Hart, William S(urrey) (1870-1946)

US stage and screen actor and director. He went on the New York stage at age 19 and achieved considerable fame as a Shakespearean actor. He made his first movie at age 44 and was soon directing (and occasionally writing) his own films. These were usually Westerns in which he tried to convey the authentic Old West, with realistic sets and costumes as well as plots and character, but with little action and even less romance. Although immensely popular and critically acclaimed for a decade, he sued United Artists after making Tumbleweeds (1925) and brought an abrupt end to his film career. Hart was born in Newburgh, New York. He spent his later years writing Western novels and an autobiography.