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William S. Hart on U.S. stamp, photo by Neftali /Bigstock.com
Birth Name: William Surrey Hart
Date of Birth: December 6, 1864
Place of Birth: Newburgh, New York, U.S.
Date of Death: June 23, 1946
Place of Death: Newhall, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: Irish, possibly one quarter English
William S. Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was a star of westerns, and one of the most popular actors of the 1910s and 1920s. He worked in silent films. He starred in the films The Scourge of the Desert , Knight of the Trail , Pinto Ben , Between Men , The Primal Lure , The Dawn Maker , The Return of Draw Egan , The Devil’s Double (1916), Truthful Tulliver , The Gunfighter (1917), The Desert Man , Wolf Lowry , The Cold Deck , The Silent Man , Wolves of the Rail , The Tiger Man , Selfish Yates , Shark Monroe , The Border Wireless , and Branding Broadway , all of which he also directed; Hell’s Hinges , The Aryan , The Narrow Trail , Riddle Gawne , The Poppy Girl’s Husband , and Square Deal Sanderson , all of which he also co-directed; The Money Corral , The Toll Gate , The Testing Block , O’Malley of the Mounted , White Oak , Travelin’ On , Wild Bill Hickok (1923), and Singer Jim McKee , all of which he co-wrote; and The Bargain , On the Night Stage , The Apostle of Vengeance , Breed of Men , Wagon Tracks , John Petticoats , Sand! , The Cradle of Courage , The Whistle , Three Word Brand , and Tumbleweeds (1925). He also co-wrote his The Narrow Trail .
He was the son of Rosanna (McCauley) and Nicholas Gleason Hart. His father was born in England, to an Irish father. His mother was Irish. He was said to be a distant cousin of western star Neal Hart. He had a son with his former wife, actress Winifred Westover.
Source: William S. Hart on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org