Fred Fishback

Fred Fishback
Fred Fishback (left) and Edith Roberts in 1919
Born	Mosew Fischback (1894-01-18)January 18, 1894 Bucharest, Romania
Died	January 6, 1925(1925-01-06) (aged 30) Los Angeles, USA
Cause of death	Cancer
Other names	Fred Hibbard
Occupation	Director, actor, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1912–1925
Spouse(s)	Ethel Lynne (married 1919–1925)

Fred C. Fishback (born Mosew Fischback; January 18, 1894 in Bucharest, Romania – January 6, 1925 in Los Angeles) was a film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer of the silent era. Following the 1921 scandal surrounding Roscoe Arbuckle, in which he was involved, Fishback worked mostly under the pseudonym Fred Hibbard.

Fred Fishback was born Mosew Fischback (sometimes spelled Fischbach) on January 18, 1894, in Bucharest, Romania. He immigrated to the United States around 1900, and made his motion picture debut with Thomas H. Ince in 1912. As Freddy Fischbach, he became a cameraman at Mack Sennett's Keystone studio, where he worked with comedy star Roscoe Arbuckle. Sennett promoted Fischbach to director, with his surname Americanized to Fred Fishback.

Anyone with Keystone credentials was welcomed by lesser comedy studios, and Fishback secured a job directing comedy shorts for Universal Pictures, many of them featuring former Keystone and Hal Roach bit player Lige Conley.

In 1921, Fishback was involved in the famous sex scandal surrounding his friend Roscoe Arbuckle. Arbuckle hosted a party in San Francisco that got out of hand, and Fishback was a member of Arbuckle's coterie. Both Arbuckle and Fishback had to change their professional names to keep working as the notoriety subsided. Performer Arbuckle became director William Goodrich, and Fishback adopted the pseudonym Fred Hibbard.

Both Arbuckle and Fishback were hired to direct at Educational Pictures. Fishback, reunited with Lige Conley, helped to develop Conley into a comedy star in a lengthy series of slapstick short subjects. Fishback also directed one of Educational's leading comedians, Lloyd Hamilton. Fishback died at the age of 30; his last films were released posthumously.