William Desmond
Acting • Born 1878-01-23 – Died 1949-11-03
Biography
Starting out in dramatic parts, Desmond soon switched to westerns and action serials, and became a major western star. When the sound era began Desmond was almost 50 years old, and was soon relegated to supporting roles.
Filmography
146 credits
The Prince and Betty
Movie • 1919
John Maude
The Vanishing Rider
Movie • 1928
Jim Davis / The Vanishing Rider
Peer Gynt
Movie • 1915
The Parson
Captain of His Soul
Movie • 1918
Horace
The Rustler's Roundup
Movie • 1933
San Dimas Sheriff Holden
When Lightning Strikes
Movie • 1934
Marshal Jack Stevens
Phantom of the Opera
Movie • 1943
Stagehand (uncredited)
The Mummy's Ghost
Movie • 1944
Museum Tourist (uncredited)
The Policeman and the Baby
Movie • 1921
The Policeman
Master of His Home
Movie • 1917
Carson Stewart
The Return of the Durango Kid
Movie • 1945
Street Ambusher (uncredited)
Mr. Broadway
Movie • 1933
1st Suitor (archive footage)
The Lightning Warrior
Movie • 1931
Townsman (uncredited)
Song of the Gringo
Movie • 1936
Bailiff
Phantom Lady
Movie • 1944
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Wild Waters
Movie • 1935
Sheriff Manning
The Extra Girl
Movie • 1923
Himself
The Last Frontier
Movie • 1932
General Custer
Crack-Up
Movie • 1934
Police Chief
The Broken Coin
Movie • 1936
Frisco Kid
Movie • 1935
Vigilante Hangman (uncredited)
The Vanishing Legion
Movie • 1931
Milesburg Sheriff
The Vanishing Shadow
Movie • 1934
MacDonald
Desert Command
Movie • 1946
Capt. Boncour
Straight Through
Movie • 1925
Good Deed O'Day
The Burning Trail
Movie • 1925
Smiling Bill Flannigan
The Meddler
Movie • 1925
Richard Gilmore
Born to Battle
Movie • 1935
John Brownell
I Can't Escape
Movie • 1934
Parole Officer Donovan
The Vigilantes Are Coming
Movie • 1936
Anderson, Vigilante Member
Pirate Treasure
Movie • 1934
Capt. Jim Carson
The Strings of Steel
Movie • 1926
Ned Brown
Courage of the North
Movie • 1935
Gene Travis
The Three Musketeers
Movie • 1933
Capt. Boncour
Winners of the West
Movie • 1940
Bill Brine
Her Code of Honor
Movie • 1919
Eugene La Salle
Frontier Days
Movie • 1934
Sheriff Barnes
The Rawhide Terror
Movie • 1934
Tom Blake
Laughing at Life
Movie • 1933
Military Cabinet Officer
Perils of the Yukon
Movie • 1922
Jack Merrill Sr. / Jack Merrill Jr.
Strawberry Roan
Movie • 1933
Colonel Brownlee
Fargo Express
Movie • 1933
Sheriff Joe Thompson
Paws of the Bear
Movie • 1917
Ray Bourke
Border Guns
Movie • 1934
Dr. Jim Wilson
No Children
Movie • 1929
Self
Shadows of the North
Movie • 1923
Ben 'Wolf' Darby
Battling with Buffalo Bill
Movie • 1931
John Mills
The Extra Girl
Movie • 1923
Himself - Actor
The Cowboy and the Bandit
Movie • 1935
Sheriff Pete
Custer's Last Stand
Movie • 1936
Wagon Master
Cyclone of the Saddle
Movie • 1935
Wagon Master
Treachery Rides the Range
Movie • 1936
Bill
Heroes of the West
Movie • 1932
John Blaine
Gordon of Ghost City
Movie • 1933
John Mulford
The Call of the Savage
Movie • 1935
Allen
Headin' for the Rio Grande
Movie • 1936
Mr. Mack (cattle buyer)
A Scarlet Week-End
Movie • 1932
The Ghost Rider
Movie • 1935
Guard
Social Error
Movie • 1935
Policeman
Hollywood Boulevard
Movie • 1936
Pago Pago Patron (uncredited)
Code of the West
Movie • 1947
Settler (uncredited)
The Red Rider
Movie • 1934
Sheriff Campbell
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
Movie • 1936
Captain of the 'Viking'
Timber Terrors
Movie • 1935
Royce Horter
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
Movie • 1941
Bartender
Song of the Saddle
Movie • 1936
Tim
The Boys from Syracuse
Movie • 1940
Citizen
Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery
Movie • 1935
Foreman Burke
Junior G-Men
Movie • 1940
Irish Cop (uncredited)
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Movie • 1943
Gower Gulch Cowboy (uncredited)
Tim Tyler's Luck
Movie • 1937
Dock Official
The Phantom of the Air
Movie • 1933
Thomas Edmonds
The Phantom of the West
Movie • 1930
Martin Blair
Society for Sale
Movie • 1918
Honorable Billy
The Last of the Ingrams
Movie • 1917
Jules Ingram
Fightin' Mad
Movie • 1921
Bud McGraw
Down Rio Grande Way
Movie • 1942
Townsman
The Silver Bullet
Movie • 1942
Townsman
Overland Mail
Movie • 1942
Williams - Banker
Rustlers of Red Dog
Movie • 1935
Ira Dale [Chs. 1-4, 6, 10-12]
The Lone Star Trail
Movie • 1943
Bartender Mike
Cheyenne Roundup
Movie • 1943
Pete
No Defense
Movie • 1929
John Harper
McGuire of the Mounted
Movie • 1923
Bob McGuire
The Iced Bullet
Movie • 1917
The Author / Horace Lee
The Child Thou Gavest Me
Movie • 1921
Tom Marshall
Hello, 'Frisco
Movie • 1924
William Desmond
Savage Fury
Movie • 1956
Allen
Powdersmoke Range
Movie • 1935
Happy - Bartender
Where Did You Get That Girl?
