Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Farnum (July 4, 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts – June 5, 1953 in Hollywood, California) was a major movie 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 t...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Lone Star
1952
as Tom Crockett
Rip-roaring big star, big budget semi-historical story about cattle baron Devereaux Burke, who is enlisted by an aging Andrew Jackson to dissuade Sam ...

Jack and the Beanstalk
1952
as The King
A young boy trades the family cow for magic beans. Ascending the beanstalk with the butcher who sold him the beans, he faces the giant terrorizing his...

Hollywood Story
1951
as Himself
An independent producer unwisely opens a can of worms after he decides to make a movie about the unsolved murder of a famous silent film director.

Trail of Robin Hood
1950
as Bill Franum
Retired actor Jack Holt is raising Christmas trees for sale at a cost which permits every family to have one. A commercial tree company tries to drive...

Samson and Delilah
1949
as Tubal
When strongman Samson rejects the love of the beautiful Philistine woman Delilah, she seeks vengeance that brings horrible consequences they both regr...

Gun Cargo
1949
as Board of Inquiry Chairman
A Maritime Board of Inquiry investigates the loss of the merchant ship, the Black Rover . Its captain, Jim Parker, offers the following testimony on h...

Bride of Vengeance
1949
as Conti Peruzzi
The tiny independent duchy of Ferrara is located between Casare Borgia's Rome and Venice, and Borgia has plans to conquer Venice via Ferrara. He murde...

Daughter of the West
1949
as Father Vallejo
A convent-raised woman (Martha Vickers) learns of her American Indian heritage through romance with an educated Navajo (Philip Reed) during the 1880s.

The Perils of Pauline
1947
as Western Saloon Set Hero
Funloving Pearl White, working in a garment sweatshop, gets her big chance when she "opens" for a delayed Shakespeare play...with a comic vaudeville p...

Rolling Home
1946
as Rodeo Official
An elderly rodeo rider, his young grandson and their injured horse help transform the lives of various citizens in a small town. Released in 1946.

My Dog Shep
1946
as Carter J. Latham Jr.
An orphan boy on his way to live with his uncle picks up a stray dog, and the two become fast friends. However, the uncle doesn't want the dog, and wh...

God's Country
1946
as Sandy McTavish
Lee Preston, aka Leland Bruce, kills a man in self defense but flees to the redwood country when the law makes it a murder charge. There he meets Lynn...

Captain Kidd
1945
as Capt. Rawson
Cutthroat pirate William Kidd captures Admiral Blayne's treasure ship and hides the bounty in a cave. Three years later, Kidd, posing as a respectable...

Wildfire
1945
as Judge Polson
Fanning has his men rustle horses and then blame it on a wild horse named Wildfire. Happy and Alkali arrive and immediately get into trouble with Fann...

The Mummy's Curse
1944
as The Sacristan
After being buried in quicksand for the past 25 years, Kharis is set free to roam the rural bayous of Louisiana, as is the soul of his beloved Princes...

Frontier Badmen
1943
as Dad Courtwright
A group of cowboys ending their cattle drive in Abilene find that cattle prices are being kept artificially low, driving down the price they'll get fo...

American Empire
1942
as Louisiana Judge
Richard Dix as Dan Taylor and Preston S. Foster as Paxton Bryce are two longtime friends seeking their fortune in Texas after the war. The two men dec...

Tennessee Johnson
1942
as Senator Huyler
The tumultuous presidency of 19th-president Andrew Johnson is chronicled in this biopic. The story begins with Johnson's boyhood and covers his early ...

Deep in the Heart of Texas
1942
as Colonel Mallory
Hoping to increase its box-office allure by adopting the title of a popular song, Deep in the Heart of Texas (clap!clap!clap!clap!) was the first John...

Boss of Hangtown Mesa
1942
as Judge Ezra Binns
It is now an accepted fact that the best of Johnny Mack Brown's Universal westerns were directed by the talented Joseph H. Lewis. Boss of Hangtown Mes...

