William Thomas Courtleigh Jr. (March 8, 1892 – March 13, 1918) was an American silent film actor who starred in many films during the 1910s and notably died early into his career as a result of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

Early years

William Thomas Courtleigh Jr. was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

was the son of

William Courtleigh William Louis Courtleigh (28 June 1867 – 27 December 1930) was a Canadian-American stage and film actor who appeared in Broadway productions, vaudeville theatre, and silent films. Courtleigh was born June 28, 1867, in Guelph, Ontario, Canada t ...

,Death Notices-The New York Times March 15, 1918; pg. 13 a Canadian-born American stage and screen actor. Two of his four half-brothers (Stephen and

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

) also became actors. They had careers on stage and later in television. His half-brothers were the product of his father's second marriage and considerably younger than him.

Career

Like his father, Courtleigh began in stock. His film career began the year before playing Rev. Mark Stebbing in the

Vitagraph Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...

film ''The Better Man'', based on the novel by Cyrus Townsend Brady. Courtleigh appeared in at least 14 films over his brief career and was probably best remembered for playing Neal Hardin in the 1915 serial '' Neal of the Navy'' with

Lillian Lorraine Lillian Lorraine (née Jacques; 1892/1894 – April 17, 1955) was an American stage and screen actress of the 1910s and 1920s, and a prominent Ziegfeld Girl in the Broadway revues Ziegfeld Follies during the 1910s. Early years Lorraine w ...

. Courtleigh played opposite Ann Pennington in her first two films, '' Susie Snowflake'' and '' The Rainbow Princess,'' both released in 1916. His last film, ''Children of Destiny'', another Brady story, was released in 1920 by Weber Productions.The Fort Wayne News and Sentinel 4 May 1918 pg. 4; Ancestry.com scan

Personal life

In July 1915, Courtleigh married actress Ethel Fleming, whom he met when they were working for different companies at a studio in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

Death

Courtleigh died in Philadelphia on March 13, 1918, an early casualty of the worldwide flu pandemic at age 26.William Courtleigh 1920 US Census, Ancestry.com scan

Partial filmography

* '' Neal of the Navy'' (1915) * '' Out of the Drifts'' (1916) * '' Susie Snowflake'' (1916) * '' The Rainbow Princess'' (1916) * '' The Heart of a Lion'' (1917) * '' By Right of Purchase'' (1918)

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtleigh, William Jr. 1892 births 1918 deaths Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in Pennsylvania American male silent film actors 20th-century American male actors American people of Canadian descent Members of The Lambs Club