William Russell
William Russell (April 12, 1884 – February 18, 1929) was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He appeared in over 200 silent era motion pictures between 1910 and 1929, directing five of them in 1916 and producing two through his own production company in 1918 and 1925. Born William Francis Lerche in the Bronx borough of New York City, Russell began his acting career on the stage when he was eight-years-old. He appeared with such notables as Ethel Barrymore, Chauncey Olcott, Blanche Bates, Maude Adams and others. His career came to a stop at age 16, however, when he became an invalid. Through rigorous physical therapy, he became well again six years later. He then became an amateur boxing champion. Russell began his screen career in New York with the Biograph Company, where he worked for nine months before signing with the Thanhouser Company. He was also part of the company of players for the American Film Manufacturing Company and their Flying "A" Studios in Santa Barbara. In 1917, he and actress Charlotte Burton were married. They divorced in 1921.
Actor
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The Cry of the Children
THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN is the most famous and best documented of all Thanhouser films. In its day it was recognized as one of the most important expressions of the pre-World War One reform movement, in particular child labor. Perhaps because the uncompromising content drew...Watch Movie -
The Star of Bethlehem
Biblical tale about the birth of Christ told with a cast of 100's. Thanhouser's ambitious STAR OF BETHLEHEM was one of the first steps toward true feature-length films (more than two reels long). It appeared the year before the Italian epic QUO VADIS? was screened in the U....Watch Movie -
Tannhäuser
Though different in spelling and pronunciation, Thanhouser’s adaptation of "Tannhäuser" was probably inevitable. The opera, with original libretto and music by Wagner, based on traditional legends, was the first Wagner opera seen in the United States and enjoyed great popularity throughout the...Watch Movie -
Cymbeline
Southern California locations vividly suggest both elemental pre-Roman Britain and classical Rome. An energetic cinematic pacing and intimacy show rapidly improving narrative technique and realism well beyond the limitations of the stage. Especially cinematic are the bedchamber scene in the first...Watch Movie
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King Rene's Daughter
A very romantic fiction set in renaissance France with florid, rich costuming. The story was originally a one-act verse play in Danish, “Iolanthe,” which also enjoyed great popularity in a fine English translation for the stage. Maude Fealy made her Thanhouser debut in the...Watch Movie -
Marble Heart
This story, already a well-known English play of 1854 adapted from an earlier French play, casts the three most popular Thanhouser adult stars in a story of unrequited love, with a dream sequence that parallels the main story. Pale makeup is especially noticeable in some scenes, the answer to...Watch Movie -
The Pasha's Daughter
A young American man in trouble is assisted by the daughter of the pasha to escape in woman's clothes from Turkey. The elements of an adventure-romance are dressed in an exotic setting (Ottoman Turkey was hot in the news as the empire was on the verge of collapse and the...Watch Movie -
The Vicar of Wakefield
Edwin Thanhouser and Lloyd F. Lonergan, who wrote or supervised screenplays for hundreds of Thanhouser films, often turned to classic plays and novels for quality source material. THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD was an enormously popular English novel for 150 years, offering a complex...Watch Movie
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Get Rich Quick
The moral tale, a staple of early film, observes in this case how an elaborate swindle, the "Utopia Investment Corporation," affects one of its participants. The film challenges the quest for material wealth without concern for those victimized. A review in The Billboard praised Marguerite Snow's...Watch Movie -
The Portrait of Lady Anne
In 1770, the beautiful Lady Anne in a jealous fit throws over her lover who goes away to the war and is killed. Fast forward to 1912 where a descendant of Lady Anne is entertaining and much the same happens. A fantasy of romance and jealousy across 200 years. Sets are, in...Watch Movie -
The Little Girl Next Door
The “Thanhouser Twins,” Marion and Madeline Fairbanks, are featured in this tragic drama with a moral lesson. Although limited by the constraints of one-reel storytelling, the scenario (the first by Philip Lonergan, the brother of story department head Lloyd Lonergan) is a...Watch Movie

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