From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William King Baggot (November 7, 1879 – July 11, 1948) was an American actor, film director and screenwriter. He was an internationally famous movie star of the silent film era. The first individually publicized leading man in America, Baggot was referred to as "King of the Movies", "The Most Photographed Man in the World", and "The Man Whose Face Is As Familiar As The Man In The Moon". Baggot appeared in over 300 motion pictures from 1909 to 1947, wrote 18 screenplays, and directed 45 movies from 1912 to 1928, including The Lie (1912), Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (1925), and The House of Scandal (1928). He also directed William S. Hart in his most famous western, Tumbleweeds (1925). Among his film appearances, Baggot was best known for The Scarlet Letter (1911), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913), and Ivanhoe (1913). Baggot began his career on the stage, in a Shakespearean stock company, and toured throughout the U.S. While acting in stock in St. Louis in 1909, he was cast as supporting player in the Schubert touring production of The Wishing Ring. When The Wishing Ring closed in Chicago, Baggot returned to New York to join another company. Upon a chance meeting with Harry Solter, who was directing movies for Carl Laemmle at Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), he was persuaded to go with Solter to the studio. Baggot became interested in the fledgling industry and decided to turn picture player. His first film was the romance short The Awakening of Bess (1909) opposite Florence Lawrence. It was directed by Harry Solter, her husband, at IMP in Fort Lee, New Jersey. At a time when screen actors worked anonymously, Baggot and Lawrence became the first "movie stars" to be given billing, a marquee, and promotion in advertising. Baggot starred in at least 42 movies opposite Lawrence from 1909 to 1911. In the latter year, he starred in at least 16 movies with Mary Pickford. He also began writing screenplays and directing, all the while becoming a major star internationally. When he appeared "in person" at theatres he was mobbed at stage doors. By 1912, he was so famous that when he took the leading part in forming the prestigious Screen Club in New York, the first organization of its kind strictly for movie people, he was the natural choice for its first president. King Baggot died in Los Angeles, California in 1948, age 68. For his contributions to the film industry, Baggot received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. His star is located at 6312 Hollywood Boulevard.
151 movies
Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films
2011·9.0
Merton of the Movies
1947·6.3
My Brother Talks to Horses
1947·7.5
The Secret Heart
1946·6.5
Holiday in Mexico
1946·6.7
The Postman Always Rings Twice
1946·7.1
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
1945·5.8
Dangerous Partners
1945·6.8
Swing Fever
1943·6.0
Her Cardboard Lover
1942·4.9
Jackass Mail
1942·7.5
Fingers at the Window
1942·5.7
Rio Rita
1942·6.0
Honky Tonk
1941·6.4
The Big Store
1941·6.2
Ziegfeld Girl
1941·6.7
Come Live with Me
1941·6.8
The Philadelphia Story
1940·7.6
Gallant Sons
1940·7.4
Bitter Sweet
1940·6.0
The Ghost Comes Home
1940·5.7
I Take This Woman
1940·5.8
Dancing Co-Ed
1939·6.6
Stronger Than Desire
1939·5.5
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939·5.7
Opening Day
1938·6.5
Stablemates
1938·6.3
Too Hot to Handle
1938·6.0
Boys Town
1938·6.8
Marie Antoinette
1938·6.6
Think It Over
1938·7.3
Snow Gets in Your Eyes
1938·6.5
That Mothers Might Live
1938·6.2
Arsène Lupin Returns
1938·6.3
A Night at the Movies
1937·5.9
The Emperor's Candlesticks
1937·4.9
It May Happen to You
1937·5.5
Parnell
1937·4.6
Torture Money
1937·6.3
Mad Holiday
1936·6.4
Sworn Enemy
1936·5.8
The Devil-Doll
1936·6.8
San Francisco
1936·6.6
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
1936·5.7
A Night at the Opera
1935·7.4
3 Kids and a Queen
1935·6.8
Chinatown Squad
1935·7.5
The Call of the Savage
1935·6.0
Mississippi
1935·6.8
Sweepstake Annie
1935·4.8
A Notorious Gentleman
1935·6.5
Father Brown, Detective
1934·6.5
Cheating Cheaters
1934·7.0
Romance in the Rain
1934·9.0
The Red Rider
1934·7.0
Beloved
1934·9.0
I Loved a Woman
1933·4.8
The Death Kiss
1932·5.3
Afraid to Talk
1932·6.5
The Big Flash
1932·5.7
What Price Hollywood?
