William Farnum

William Farnum (July 4, 1876 – June 5, 1953) was an American film actor.

Biography

One of three brothers, Farnum grew up in a family of actors. He made his acting debut at the age of ten in Richmond, Virginia in a production of Julius Caesar, with Edwin Booth playing the title character.

His first major success was as the title character of Ben-Hur in 1900 though replacing the original actor Edward Morgan who premiered the character in 1899. Later plays Farnum appeared in were the costume epic The Prince of India (1906), The White Sister (1909) starring Viola Allen, The Littlest Rebel (1911) co-starring his brother Dustin and a child actress named Mary Miles Minter (then nine years old) and Arizona (1913) with Dustin and stage beauty Elsie Ferguson. In The Spoilers in 1914, Farnum and Tom Santschi staged a classic movie fight which lasted for a full reel. In 1930, Farnum and Santschi coached Gary Cooper and William Boyd in the fight scene for the 1930 version of The Spoilers. Other actors influenced by the Farnum/Santschi scene were Milton Sills and Noah Beery in 1922 and Randolph Scott and John Wayne in 1942.

The Spoilers

The Spoilers may refer to:

The Spoilers (1923 film)

The Spoilers is a 1923 silent film directed by Lambert Hillyer. It is set in Nome, Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush, with Milton Sills as Roy Glennister, Anna Q. Nilsson as Cherry Malotte, and Noah Beery, Sr. as Alex McNamara. The film culminates in a saloon fistfight between Glennister and McNamara.

The Spoilers was adapted to screen by Elliott J. Clawson from the 1906 Rex Beach novel of the same name. Film versions also appeared in 1914, 1930 (with Gary Cooper as Glennister), 1942 (with John Wayne as Glennister, Marlene Dietrich as Malotte, and Randolph Scott as McNamara), and finally in 1955.

The character of Cherry Malotte also appears in Beach's The Silver Horde.

Print listed as being held by Gosfilmofond Russian state archive.

Cast

The Spoilers (1914 film)

The Spoilers (1914) is a film directed by Colin Campbell. The film is set in Nome, Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush, with William Farnum as Roy Glennister, Kathlyn Williams as Cherry Malotte, and Tom Santschi as Alex McNamara. The film culminates in a spectacular saloon fistfight between Glennister and McNamara. In 1916, an expanded version was released, running 110 minutes.

The film was adapted to screen by Lanier Bartlett from the Rex Beach novel of the same name. The film was remade in 1923 (with Noah Beery as McNamara), 1930 (with Gary Cooper as Glennister and Betty Compson as Malotte), 1942 (with John Wayne as Glennister, Randolph Scott as McNamara, and Marlene Dietrich as Malotte), and 1955 (with Jeff Chandler as Glennister, Rory Calhoun as McNamara, and Anne Baxter as Malotte). All of the films feature a lengthy, intense fight sequence.

Cast