The Silver Bullet
1942
as Dr. Thad Morgan
A cowboy heads for the town where his father was murdered to find out who was responsible.

Men of Texas
1942
as General Sam Houston
A Chicago reporter (Robert Stack) and photographer focus on a Confederate outlaw (Brod Crawford) in post-Civil War Texas.

The Spoilers
1942
as Wheaton
When honest ship captain Roy Glennister gets swindled out of his mine claim, he turns to saloon singer Cherry Malotte for assistance in his battle wit...

Lone Star Ranger
1942
as Texas Ranger Major McNeil
Texas Ranger Buck Dunne is assigned to round up a gang of bank robbers. The leader of the gang turns out to be the "respectable" Judge Longstreth, mak...

Today I Hang
1942
as Warden Burke
Henry Courtney, a wealthy importer is found murdered and the famous DeNormand necklace has been stolen. The false testimony of two witnesses, Rand and...

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2
1941
Hedda Hopper plays hostess at a party for her (grown) son William (DeWolfe Jr.). Hopper, attends the dedication of the Motion Picture Relief Fund's co...

The Corsican Brothers
1941
as Priest
Cultured Mario and outlaw Lucien, twins separated at birth, join forces to avenge their parents' death at the hands of evil Colonna. Because each feel...

Last of the Duanes
1941
as Texas Ranger Major McNeill
Based on Zane Grey's tale of a man who gains an unfair reputation as a gunfighter while out to avenge his father's death.

Gangs of Sonora
1941
as Ward Beecham
Commissioner Tredwell is the law of the land and he gets whatever he wants with the help of hired guns and lackey lawyer Conners. The only one who pub...

A Woman's Face
1941
as Court Attendant
A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the possibility of looking like a normal woman.

Kit Carson
1940
as Don Miguel Murphy
Frontiersman Kit Carson fights off Indian attacks on the trail to California.

Adventures of Red Ryder
1940
as Colonel Tom Ryder
Calvin Drake employs a group of low-lifes to drive away land owners along the path of a new railroad; Red Ryder opposes this strategy.

Hi-Yo Silver
1940
as Father McKim
Edited version of the 1938 Republic serial "The Lone Ranger."

Convicted Woman
1940
as Commissioner McNeill
A reporter and a lawyer investigate a women's prison and help an inmate who does not belong there.

South of the Border
1939
as Padre
A federal agent and his partner hang out in Mexico to check a revolution.

Rovin' Tumbleweeds
1939
as Senator Timothy Nolan
Rancher Autry takes a job singing on the radio to aid farmers and ranchers whose lands were destroyed by raging floods. Blaming crooked politicians, h...

Colorado Sunset
1939
as Sheriff George Glenn
When his well-meaning sidekick (Smiley Burnette) buys a cow farm instead of a cattle ranch, singing cowpoke Gene Autry prepares to embrace the dairy b...

Mexicali Rose
1939
as Padre Dominic
Gene Autry and his sidekick Frog look into a phony oil scam being perpetrated on a mission orphanage.

Shine On Harvest Moon
1938
as Milt Brower
A rustler's son (Roy Rogers) courts a rancher's daughter (Mary Hart) during a range war.

Santa Fe Stampede
1938
as Dave Carson
The Mesquiteers capture a horse thief who escapes justice through a crooked judge. They gather signatures urging the governor to investigate but a fri...

If I Were King
1938
as General Barbezier
King Louis XI masquerades as a commoner in Paris, seeking out the treachery he is sure lurks in his kingdom. At a local tavern, he overhears the brash...

The Secret of Treasure Island
1938
as George Brennan Westmore (Editor)
A variety of people are searching for a long-hidden treasure somewhere on an island. Chapters: 1. The Isle of Fear, 2. The Ghost Talks, 3. The Phan...

The Lone Ranger
1938
as Father McKim
In 1865, Captain Mark Smith of the Confederate Army leads a band of deserters to conquer Texas and rule it as a dictator. In one of his first actions,...

