Dustin Lancy Farnum (May 27, 1874 – July 3, 1929) was an American singer, dancer, and actor on the stage and in
silent films
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
. Although he played a wide variety of roles, he tended toward westerns and became one of the biggest stars of the genre.
Biography
He was born the eldest of three boys on May 27, 1874 in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, the older brother of actor
William Farnum
William Farnum (July 4, 1876 – June 5, 1953) was an American actor. He was a star of American silent film cinema and became one of the highest-paid actors during that time.
Biography
Farnum was born on July 4, 1876, in Boston, Massachuse ...
, whom he closely resembled, and the lesser known silent film director
Marshall Farnum
Marshall Farnum (December 19, 1879 – February 19, 1917) was an American actor and film director. The youngest of the three Farnum boys, Dustin Farnum and William Farnum.Liebman p.89 Having directed first on stage, from 1913 he established himse ...
(died 1917). He married Mary Cromwell in 1909 and they divorced in 1924. He then married
Winifred Kingston
Winifred Kingston (11 November 1894 – 3 February 1967) was a British-born American silent film actress.
Kingston was educated in Scotland and Belgium. She acted on stage in England before she began acting in the United States.
On Broadway, K ...
. Winifred Kingston and he were the parents of radio actress Estelle "Dustine" Runyon (1925–1983). After great success in a number of stage roles, Farnum landed his first film role in 1914 in the movie ''Soldiers of Fortune'', and later in Cecil B. DeMille's '' The Squaw Man''.
Death
He died of kidney failure on July 3, 1929 at Post Graduate Hospital in Manhattan, aged 55.
Ben Blair
Ben Austin Blair (born 26 March 1979 in Westport, New Zealand) is a former rugby union footballer. He played four tests for New Zealand. He scored 37 points on his All Blacks debut against Ireland A in 2001 at Ravenhill in Belfast; however, a ...
'' (1916)
* ''
David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
'' (1916)
*''
Davy Crockett
David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of ...
The Intrigue
''The Intrigue'' is a surviving 1916 silent film drama produced by Pallas Pictures and released through Paramount Pictures. Frank Lloyd directed the film which was written by Julia Crawford Ivers and photographed by her son James Van Trees. The ...
'' (1916)
*'' A Son of Erin'' (1916)
*''Durand of the Bad Lands'' (1917)
* '' The Spy'' (1917)
*''North of Fifty Three'' (1917)
*''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1917)
*''Ready Money Ringfield'' (1918)
*'' The Light of Western Stars'' (1918)
*''A Man in the Open'' (1919)
*''
A Man's Fight
''A Man's Fight'' is a lost 1919 American silent drama film directed by Thomas N. Heffron and starring Dustin Farnum and Lois Wilson.
Plot
As described in a film magazine, wealthy clubman Roger Carr (Farnum) assumes responsibility for a murd ...
Big Happiness
''Big Happiness'' is a lost 1920 American silent drama film directed by Colin Campbell and starring Dustin Farnum. It was produced by Dustin Farnum and distributed through Robertson-Cole Distributing Corporation.The Devil Within'' (1921)
*'' Iron to Gold'' (1922)
*''
Strange Idols
''Strange Idols'' is a 1922 American drama film directed by Bernard Durning and written by Jules Furthman. The film stars Dustin Farnum, Doris Pawn, Philo McCullough, and Richard Tucker. The film was released on May 28, 1922, by Fox Film Corpor ...
'' (1922)
* ''
Oath-Bound
''Oath-Bound'' is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Bernard J. Durning and starring Dustin Farnum, Ethel Grey Terry, and Fred Thomson.Solomon p. 278
Cast
* Dustin Farnum as Lawrence Bradbury
* Ethel Grey Terry as Constance Hasting ...
'' (1922)
*''
Trail of the Axe
''Trail of the Axe'' is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Ernest C. Warde and starring Dustin Farnum, Winifred Kingston and Joseph J. Dowling.Munden p.826
Cast
* Dustin Farnum as Dave Malkern
* Winifred Kingston
Winifred Kingst ...
While Justice Waits
''While Justice Waits'' is a 1922 American silent Western film directed by Bernard J. Durning, and starring Dustin Farnum, Irene Rich, Earl Metcalfe, Junior Delameter, and Frankie Lee. The film was released by Fox Film Corporation on November ...
My Man
"Mon Homme" (),also known by its English language, English translation, "My Man", is a popular music, popular song first published in 1920. The song was originally composed by Maurice Yvain with French lyrics by Jacques-Charles (Jacques Mardoch ...
*''A Romance of Athlone'' (January 29, 1900 – March 3, 1900)
*''Marcelle'' (October 1900)
*''More Than Queen'' (October 30, 1900 – November 1900)
*'' The Virginian'' (Boston October 1903, New York January 5, 1904 – May 1904)
*''The Ranger'' (September 1907)
*''The Rector's Garden'' (March 1908)
*''Cameo Kirby'' (December 20, 1909 – January 1910)
*''The Silent Call'' (January 1911)
*'' The Squaw Man'' (January 9, 1911 – January 17, 1911)
*''The Littlest Rebel'' (November 14, 1911 – January 1912)
*''Arizona'' (April 28, 1913 – June 1913)
Legacy
According to an interview in the April 1975 edition of ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'',
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...
was named after Farnum. Additionally, according to an interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR, on January 16, 2013, Dustin says his parents were expecting him to be a girl and did not have a boy's name picked out for him. When his mother did have another boy, and was pressured to give him a name, she picked the name Dustin from a magazine the other lady in her room was reading, which featured Dustin Farnum on the cover.
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...