Reginald C. Barker (April 2, 1886 – February 23, 1945) was a pioneer film director.

Biography

Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada, Barker's family moved to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

when he was an infant and then to the United States. Living in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Barker wrote, produced, and acted in his first play known as ''Granna Uile'' at the age of sixteen following which he acted and handled stage manager duties with a traveling stock company. When he was eighteen he was the leading man and played in many stock companies. Then he worked with Robert Hilliard in the production of the play named ''A Fool There Was''. At age nineteen, he went to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he worked as a stage manager for Henry Miller. Barker made his Broadway acting debut in 1910 in the Shubert brothers production of "''Mary Magdalene''" written by

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in ...

. Fascinated by the fledgling film business, Barker soon joined the Bison Motion Pictures division of the New York Motion Picture Company. At the company's studio/ranch in California, he worked under film producer and screenwriter Thomas H. Ince. Acting was not Barker's forte and he trained as an assistant director until 1912 when he directed his first film, a twenty-minute

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

titled "''On the Warpath''" starring Art Acord. Barker went on to direct more than eighty films, including the acclaimed 1915

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

drama '' The Coward''. That same year he directed '' The Italian'' but because Thomas H. Ince was notorious for credit-grabbing, Barker originally went uncredited on this film. "''The Italian''" has been selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

. The following year, with the United States still not involved in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Barker co-directed the famous anti-war feature, ''

Civilization A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...

''. During his career, Reginald Barker directed early stars such as Geraldine Farrar, William S. Hart, Sessue Hayakawa,

Gladys Brockwell Gladys Brockwell (née Lindeman; September 26, 1894 – July 2, 1929) was an American actress whose career began during the silent film era. Early life and career Brockwell was born Gladys Lindeman in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26, 1894. ...

Hoot Gibson Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson (August 6, 1892 – August 23, 1962) was an American rodeo champion, film actor, film director, and producer. While acting and stunt work began as a sideline to Gibson's focus on rodeo, he successfully transitioned ...

, Willard Mack, and

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style. Born in Helena, Monta ...

. In his first sound film (no talking sequences), "''The Toilers''" (1928) he directed

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer, and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best-known for starring in such films as '' The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), '' Gunga Din'' (1939), ...

Barker made his last film in 1935. Titled "''The Healer''," it starred

Ralph Bellamy Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and award ...

, Karen Morley and

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...

. Reginald Barker retired to

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

where he and his wife operated a gift shop until his death from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 1945. He is interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

Partial filmography

Director

*''City of Darkness'' (1914) *'' The Wrath of the Gods'' (1914) *'' The Typhoon'' (1914) *'' The Bargain'' (1914) *'' The Devil'' (1915) *'' The Coward'' (1915) *'' The Italian'' (1915) *'' On The Night Stage'' (1915) * '' The Reward'' (1915) *'' The Aryan'' (1916) *''

'' (1916) * '' The Iced Bullet'' (1917) * '' Sweetheart of the Doomed'' (1917) * '' Paws of the Bear'' (1917) *'' The Hell Cat'' (1918) *'' The Turn of the Wheel'' (1918) * '' Shackled'' (1918) *''

Shadows A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensiona ...

'' (1919) *''The Brand'' (1919) *'' The Rustlers'' (1919) *''Dangerous Days'' (1920) *'' The Women and the Puppet'' (1920) *'' Godless Men'' (1920) * '' The Poverty of Riches'' (1921) *'' The Old Nest'' (1921) *''The Storm'' (1922) *'' Hearts Aflame'' (1923) *'' The Eternal Struggle'' (1923) *'' Broken Barriers'' (1924) *'' The Dixie Handicap'' (1924) *'' The Great Divide'' (1925) *''

When the Door Opened ''When the Door Opened'' is a lost 1925 American silent Northern film directed by Reginald Barker and starring Jacqueline Logan, Walter McGrail, Margaret Livingston, Robert Cain, Frank Keenan, and Roy Laidlaw. It was written by Bradley Ki ...

'' (1925) *'' The White Desert'' (1925) *'' The Flaming Forest'' (1926) *'' The Frontiersman'' (1927) *'' Body and Soul'' (1927) *'' The Toilers'' (1928) *''

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

'' (1929) *'' Mississippi Gambler'' (1929) *'' Seven Keys to Baldpate'' (1929) *'' The Rainbow'' (1929) *'' The Great Divide'' (1929) *''Hide-Out'' (1930) *''

The Moonstone ''The Moonstone: A Romance'' by Wilkie Collins is an 1868 British epistolary novel. It is an early example of the modern detective novel, and established many of the ground rules of the modern genre. Its publication was started on 4 January 18 ...

'' (1934) *'' Forbidden Heaven'' (1935) *'' Women Must Dress'' (1935) *'' The Healer'' (1935)

Actor

*'' The Vampire'' (1915) *''The Iced Bullet'' (1917) - Himself *'' Ben-Hur'' (1925) - Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited) (final film role)

References

External links