Movie • 1941
Tourist
Outwitted
Movie • 1925
Jack Blaisdel
Ridin' Pretty
Movie • 1925
Sky Parker
Barriers of the Law
Movie • 1925
Rex Brandon
A Sage Brush Hamlet
Movie • 1919
Larry Lang
A Gamble in Souls
Movie • 1916
The Naughty Nineties
Movie • 1945
Showboat Customer (uncredited)
The Mystery Rider
Movie • 1928
Winthrop Lane / The Mystery Rider
Peggy
Movie • 1916
Rev. Donald Bruce
The Way of the West
Movie • 1934
'Cash' Horton (as Wm. Desmond)
Kilmeny
Movie • 1915
Bob Meredith
The Dawn Maker
Movie • 1916
Bruce Smithson
Naughty Marietta
Movie • 1935
Gendarme Chief (uncredited)
The Sunset Trail
Movie • 1924
Happy Hobo
The Majesty of the Law
Movie • 1915
Jackson Morgan Kent
The Climax
Movie • 1944
Backstage Technician (Uncredited)
The Roaring West
Movie • 1935
Jim Parker
Night Life in Hollywood
Movie • 1922
Self
Strange Confession
Movie • 1945
Peanut Vendor (uncredited)
Perils of Pauline
Movie • 1933
Prof. Thompson
The Egg and I
Movie • 1947
Spectator at Country Dance (Uncredited)
Oklahoma Jim
Movie • 1931
Lacy
Thunder Mountain
Movie • 1947
Townsman (uncredited)
The Marriage Bubble
Movie • 1918
The Actor
The Breathless Moment
Movie • 1924
Billy Carson
Women Men Love
Movie • 1921
David Hunter
Clancy of the Mounted
Movie • 1933
Dave Moran
Flying Colors
Movie • 1917
Brent Brewster
Married in Name Only
Movie • 1917
The Ace of Spades
Movie • 1925
Dan Harvey
The Measure of a Man
Movie • 1924
John Fairmeadow
Bare-Fisted Gallagher
Movie • 1919
'Bare-Fisted' Gallagher
Bullets and Brown Eyes
Movie • 1916
Prince Carl
Red Clay
Movie • 1925
Chief John Nisheto
Hi, Beautiful
Movie • 1944
Passenger (uncredited)
The Mints of Hell
Movie • 1919
Dan Burke
The Sudden Gentleman
Movie • 1917
Garry Garrity
Paddy O'Hara
Movie • 1917
Paddy O'Hara
Life's a Funny Proposition
Movie • 1919
Jimmie Pendleton
The Phantom Fortune
Movie • 1923
Larry Barclay
Around the World in 18 Days
Movie • 1923
Phineas Fogg III
Flash Gordon
Movie • 1936
Hawkman Lookout Captain
Big Timber
Movie • 1924
Walter Sandry
Tall in the Saddle
Movie • 1944
Townsman (uncredited)
Trail Street
Movie • 1947
Townsman (uncredited)
Jungle Mystery
Movie • 1932
John Morgan
Beasts of Paradise
Movie • 1923
Phil Grant
The Blue Bandanna
Movie • 1919
Jerry Jerome
Twin Beds
Movie • 1920
Harry Hawkins
The Criminal
Movie • 1916
Donald White
An Honest Man
Movie • 1918
Benny Boggs
The Pretender
Movie • 1918
Bob Baldwin
The Sign of the Cross
Movie • 1904
The Return of the Riddle Rider
Movie • 1927
Randolph Parker / The Riddle Rider
The Riddle Rider
Movie • 1924
Randolph Parker / The Riddle Rider
The Devil's Trademark
Movie • 1928
Morgan Gray
Whitewashed Walls
Movie • 1919
Larry Donovan