James Cruze

actor, director, producer

Birth name:: Jens Vera Cruz Bosen
Born:: 1884-03-27, Ogden, Utah, USA
Died:: 1942-08-03, Los Angeles, California, USA
Professions:: actor, director, producer

Biography

Born in Utah to a Mormon family, with rumored Ute ancestry weaving through his lineage, James Cruze hauled nets in the state’s rivers to fund his acting studies. His career arc saw him helm an eclectic mix of cinema, from raucous Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle comedies to taut thrillers and lavish historical dramas, though many of his 1920s-1930s films now exist only as fragments or ghosts in film archives. His personal life mirrored his professional dynamism: he wed actress Betty Compson, a fellow Utah native, followed by Marguerite Snow, and later Alberta McCoy, whose unmarked resting place in Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s Columbarium remains a quiet footnote. Turbulence shadowed his work—storm clouds gathered in 1929 when a fatal on-set accident during production drew a grand jury probe, one of several legal brushes he faced. While the silver screen knew him as “Cruze,” he clung to his birth name, James Bosen, in private, a duality as layered as the films he crafted.