William Desmond
Date of birth: 1878-01-23
Place of birth: Horseheads, New York, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: William Mannion, The King of the Silent Serials, Bill Desmond
Biography
Starting out in dramatic parts, Desmond soon switched to westerns and action serials, and became a major western star. When the sound era began Desmond was almost 50 years old, and was soon relegated to supporting roles.
Movie Credits
The Prince and Betty
1919-12-21
Young American John Maude is forced to find a job when he falls in love with society girl Betty Keit
The Vanishing Rider
1928-01-16
William Desmond plays Jim Davis, a secret service agent by day and masked avenger by night. Ethlyne
Peer Gynt
1915-09-15
A fantasy from Ibsen's verse drama. Ne'er-do-well and braggart Peer Gynt has many adventures in vari
Captain of His Soul
1918-02-10
At the suggestion of his sons Horace and Henry, aging Ebenezer Boyce turns over control of his pisto
The Rustler's Roundup
1933-03-16
Winters is after the Brand ranch, and his man Brett who is foreman there is rustling the Brand stock
When Lightning Strikes
1934-12-18
Lightning the German Shepherd dog stars in this wilderness melodrama.
Phantom of the Opera
1943-08-12
Following a tragic accident that leaves him disfigured, crazed composer Erique Claudin transformed i
The Mummy's Ghost
1944-07-07
An Egyptian high priest travels to America to reclaim the bodies of ancient Egyptian princess Ananka
The Policeman and the Baby
1921-09-04
A crook returns home to find his mother dead and about to be buried in Potters Field. This prompts h
Master of His Home
1917-08-12
Unhappy with her daughter's choice to marry a miner instead of her choice, a man of wealth, a mother
The Return of the Durango Kid
1945-04-19
A masked outlaw steals from bank robbers to help the poor.
Mr. Broadway
1933-09-12
Ed Sullivan shows night spots all over New York in this movie, joking and listening to stories the p
The Lightning Warrior
1931-11-01
A Rin-Tin-Tin serial presented in 12 episodes. The mysterious Wolf Man is terrorizing settlers in a
Song of the Gringo
1936-11-22
In his film debut Ritter is sent to investigate miners being killed and their mines confiscated. The
Phantom Lady
1944-01-28
A devoted secretary embarks on a dangerous mission to try to find the elusive woman who may prove he
Wild Waters
1935-03-03
A young man and his trusty dog go up against a gang of crooks that are building a dam out of shoddy
The Extra Girl
1923-10-28
Sue Graham is a small town girl who wants to be a motion picture star. She wins a contract when a pi
The Last Frontier
1932-09-04
A frontier newspaper editor Kirby battles outlaw Tiger Morris who is causing indian uprisings to dri
Crack-Up
1934-06-02
Daredevil flyer David flirts with a waitress. An orphan accidentally takes off in a biplane requirin
The Broken Coin
1936-01-10
A police chief and two security agencies work to find out who is behind a recent rash of hijackings.
Frisco Kid
1935-11-30
After a roustabout sailor avoids being shanghaied in 1850s San Francisco, his audacity helps him ris
The Vanishing Legion
1931-06-01
A mysterious master criminal known as The Voice plots with his gang to sabotage the Milesburg Oil Co
The Vanishing Shadow
1934-04-22
A 12-episode serial in which a son avenges the death of his father at the hands of corrupt politicia
Desert Command
1946-05-31
Tom Wayne rescues Clancy, Renard and Schmidt in the Arabian desert and they join him in going after
Straight Through
1925-04-05
O'Day, the terror of Red Gulch, wins the entire stake of a gambler named Granger in a poker game but
The Burning Trail
1925-05-10
A professional boxer known as "Smiling Bill Flannigan" accidentally kills an opponent in the ring. H
The Meddler
1925-06-28
Richard Gilmore, a staid Wall Street broker, is jilted by Dot Parkhurst when he fails to provide her
Born to Battle
1935-04-01
Good-natured troublemaker "Cyclone" Tom Saunders is hired by a ranchers' association manager to inve
I Can't Escape
1934-07-04
An ex-convict, unable to get a good job because of his prison record, gets mixed up in a phony stock
The Vigilantes Are Coming
1936-08-21
A masked hero called "The Eagle" leads California ranchers in a struggle against Russian Cossacks wh
Pirate Treasure
1934-01-29
An accomplished aviator sets out to locate treasure hidden by one of his ancestors. He encounters i
The Strings of Steel
1926-06-28
The Strings of Steel is a silent Action serial. Episode titles: 1. The Voice on the Wire 2. The Firs
Courage of the North
1935-09-01
A Mountie (John Preston) catches fur thieves with the help of his horse, Dynamite, and dog, Captain.
