William A. Seiter

Biography

Originally a writer and artist, William A. Seiter entered films with Selig. He worked from 1915 as a stunt double and bit player at Keystone and quickly graduated to directing comedy shorts. He moved up to features in the 1920s. He married actress Laura La Plante, who he directed in several films, such as Skinner's Dress Suit (1926), He was at his best, though, in charge of comic teams such as Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (he directed what many believe to be their finest film, Sons of the Desert (1933)), Bud Abbott and Lou Costello (Little Giant (1946)) and The Marx Brothers. Most of his early work was under contract to Universal (1924-28) and Warner Brothers (1928-29). He successfully made the transition to sound and remained much in demand for light comedy, working for RKO (1931-34), 20th Century-Fox (1934-38), Universal (1939-41 and again from 1945-49). He retired in 1954. He is perhaps best remembered for "Sons of the Desert" and the musical Roberta (1935) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.