, marrying the woman whose name already sounded like a headline. After three decades of steering stories through tempests and train tracks, he dropped anchor for good in Santa Monica, California, on 17 April 1976.