1932·6.8
Police Court
1932·5.8
Girl of the Rio
1932·5.6
Graft
1931·5.0
Sweepstakes
1931·5.7
The Bad Sister
1931·5.6
Once a Gentleman
1930·9.0
The Czar of Broadway
1930·9.0
The Thrill Chaser
1923·6.5
The Butterfly Girl
1921·9.0
The Girl in the Taxi
1921·8.5
The Forbidden Thing
1920·8.0
The Dwelling Place of Light
1920·7.0
Life's Twist
1920·9.0
The Cheater
1920·8.0
The Shadow of Lightning Ridge
1920·7.0
The Hawk's Trail
1919·10.0
The Man Who Stayed at Home
1919·10.0
Building for Democracy
1918·7.0
Kildare of Storm
1918·0.0
The Eagle's Eye
1918·0.0
Mission of the War Chest
1918·9.0
The Silent Stranger
1916·0.0
The Man from Nowhere
1916·0.0
Half a Rogue
1916·0.0
The Suburban
1915·0.0
The Marble Heart
1915·0.0
The Great Universal Mystery
1914·8.0
Absinthe
1914·0.0
Ivanhoe
1913·4.7
The Wanderer
1913·8.0
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1913·4.5
Up Against It
1912·7.0
A Cave Man Wooing
1912·6.0
Shamus O'Brien
1912·9.0
Over the Hills
1911·0.0
The Better Way
1911·0.0
The Rose's Story
1911·0.0
The Call of the Song
1911·0.0
Science
1911·0.0
At a Quarter of Two
1911·0.0
For the Queen's Honor
1911·0.0
In the Sultan's Garden
1911·0.0
A Game of Deception
1911·9.0
The Master and the Man
1911·0.0
The Fair Dentist
1911·0.0
The Temptress
1911·7.0
Second Sight
1911·0.0
The Scarlet Letter
1911·1.0
While There is hope, There is Life
1911·0.0
The Wife’s Awakening
1911·7.0
Sweet Memories
1911·4.0
The Secret of the Palm
1911·7.0
Tracked
1911·9.0
Pictureland
1911·5.5
At the Duke's Command
1911·0.0
The Mirror
1911·0.0
The Count of Montebello
1910·10.0
All the World’s a Stage
1910·10.0
Pressed Roses
1910·8.0
Debt
1910·10.0
The Taming of Jane
1910·10.0
Once Upon a Time
1910·7.0
The Irony of Fate
1910·8.0
Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens
1910·8.0
Old Heads and Young Hearts
1910·9.0
The Time-Lock Safe
1910·0.0
The Call of the Circus
1910·10.0
A Game for Two
1910·8.0
A Reno Romance
1910·9.0
The Eternal Triangle
1910·7.0
The Doctor's Perfidy
1910·8.0
Two Men
1910·0.0
The New Shawl
1910·8.0
The Maelstrom
1910·9.0
The Rosary
1910·10.0
His Second Wife
1910·7.0
The Miser’s Daughter
1910·8.0
Transfusion
1910·0.0
The Stage Note
1910·9.0
The Broken Oath
1910·9.0
Mother Love
1910·10.0
The Governor’s Pardon
1910·7.0
Jane and the Stranger
1910·8.0
The Blind Man’s Tact
1910·9.0
Justice in the Far North
1910·10.0
The Tide of Fortune
1910·7.0
The Right of Love
1910·10.0
The Winning Punch
1910·9.0
The Awakening of Bess
1909·9.0
Love's Stratagem
1909·8.0