Swedish postcard by Förlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 845. Photo: Triangle-Film.
American Arcade postcard. Photo: Witzel, L.A.
British postcard by 'Pictures' Portrait Gallery, London, no. 22.
Six feet tall and good-looking
William Desmond was born William Desmond Mannion in 1878 in Dublin, Ireland, according to Italian Wikipedia. "Not so!", writes Chuck Anderson at B-Western site The Old Corral: "A Desmond family member advised that he was born January 23, 1878, in Horseheads, Chemung County, New York. His father Richard worked for the railroad and when the 1880 census was taken, the Mannion family had moved to Salamanca, Cattaraugus County, New York, which is about sixty miles south of Buffalo. His father hailed from Ireland and his mother was born in New York and William was their first child."
He changed his name to William Desmond when he landed on the theatrical stage. He started out in vaudeville and the legitimate stage. Most of Desmond's early stage and vaudeville work was tied to noted theatrical producer Oliver Morosco. During this period, his Morosco credits include the brief 1906 run of 'The Judge and the Jury' in New York City as well as a multi-year stay at Morosoco's Burbank theatre in Los Angeles. He also spent time appearing with the Los Angeles Opera House. Desmond's other theatrical credits included 'Ben Hur', 'Alias Jimmy Valentine', 'If I Were King', 'Raffles', 'Sign of the Cross', and 'Romeo and Juliet'.
He signed with the J. C. Williamson organisation and toured Australia during 1910-1913. With him was his wife Lilian Lamson, the older sister of Gertrude Lamson a.k.a. screen actress Nance O'Neill. But tragedy struck. Lilian was injured in Australia and became an invalid, passing away at age 39 in 1917 at the Desmond home in Hollywood.
After his return from Australia, Desmond re-teamed with Oliver Morosco for more plays. For a couple of years, he played various cities in the U.S. and Canada in 'The Bird of Paradise'. Lenore Ulrich was his leading lady. Morosco liked the chemistry between Desmond and Ulrich and he paired them in the film Kilmeny (Oscar Apfel, 1915). It was produced by the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company, which Morosco did in collaboration with Hobart Bosworth and the film was distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Six feet tall (183 cm) and good-looking, Desmond appeared in more dramatic parts, in such other films as Peer Gynt (Oscar Apfel, Raoul Walsh, 1915). Desmond connected with film pioneer Thomas H. Ince for films churned out by Ince's NYMP company (New York Motion Picture) and distributed by Triangle. His first film for Ince was the drama Peggy (Thomas Ince, 1916) with Desmond as a minister in love with Billie Burke. He appeared with Gloria Swanson in Society for Sale (Frank Borzage, 1918). Desmond signed with Jesse D. Hampton for a series of Westerns and action serials which were released through Exhibitors Mutual, Robertson-Cole, and Pathé. Actor-director Joseph Franz directed such Westerns as Bare-fisted Gallagher (1919) and A Broadway Cowboy (1920). In 1919, he married his co-star, Mary McIvor, with whom he had two daughters. Desmond became a major Western star.
American Arcade card. Caption: William Desmond, Universal Star.
American Arcade card by Exhibit Supply Co., Chicago. Caption: William Desmond and Geo. Giegman Mixing It.
American Arcade card. Photo: Universal Production. William Desmond in The Ace of Spades (Henry MacRae, 1925).
The King of the Silent Serials
William Desmond even created his own production company for another cowboy adventure, Fightin'Mad (Joseph Franz, 1921), which was distributed by Metro, a forerunner of MGM. His next stop was Universal Pictures and during the years 1922-1928, he reached his peak as a Western/action hero and became known as "the King of the Silent Serials".
He starred in robust serials such as Perils of the Yukon (Jay Marchant, J. P. McGowan, Perry N. Vekroff, 1922) with Laura La Plante, The Riddle Rider (William James Craft, 1924) with Eileen Sedgwick, and The Vanishing Rider (Ray Taylor, 1928), all for Universal.
AllMovie: "He did his own stunts, and hardly a week went by in the 1920s that Desmond didn't give the newspapers a story about how he'd once again cheated death in the line of duty." Desmond was not tied exclusively to Universal but under a mix of contract deals.
During those years, Desmond and his wife Mary continued to tour with their stage act, and Desmond also co-starred with Helen Holmes in some non-Westerns for independent producer Jesse J. Goldburg. When the sound era began William Desmond was almost 50 years old and his leading man days were over. He was now relegated to supporting roles, but he continued making films into the 1940s. He had bit roles in such memorable films as Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak, 1944) with Ella Raines and The Egg and I (Chester Erskine, 1947) starring Claudette Colbert.
While he and his wife Mary headlined the Barnett Bros. Circus in 1938, he suffered a stroke and was hospitalised. Mary died in 1941. William lived with his daughter Mary Jo during the last year of his life. In 1949, William Desmond died at age 71 of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California. His cremated remains are stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory, Los Angeles. Mary and William had two daughters - Mary Joanna (born 1920 and William S. Hart, a co-star of Mary McIvor during the 1910s, was her godfather) and Elizabeth Terry (1932).
American Arcade card by Exhibit Supply Co., Chicago. Caption: William Desmond, Having a Little Gun-play with the Sheriff.
Spanish postcard by EFB (Editorial Fotografica, Barcelona), no. A-57. Photo: Zerkowitz.
Sources: Chuck Anderson (The Old Corral), AllMovie, Wikipedia (English and Italian) and IMDb.
No comments:
Post a Comment