Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
> FILM/ARTS
King Baggot
Actor-Director


Click image to enlarge

thumbnail
Front

thumbnail
Back

King Baggot. Printed, semi-glossy arcade card / postcard. Undated, 1920s, issued by Universal Pictures. Handwriting on back reads: "Compliments of the Grand Theatre"; city unknown.

King Baggot (b. Nov. 7, 1879; d. July 11, 1948) is most significant to Santa Clarita Valley historians for having directed William S. Hart's final and most famous film, "Tumbleweeds" (1925, re-released 1939).

In a broader sense, of course, he was more than that; Baggot was the first individually publicized actor in an American film (the earliest films didn't run actor credits or make a big deal of their stars). Filmmakers capitalized on his name, promoting him as the "King of the Movies."

Born in St. Louis, Mo., Baggot made the transition from Shakespearean stage to screen (just like Hart), appearing in at least 269 films from 1909 to 1947 including "The Scarlett Letter" (1911), "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1913) and "Ivanhoe" (1913). He also wrote scenarios (screenplays) and directed at least 45 films from 1912 to 1928.


LW2512a: 19200 dpi jpeg from original card purchased 2012 by Leon Worden.
KING BAGGOT
Actor-Director

thumbnail

RETURN TO TOP ]   RETURN TO MAIN INDEX ]   PHOTO CREDITS ]   BIBLIOGRAPHY ]   BOOKS FOR SALE ]
SCVHistory.com is another service of SCVTV, a 501c3 Nonprofit • Site contents ©SCVTV
The site owner makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the site owner. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.