William S. Hart

William S. Hart on U.S. stamp, photo by Neftali/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: William Surrey Hart

Date of Birth: December 6, 1864

Place of Birth: Newburgh, New York, U.S.

Date of Death: June 23, 1946

Place of Death: Newhall, California, U.S.

Ethnicity: Irish, possibly one quarter English

William S. Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was a star of westerns, and one of the most popular actors of the 1910s and 1920s. He worked in silent films. He starred in the films The Scourge of the Desert, Knight of the Trail, Pinto Ben, Between Men, The Primal Lure, The Dawn Maker, The Return of Draw Egan, The Devil’s Double (1916), Truthful Tulliver, The Gunfighter (1917), The Desert Man, Wolf Lowry, The Cold Deck, The Silent Man, Wolves of the Rail, The Tiger Man, Selfish Yates, Shark Monroe, The Border Wireless, and Branding Broadway, all of which he also directed; Hell’s Hinges, The Aryan, The Narrow Trail, Riddle Gawne, The Poppy Girl’s Husband, and Square Deal Sanderson, all of which he also co-directed; The Money Corral, The Toll Gate, The Testing Block, O’Malley of the Mounted, White Oak, Travelin’ On, Wild Bill Hickok (1923), and Singer Jim McKee, all of which he co-wrote; and The Bargain, On the Night Stage, The Apostle of Vengeance, Breed of Men, Wagon Tracks, John Petticoats, Sand!, The Cradle of Courage, The Whistle, Three Word Brand, and Tumbleweeds (1925). He also co-wrote his The Narrow Trail.

He was the son of Rosanna (McCauley) and Nicholas Gleason Hart. His father was born in England, to an Irish father. His mother was Irish. He was said to be a distant cousin of western star Neal Hart. He had a son with his former wife, actress Winifred Westover.

Source: William S. Hart on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org