The Three Musketeers
1933-04-07
Tom Wayne rescues Clancy, Renard and Schmidt in the Arabian desert and they join him in going after
Winners of the West
1940-07-02
Beyond Hell's Gate Pass is territory controlled by a man who calls himself King Carter; he uses a va
Her Code of Honor
1919-04-06
A man brings up, on Long Island, the illegitimate daughter of a deceased woman who'd been an art stu
Frontier Days
1934-11-14
Henry Jethrow is after the Wilson ranch. He has George Wilson unknowningly sign a note for the ranch
The Rawhide Terror
1934-03-19
Twelve renegades dressed as Indians kill the parents of two brothers. The brothers who have similar
Laughing at Life
1933-07-12
Easter, a soldier of fortune and gunrunner, leaves his family behind escaping from the authorities a
Perils of the Yukon
1922-07-24
A silent serial with the following chapter titles: 1. Fangs of Jealous; 2. Doomed; 3. Tricked by Fat
Strawberry Roan
1933-10-26
Ken Maynard stars as a roving cowboy who tells the tale of taming the stallion that inspired the tit
Fargo Express
1933-11-20
When Mort loses his and Ken's money at poker, Goss gets him to rob the stage. He is captured, identi
Paws of the Bear
1917-06-17
In Belgium, at the outbreak of the war, Russian agent Olga Raminoff shoots at a German general when
Border Guns
1934-02-01
A cowboy drifting around the border gets mixed up with Mexican revolutionary gun smuggling when he b
No Children
1929-03-10
Parents pretend they are in show business and their kids are ventriloquist dummies.
Shadows of the North
1923-08-27
Ben Darby and Pancake, his father, are owners of a mining claim in Northwest Canada. Ben goes to war
Battling with Buffalo Bill
1931-11-22
A western adventure serial in 12 episodes. Buffalo Bill battles gambler Jim Rodney who is trying to
The Extra Girl
1923-10-28
Sue Graham is a small town girl who wants to be a motion picture star. She wins a contract when a pi
The Cowboy and the Bandit
1935-04-02
Bill travels to a new state after the outlaw Scarface saves him from a lynch mob. There he takes a j
Custer's Last Stand
1936-01-02
Kit Cardigan seeks the killer of his father...among other plot threads leading up to the famous hist
Cyclone of the Saddle
1935-04-03
Sent by the Army, Andy Thomas poses as a renegade to find out who has been harassing the wagon train
Treachery Rides the Range
1936-05-02
The Indians need the Buffalo to survive and the Government has promised to keep the herds free from
Heroes of the West
1932-06-19
Efforts to build a transcontinental railroad are resisted by crooks and Indians on the warpath. A 12
Gordon of Ghost City
1933-08-13
A cowboy is hired to track down a gang of rustlers, but gets involved with a beautiful girl trying t
The Call of the Savage
1935-04-14
Two competing teams of scientists search the African jungles for a secret formula.
Headin' for the Rio Grande
1936-12-20
Singing cowboy Tex Saunders finds himself in a heap of trouble when he agrees to investigate local g
A Scarlet Week-End
1932-11-30
A woman's cheating husband is murdered at their country estate, and suspicion immediately falls on h
The Ghost Rider
1935-04-07
Jim Bullard escapes from prison and returns to settle matters with the Rascob's that framed him. He
Social Error
1935-04-30
A wild college student gets in fights, steals cars, is caught by the police and finally expelled fro
Hollywood Boulevard
1936-08-20
With a full Hollywood background and settings but more an expose of scandal-and-gossip magazines of
Code of the West
1947-02-20
Knowing the railroad is coming, Carter is after the rancher's land. Bob and Chito return just in tim
The Red Rider
1934-07-16
"Red" Davison(Buck Jones), the sheriff of Sun Dog, sacrifices his job and his good name to save his
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
1936-01-13
A 12-episode serial in which scholastic sports star Frank Merriwell leaves school to search for his
Timber Terrors
1935-01-01
Inspector Dawson promises "Morton of the Mounted" a long-awaited vacation as soon as he solves the m
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
1941-03-21
A young mining engineer sets out to catch the killers of both his brother and a beautiful young girl
Song of the Saddle
1936-02-28
Frank Sr. sells his supplies to Hook, but then Hook has the Bannion Boys bushwhack his wagon to get
The Boys from Syracuse
1940-07-30
The action takes place in Ephesus in ancient Asia Minor, and the concerns The efforts of two boys fr
Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery
1935-10-20
A 12-episode serial in which Tailspin Tommy evades volcanoes, anti-aircraft shells, and time bombs a
Junior G-Men
1940-11-01
A gang of urban street kids and a club of suburban would-be federal agents, at first rivals, join fo
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943-09-25
An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.
