King Baggot
actor, director, writer
- Birth name:
- William King Baggot
- Born:
- 1879-11-07, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Died:
- 1948-07-11, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Professions:
- actor, director, writer
Biography
King Baggot left St. Louis with Broadway in his sights, only to detour across the Hudson to Fort Lee, New Jersey, where the brand-new movie business lured him in front of a camera in 1909. By 1914 he was juggling hats: for Shadows he called the shots behind the lens and darted in front of it as ten separate characters. Audiences loved the stunt, and Imp Pictures loved the receipts—so much that they slapped his name above the title, minting Hollywood’s first official “star.” Behind the camera he later roped William S. Hart into the sweeping 1925 western Tumbleweeds, still regarded as a saddle-sore classic. Talkies turned his directing days to dust, but Baggot never stepped away from sets; he simply shrank into bit roles, racking up 340-plus acting credits and 45 directing gigs before bowing out after 1947’s last take. A stroke claimed him the following year in Los Angeles, closing the book on a life that had helped invent the very idea of screen fame.
