Reginald C. Barker (April 2, 1886 â€" February 23, 1945) was a pioneer
film director.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Barker's family
moved to Scotland when he was an infant and then to the United States.
Living in California, Barker wrote, produced, and acted in his first
play at the age of sixteen following which he acted and handled stage
manager duties with a traveling stock company. At age nineteen, he
went to New York City 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.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 titled "On
the Warpath" starring Art Acord. Barker went on to direct more than
eighty films, including the acclaimed 1915 American Civil War 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
following year, with the United States still not involved in World War
I, Barker co-directed the famous anti-war feature, Civilization.During
his career, Reginald Barker directed early stars such as Geraldine
Farrar, William S. Hart, Sessue Hayakawa, Gladys Brockwell, Hoot
Gibson, Willard Mack, and Myrna Loy. In his first talkie, "The
Toilers" (1928) he directed Douglas Fairbanks Jr.. Barker made his
last film in 1935. Titled "The Healer," it starred Ralph Bellamy,
Karen Morley and Mickey Rooney.
film director.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Barker's family
moved to Scotland when he was an infant and then to the United States.
Living in California, Barker wrote, produced, and acted in his first
play at the age of sixteen following which he acted and handled stage
manager duties with a traveling stock company. At age nineteen, he
went to New York City 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.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 titled "On
the Warpath" starring Art Acord. Barker went on to direct more than
eighty films, including the acclaimed 1915 American Civil War 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
following year, with the United States still not involved in World War
I, Barker co-directed the famous anti-war feature, Civilization.During
his career, Reginald Barker directed early stars such as Geraldine
Farrar, William S. Hart, Sessue Hayakawa, Gladys Brockwell, Hoot
Gibson, Willard Mack, and Myrna Loy. In his first talkie, "The
Toilers" (1928) he directed Douglas Fairbanks Jr.. Barker made his
last film in 1935. Titled "The Healer," it starred Ralph Bellamy,
Karen Morley and Mickey Rooney.
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