William S. Hart

Born: December 6, 1864, Newburgh, New York
Died: June 23, 1946 (age 81), Newhall, California

William Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer.

What do you know about William S. Hart.  Try this quick quiz.

1. A successful Shakespearean actor on Broadway who had worked with Margaret Mather and other stars, William S. Hart went on to become one of the first great stars of the motion picture western. In 1899, Hart appeared an original stage production. What was the play?

• Ben-Hur
• Ten Commandments
• 3:10 to Yuma

2. What was Hart’s nickname?

• Shorty
• Rifleman
• Two Gun Bill

3. After the bandit Jim Stokes (William S. Hart) robs the stage he is wounded fleeing. Recuperating at a ranch, he falls in love with and marries the daughter. Now wishing to go straight he tries to return the money but is recognized and captured. When the Sheriff (J. Frank Burke) then loses the recovered money at a crooked roulette table, he and Stokes strike a bargain. What was the name of this 1914 Western?

• The Man Killer
• The Gringo
• The Bargain

4. In The Square Deal Man (1917), house dealer Jack O'Diamonds (William S. Hart) wins a ranch deed the owner accuses him of cheating and when the lights go out the owner is shot. Jack thought he fired at the owner's gun and doesn't know if he killed him. Planning to return the deed he goes to the ranch and becomes foreman and is attracted to the daughter. But then the real killer tells the daughter that Jack killed her father. Who played the daughter?

• Mary Jane Irving
• J. J. Dowling
• Mary McIvor

5. William S. Hart played Square Deal Sanderson. Who played Mary Bransford in Square Deal Sanderson (1819)?

• Deborah White
• Ann Little
• Ann Hathaway

6. Outlaw Black Deering (William S Hart) leads a band of desperadoes, but decides to give up the bandit life. Agreeing to go on one last job with his gang, he is captured when his henchman Jordan (Joseph Singleton) betrays the gang for the reward. Deering escapes and determines to avenge himself on Jordan. What is the 1920 Western?

• The Toll Gate
• Blue Blazes Rawden
• The Ruse

7. In 1923, William S. Hart plays Wild Bill in Wild Bill Hickok. Who plays Calamity Jane?

• Kathleen O'Connor
• Ethel Grey Terry
• Naida Carle

8. Jim McKee (William S. Hart) and his friend Buck rob a stagecoach to get money to support Buck's daughter (Phyllis Haver). Buck is killed, but Jim and the daughter escape. Fifteen years later, Jim finds that he must turn robber again to continue to provide for Buck's daughter. Who played Buck?

• William Dyer
• William Boyd
• J. Gordon Russell

9. It's 1889 and the Cherokee Strip is about to be opened to settlers. After cowboy Don Carver (William S. Hart) helps move the Box K cattle off the strip he meets Molly Lassiter (Barbara Bedford). Attracted to her he decides to try to file on the Box K ranch for her. But when he returns to the strip to check for stray cattle, he is arrested as a Sooner and is now unable to participate in the land rush. What was the last Hart movie?

• Sprint
• Second Half
• Tumbleweeds

10. Was a friend of legendary wild west lawman Wyatt Earp, and along with fellow silent movie cowboy star Tom Mix, was a pall bearer at Earp's funeral in 1929.

• True or False?

11. Where is William S. Hart buried?

• Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
• Cremated, ashes scattered over Santa Catalina's Emerald Bay, California
• Forest Lawn Memorial Park , Youngstown, Ohio

Check Your Answer

1. Ben-Hur
2. Two Gun Bill
3. The Bargain
4. Mary McIvor
5. Ann Little
6. The Toll Gate
7. Ethel Grey Terry
8. J. Gordon Russell
9. Tumbleweeds
10. True

11. Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
    Plot: Section 191, Lot 29116