William Farnum
| William Farnum | |
|---|---|
Farnum in 1917
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| Born |
July 4, 1876 Boston, Massachusetts, US |
| Died | June 5, 1953 (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, US |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale |
| Years active | 1900-1952 |
| Spouse(s) | Mabel Eaton (divorced) Olive White (1906-1931; 1 daughter) Isabelle Major (1932-1953) (his death) |
William Farnum (July 4, 1876 – June 5, 1953) was an American stage and film actor.
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 1923 and Randolph Scott and John Wayne in 1942.
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