Reginald Barker

Biography

Canadian-born (Winnipeg) Reginald Barker moved with his family to Scotland shortly after he was born, and they eventually emigrated to the US, settling in California. Bitten by the show-business bug early, Barker was acting in plays by age 16, and then joined up with a traveling stock company as stage manager. He eventually made his way to New York City, where he got a job as a stage manager and, starting in 1910, as an actor. He found that the burgeoning motion picture business proved more interesting to him than the stage, and he joined Bison Pictures, traveling to California and working under legendary producer Thomas H. Ince. He soon left acting and worked as an assistant director, making his directorial debut in 1912 with On the Warpath (1912), a western with Art Acord. He worked steadily for Ince, and was so highly thought of by the producer that he shared director duties with Barker on Ince's epic, Civilization (1916). Barker directed almost 100 films over his career, working with such stars as Sessue Hayakawa, Hoot Gibson and Myrna Loy. He directed his last film in 1935 and then retired from the industry. He and his wife opened up a gift shop in Pasadena, California. Barker died of a heart attack in 1945 in Los Angeles. He was 58.