Tim Tyler's Luck
1937-12-27
A 12-episode serial in which Tim Tyler goes to Africa in search of his father in gorilla country. He
The Phantom of the Air
1933-05-21
An adventure serial presented in 12 chapters. Inventor Thomas Edmunds uses a super plane, 'The Phant
The Phantom of the West
1930-11-10
A young man's father is murdered and the man convicted of the crime escapes prison, leaving a note i
Society for Sale
1918-04-21
Successful model, Phyllis Clyne, convinces a down-and-out nobleman, Billy, to pass her off in societ
The Last of the Ingrams
1917-02-25
Jules Ingram ( William Desmond ), the sole survivor of an old Puritan family, seeks solace and forge
Fightin' Mad
1921-11-20
Returning to his father's cattle ranch after the excitement of serving in combat overseas, Bud McGra
Down Rio Grande Way
1942-04-23
Slightly more elaborate than most Charles Starrett westerns, Down Rio Grande Way is set in the mid-1
The Silver Bullet
1942-08-05
A cowboy heads for the town where his father was murdered to find out who was responsible.
Overland Mail
1942-09-22
Two investigators for a stagecoach company are assigned to find out why the company's stages keep be
Rustlers of Red Dog
1935-01-01
A movie serial in 12 chapters: After gold is discovered in the town of Nugget, the titular band of
The Lone Star Trail
1943-08-06
Rancher Blaze Barker returns to Dead Falls after being framed by land-grabbers and spending two year
Cheyenne Roundup
1943-04-12
Johnny Mack Brown's Universal western series was drawing to a close when Cheyenne Roundup was releas
No Defense
1929-04-05
No Defense is a 1929 romantic drama directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Monte Blue. It was a silent
McGuire of the Mounted
1923-07-08
A film about a man named McGuire of the Royal Mounted Police.
The Iced Bullet
1917-01-21
A "scientific detective" story about the attempted murder of a wealthy New Yorker in his mountain lo
The Child Thou Gavest Me
1921-08-20
On her wedding day, Norma Huntley wants to tell Edward Berkley, her husband-to-be, her secret -- tha
Hello, 'Frisco
1924-09-28
A comedy short directed by character Slim Summerville.
Savage Fury
1956-01-01
Separately released feature version of the 1935 Serial, Call of the Savage.
Powdersmoke Range
1935-09-27
Three cowboys buy a ranch but have to fight off gunmen to keep it.
Where Did You Get That Girl?
1941-01-03
In this musical comedy, a motley band of musicians have only their extreme poverty in common. They e
Outwitted
1925-01-01
After being captured by T-Man Jack Blaisdell and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor on a counterfei
Ridin' Pretty
1925-02-22
A red-blooded romance of a millionaire cowboy and a city girl with stirring chase after a racing exp
Barriers of the Law
1925-03-26
When a woman who belongs to a bootlegging gang asks the gang for help when her father is arrested, t
A Sage Brush Hamlet
1919-08-03
Larry Lang is out to get desperado Claude Dutton (Ed Piel), the man who killed his father, which is
A Gamble in Souls
1916-12-09
The Naughty Nineties
1945-06-20
In the gay '90s, cardsharps take over a Mississippi riverboat from a kindly captain. Their first act
The Mystery Rider
1928-11-25
Silent cowboy Western serial.