Public Cowboy No. 1
1937
as Sheriff Matt Doniphon
Deputies Gene Autry and Frog go up against modern cattle rustlers. These rustlers use technology such as, airplanes, radios and refrigerated trucks to...

Git Along Little Dogies
1937
as Banker Maxwell
When war breaks out between oilmen and cattle ranchers, Gene sides with the ranchers until he learns that oil will bring a railraod to town.

Maid of Salem
1937
as Crown Justice Sewall
When a young woman named Barbara Clarke has an affair with adventurer Roger Coverman, it causes a scandal in the Puritanical town of Salem, Massachuse...

The Vigilantes Are Coming
1936
as Father José
A masked hero called "The Eagle" leads California ranchers in a struggle against Russian Cossacks who are plotting to take over California and turn it...

Sharad of Atlantis
1936
as Sharad
Crash Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, and Diana, a go-getting reporter, join Professor Norton for a search for the source of a string of ear...

The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand
1936
as Gordon Gaunt
15-Chapter Serial about a scientist that discovers a formula for making synthetic gold and the people that want it.

Custer's Last Stand
1936
as James Fitzpatrick
The feature length version of the serial by the same name. A mystical medicine arrow, the key to a lost gold treasure, is lost in one of many Indian a...

The Kid Ranger
1936
as Bill Mason
Ranger Ray plans to marry stage driver Bill Mason's daughter Mary, but there are problems ahead....

Custer's Last Stand
1936
as James Fitzpatrick
Kit Cardigan seeks the killer of his father...among other plot threads leading up to the famous historical incident.

The Irish Gringo
1935
as Pop Wiley
A half Mexican, half Irish gunman called The Irish Gringo and his pals come across a little girl wandering in the desert. It turns out her grandfather...

Between Men
1935
as John Wellington / Rand
When his young son is shot, John Wellington kills the culprit and flees. But his son Johnny recovers and is raised by Sir George. Some twenty years la...

The Eagle's Brood
1935
as El Toro
When the outlaw El Toro saves Hoppy's life, Hoppy agrees to find his missing grandson.

Powdersmoke Range
1935
as Sam Oreham - Banker
Three cowboys buy a ranch but have to fight off gunmen to keep it.

Hollywood Extra Girl
1935
as Crusades Actor (uncredited)
A short semi-documentary about a "typical extra girl" on a DeMille film.

The Crusades
1935
as Hugo, Duke of Burgundy
King Richard the Lionhearted launches a crusade to preserve Christianity in Jerusalem.

Million Dollar Haul
1935
as Mr. Mallory - Sheila's Dad
Special Insurance-Investigator Dan Kennedy and his wonder dog, Tarzan the Police Dog, are called in to investigate the persistent robbing of a shippin...

The Silver Streak
1934
as B.J. Dexter
A high-speed train becomes the star of the film as it rushes from Chicago to Hoover Dam to transport an iron lung to a needy patient.

The Brand of Hate
1934
as Joe Larkins
Trouble starts when Bill Larkins and his two sons move in with his brother Joe. They start rustling cattle and then kill Rod's father with Joe's gun. ...

Cleopatra
1934
as Lepidus
The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

The Scarlet Letter
1934
as Gov. Bellingham
In the seventeenth century, in Massachusetts, a young woman is forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her dress for bearing a child out of wedlock.

Happy Landing
1934
as Col. Curtis
An action-filled film with outlaws-of-the-clouds at war with the men of the U. S. Flying Service. A young pilot, Nick Ferris, fights to track down a d...

Are We Civilized?
1934
as Paul Franklin, Sr.
1934 drama of man's inhumanity to man, starring William Farnum and Anita Louise, directed by Edwin Carewe, screenplay by Harold Sherman. This film was...

School for Girls
1934
as Charles Waltham
After being convicted of stealing some jewels, Annette Eldrige is sent to a reformatory administered by a sadistic and corrupt female warder. However,...

Good Dame
1934
as Judge Flynn
A chorus girl gets stranded in a small midwestern town. Against her better judgement, she hooks up with a smooth-talking con artist who says he can he...

Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles
1933
as Squire Beamish
When the fiendish Sinclair Sable arranges the kidnapping of the beautiful Benecia Beamish, only the members of the Beer and Bicycle Club can save her.

Supernatural
1933
as Nicky Hammond
After her brother's death, Roma Courtney becomes the heiress to his fortune. When a fake psychic claims to have a message from Roma's dead brother, he...

Reckless Decision
1933
as Rev. John MacDougall
The teenage daughter of a puritanical Reverend promises him she will not marry until she is older, but after a night of heavy drinking she wakes up to...

Flaming Guns
1932
as Henry Ramsey
A ranch manager falls in love with a banker's daughter, but after a quarrel with the girl's parents, flee across the border into Mexico.

Mr. Robinson Crusoe
1932
as William Belmont
Steve Drexel voluntarily strands himself on a deserted island on a bet. He intends to re-create civilization and carves a miniature city of 52nd Stree...

The Drifter
1932
as The Drifter
A man known as The Drifter returns home to his cabin in the woods and winds up getting involved with an escaped convict, a gunfighter, lumber company ...
The Wide Open Spaces
1931
as U.S. Marshal
A Wild West spoof by The Masquers Comedy Club of Hollywood.

Law of the Sea
1931
as Captain Len Andrews
A sadistic, evil ship captain lusts after a beautiful young girl he spots in town. It turns out that she's the girlfriend of a young man whose father ...

The Pagan Lady
1931
as Malcolm 'Mal' Todd
Dot starts out as a bartender in Havana when in walks Dingo Mike (Charles Bickford) and orders up a drink that sounds like something you'd consume on ...

A Connecticut Yankee
1931
as King Arthur / Inventor
Making a delivery to a mysterious mansion in a rainstorm, radio salesman Hank Martin is knocked out when a suit of armor topples on him. Upon awakenin...

Ten Nights in a Bar-room
1931
as Joe Morgan
A man's heavy drinking drives away his family and threatens to destroy his relationship with his little daughter.

The Painted Desert
1931
as Cash Holbrook
Western pardners Jeff and Cash find a baby boy in an otherwise deserted emigrants' camp, and clash over which is to be "father." They are still bitter...

Du Barry, Woman of Passion
1930
as Louis XV
Jeannette Vaubernier, an impulsive shopgirl en route to deliver a hat, dreams of luxury and position as she saunters through the woods, and attracted ...

Tropical Nights
1928
Patsy Ruth Miller stars as the romantic bone of contention between pearl divers Malcolm McGregor and Wallace MacDonald. When McGregor's brother is mur...

The Man Who Fights Alone
1924
as John Marble
John Marble, a construction engineer is stricken by paralysis and begins to envision the growth of love between his wife Marion and his best friend, B...

The Gunfighter
1923
as Billy Buell
Billy Buell (William Farnum), a stranger involving himself with a long-standing mountain feud. The Benchleys and the Camps have been feuding ever sinc...

Brass Commandments
1923
as Stephen 'Flash' Lanning
"Flash" Lanning returns to Bozzam City from the East to put an end to cattle rustling. Gloria Hallowell, who has known him by reputation, falls in lov...

Without Compromise
1922
as Dick Leighton
When the ability of Dick Leighton (William Farnum), Sheriff of Randolph, Oregon, to enforce law and order is tested by the leader of the political opp...

Moonshine Valley
1922
as Ned Connors
Ned Connors, a prospector, has a happy marriage with his wife, living in the hills, until fate brings a sick visitor to their shack. The guest, Dr. Ma...

Shackles of Gold
1922
as John Gibbs
Gibbs is a laborer at the docks who, through his hard work and good judgment, becomes a millionaire on Wall Street. He becomes acquainted with the Van...
A Stage Romance
1922
as Edmund Kean

Perjury
1921
as Robert Moore
Robert Moore is the general manager of the firm run by John Gibson. After Gibson makes several visits to Moore's home, unfounded rumors begin of a rel...

