King Baggot began in films in 1909, was a major star from 1910 to 1916, and gained renown as a director in the 1920s and as a character actor in the 1930s and 1940s. But most notably, he was the first publicized leading man in America. In his two-reel Shadows—this was a first in film history—he played ten different characters and also directed. He founded the Screen Club, the first and most prestigious club strictly for film personnel, and became a star in England with Ivanhoe and in France with Absinthe. As a director, he worked on Kissed, in which Marie Prevost had her first starring role. He also directed The Home Maker, a social drama that daringly explored role reversal between a husband and wife, and Tumbleweeds, now considered a classic among westerns.
This work is a biography from early childhood until his death in 1948. And it is a filmography documenting every known film in which he took part: cast and production credits, release date, length, Library of Congress registration number, places where the film can be found today, and other information.

The late Sally A. Dumaux was a special collections librarian. She lived in Glendale, California.

Sally A. Dumaux
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 300
Bibliographic Info: photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010 [2002]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4496-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments     vii

Preface     1

Prologue: Welcome Home     5

1 St. Louis: The Beginnings     7

2 Curtain Calls     10

3 New Directions     13

4 IMP’s First Year     17

5 The Stars Are Coming     21

6 Union Station, St. Louis     25

7 IMP: Growing, Growing, Growing     28

8 Cuba     32

9 Home Again     40

10 A Star at Last     45

11 The Screen Club and Wedding Bells     51

12 Higher and Higher     56

13 Assault on England     60

14 On to Paris     65

15 Triumphant Return     70

16 The Good Life     74

17 Fame and Change     81

18 The Parade Moves On     89

19 Cast Adrift     95

20 New Hope     99

21 A Slippery Slope     104

22 Troubled Times     109

23 California, Here I Am     112

24 Crossroads     119

25 Settling Down in Hollywood     126

26 Ups and Downs     132

27 Winds of Change     138

28 Tumbling Around     144

29 Trouble Ahead     149

30 Beginning of the End     155

31 The End of an Era     159

32 The Last Days     165

Coda     173

Filmography     175

Appendix     261

Notes     263

Bibliography     275

Index     279

“Dumaux was an excellent writer and researcher”—Classic Images.