Peggy
1916-01-02
The heroine, Peggy Cameron, is a high-society debutante with a mind of her own. After making a publi
The Way of the West
1934-10-14
Government agent Gordon, working undercover, is investigating a cattleman sheepman war. The Culprit
Kilmeny
1915-07-22
Little Doris Calhoun, of a wealthy English family, makes a playmate of Pierre, a crippled gypsy boy,
The Dawn Maker
1916-09-23
Half-breed Joe Elk wavers between the "civilized" nature of his white father and the passion of his
Naughty Marietta
1935-03-29
In order to avoid a prearranged marriage, a rebellious French princess sheds her identity and escape
The Sunset Trail
1924-11-02
On a passenger train passing through the desert, Louise offers to pay the fares of Happy Hobo and Co
The Majesty of the Law
1915-08-26
The story of a Virginia judge who sternly hands down severe sentences while in court only to later h
The Climax
1944-10-20
Dr. Hohner, theatre physician at the Vienna Royal Theatre, murders his mistress, the star soprano wh
The Roaring West
1935-07-08
A 15-episode serial involving the land rush, gold mines, stolen maps, etc.
Night Life in Hollywood
1922-11-15
A picture depicting the engrossing adventures of a small town youth in Hollywood and showing the int
Strange Confession
1945-10-05
A scientist who is working on a cure for influenza is victimized by his unscrupulous boss, who relea
Perils of Pauline
1933-11-05
A famous scientist and his beautiful daughter travel to Indochina to find an ivory disc that has the
The Egg and I
1947-05-01
World War II veteran Bob MacDonald surprises his new wife, Betty, by quitting his city job and movin
Oklahoma Jim
1931-10-10
A gambler sets out to help a pretty young woman save her trading post.
Thunder Mountain
1947-06-01
Marvin Hayden returns to find his ranch is about to be sold at auction and the Hayden Jorth feud sti
The Marriage Bubble
1918-03-31
An actor is mistaken for a look-alike, a drunken millionaire, and is taken in by the millionaire's s
The Breathless Moment
1924-02-03
Unwilling to arrest Billy Carson, a crook who once befriended him, Officer Quinn forces him and Dan,
Women Men Love
1921-01-09
Prosperous architect David Hunter, lives with his wife Evelyn, who loves gambling and admiration, as
Clancy of the Mounted
1933-02-27
A Canadian Mountie is assigned to bring in his brother, who was framed for the murder of a gold mine
Flying Colors
1917-09-23
Brent Brewster, formerly a Yale athlete known for his pole vaulting prowess, is unsuccessful in busi
Married in Name Only
1917-10-01
Robert Worthing marries his sweetheart, Madeline Francis, but the wedding is ruined by his mother, w
The Ace of Spades
1925-10-19
15 chapter serial. Gideon Trask and his henchmen at the saloon in Arkansas City covet the mineral su
The Measure of a Man
1924-10-14
Overcoming his addiction to drink, John Fairmeadow leaves the Bowery for a western logging camp posi
Bare-Fisted Gallagher
1919-06-22
Bullets and Brown Eyes
1916-03-12
Countess Olga and Prince Carl, although from two European countries that have been longtime enemies,
Red Clay
1925-05-01
John Nisheto, a Native American, saves Senator's son Jack Burr during World War I. Upon returning to
Hi, Beautiful
1944-12-18
Part of the series of Universal B-musicals teaming Martha O'Driscoll and Noah Beery Jr., this film i
The Mints of Hell
1919-05-05
The Sudden Gentleman
1917-12-02
Paddy O'Hara
1917-04-15
Life's a Funny Proposition
1919-01-12
The Phantom Fortune
1923-03-19
Around the World in 18 Days
1923-01-01
Film serial.
Flash Gordon
1936-04-06
Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth.
Big Timber
1924-09-07
Walter Sandry, holder of a mortgage on timber lands in the Pacific Northwest, arrives to claim his p
Tall in the Saddle
1944-09-29
When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been
Trail Street
1947-02-19
Bat Masterson cleans up Liberal, Kansas.
Jungle Mystery
1932-09-12
In Africa, two hunters meet a girl and her father who are searching for her lost brother. Their sear
Beasts of Paradise
1923-10-03
Philip Grant attempts to reclaim five million dollars in gold stolen from his fathers' steamer by a
The Blue Bandanna
1919-11-17
Jerry Jerome, a rich young Wall Street broker, follows doctor's orders and goes West to relieve stra
Twin Beds
1920-10-31
A young husband just wants to spend a quiet evening at home with his wife, but her collection of zan
The Criminal
1916-12-02
A young Italian immigrant girl, uneducated and superstitious, finds an abandoned baby on the stairs