His Greatest Sacrifice
1921
as Richard Hall
Richard Hall is a successful writer, while his wife, Alice, is interested in pursuing a career as a singer. She meets James Hamilton, a musical agent,...

Drag Harlan
1920
as Drag Harlan
William Farnum is Drag Harlan, a tough cowboy vigilante. After learning about a gold mine from a dying man, he seeks his daughter (Jackie Saunders) as...

If I Were King
1920
as François Villon
J. Gordon Edwards silent adventure melodrama about a famous poet who is allowed to rule France for a week!

The Joyous Trouble-Makers
1920
as William Steele

The Orphan
1920
as The Orphan

Wings of the Morning
1919
as Capt. Robert Anstruther

The Last of the Duanes
1919
as Buck Duane
Buck Duane guns down the man who killed his father and flees from the law. He rescues a girl he once loved from outlaws, but the wife of outlaw chief ...

Wolves of the Night
1919
as Bruce Andrews

The Lone Star Ranger
1919
as Steele
In this western, William Farnum plays yet another Zane Grey character. Duane Steele (Farnum) is a Texas Ranger who is determined to get the outlaws ou...

The Man Hunter
1919
as George Arnold

The Rainbow Trail
1918
as Lassiter / Shefford
Following in his dad's footsteps, Shefford devotes himself to freeing his community from the grip of a particularly despotic Mormon sect. In so doing,...

Riders of the Purple Sage
1918
as Lassiter
Lassiter quits the Texas Rangers and spends his life in pursuit of a group of Mormons who kidnapped his married sister. In a town on the Utah border, ...

True Blue
1918
as Bob McKeever
True Blue begins with the marriage of black-sheep British nobleman Gilbert Brockhurst to the daughter of a Western rancher. When he learns that he has...

Rough and Ready
1918
as Bill Stratton
In New York, Bill Stratton saves a friend's marriage, but Bill's fiancée, Evelyn, misinterprets the situation and believes Bill to be unfaithful to he...

The Heart of a Lion
1917
as Barney Kemper
Hiram Danforth (William Farnum) is on a quest to find his birth mother, a search complicated by his upbringing and the social context of the time. The...

Les Misérables
1917
as Jean Valjean
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both me...

When a Man Sees Red
1917
as Larry Smith
Story based on a Saturday Evening Post story entitled "The Painted Lady," which was written by Larry Evans. First mate Luther Smith returns to his hom...

The Conqueror
1917
as Sam Houston
The life of Sam Houston, soldier, statesman, patriot and one of the founders of the Republic of Texas, is depicted.

American Methods
1917

A Tale of Two Cities
1917
as Charles Darnay / Sydney Carton
At the outbreak of the French Revolution, Charles Darnay goes to Paris to rescue an imprisoned former family servant. He is himself imprisoned and con...

The Price of Silence
1917
as Senator Frank Deering
U. S. Senator Frank Deering has spent his life trying to alleviate the misery of child labor. Judge Vernon, his closest friend, aids him in this strug...

Fires of Conscience
1916
as George Baxter
George Baxter presents his new wife, Margery. Paul Sneed, Baxter's neighbor, knew Margery before the marriage. When Baxter returns home unexpectedly o...

The Bondman
1916
as Stephen Orry/Jason Orry
The narrative hinges on Jason's vow to wreak vengeance on his father for abandoning his mother. But his father dies, and Jason turns his desire for re...

The Wonderful Adventure
1915
as Martin Stanley
Wealthy New York contractor Wilton Demarest falls victim to the wiles of beautiful adventuress Mazora. Soon, he becomes addicted to drugs, neglects hi...
Samson
1915
as Maurice Brachard

The Sign of the Cross
1914
as Marcus Superbus
In 64 A.D., Marcus Superbus is Prefect of Rome. When the Emperor Nero decides to renew persecution of the Christians, Marcus opposes him, fearing for ...

The Spoilers
1914
as Roy Glenister
The Spoilers is a 1914 film directed by Colin Campbell. It is set in Nome, Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush, with William Farnum as Roy Glennister, Ka...