William King Baggot (November 7, 1879 – July 11, 1948) was an American actor, director and screenwriter. He was an internationally famous movie star of the silent 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 at least 269 motion pictures from 1909 to 1947; wrot...
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William King Baggot (November 7, 1879 – July 11, 1948) was an American actor, director and screenwriter. He was an internationally famous movie star of the silent 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 at least 269 motion pictures from 1909 to 1947; wrote 18 screenplays; and directed 45 movies from 1912 to 1928, including The Lie (1912), Raffles (1925) and The House of Scandal (1928). He also directed William S. Hart in his most famous western, Tumbleweeds (1925).
Among his movie appearances, he was best-known for The Scarlet Letter (1911), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913), and Ivanhoe (1913), which was filmed on location in England.
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of William Baggot (1845–1909) and Harriet M. "Hattie" King (1859–1933). His siblings were Amos Taylor Baggot (1881–1954...
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